How to save money on a stone countertop without losing quality?

Today we will tell you 5 points on how to really reduce the price of a stone countertop for the kitchen, without losing quality and beauty.

1. First, you need to decide why you need a stone countertop.
Stone countertop is popular and fashionable. A stone countertop is clearly not a cheap pleasure and not a daily necessity. Rather, it refers to luxury goods. In everyday life, a stone countertop is really comfortable and beautiful. This is a sign of your wealth and well-being. We have already written about the advantages of stone countertops , we will not repeat ourselves.
Depending on the answer to the question “Why do you need a stone countertop?” one or another stone is selected. Natural or artificial. Because different stones have a different set of pros and cons. You need to understand what properties and characteristics of a stone countertop are most important to you. And this sets the price range for the entire project.

Having decided to buy a stone countertop and choosing a suitable stone, it would also be nice to save some money.
After all, there are many offers and prices are decently different. When we opened our production, there was no such demand for ordering stone countertops. The stone was processed exclusively by fans and professionals. And now, only the lazy does not open a business in their garage for the manufacture of stone countertops from stone using one grinder. Or what is worse, countertops made of polyester resins and harmful chemical components are poured using technology downloaded from the Internet. For example, “Liquid Granite” or Granistone. There is no need to talk about the environmental friendliness and durability of such countertops, and the appearance of such countertops gives out something clearly cheap. Having bought such a garage countertop in the hope of saving money, you can have a lot of problems over time. Until a complete replacement of the tabletop with a new one. Of course, at your expense.
If you want to buy a stone countertop very cheaply, then it is better to just give up this idea. Save money and don’t waste your money. After all, with a high probability you will have to pay twice, or even more in case of replacement. There are other, more budgetary, and good reliable options for countertops.

 

2. The second thing you can save on is to find a company that will make a countertop for you by choosing the right stone and processing technology. On machines, not by hand. Often the use of machine tools reduces the cost of manual labor. And this is logical. Handwork is always more expensive than factory work. And the quality of the machine tools is more stable than manual labor. Therefore, when you are offered to make it cheaper, you should be wary – this can be fraught with problems. Where does the cheapness come from? Cheapness is obtained due to savings on equipment, consumables, employees – qualified measurers, designers, managers, workers, engineers, installers!
All this leads to a delay in production and installation times, errors in work, alterations, surcharges, and a failure to comply with the quality of performance to industry standards. After that, customers are left with one continuous negative.

By the way, there is another way to lower the price – to sell a cheap Chinese stone under the guise of a European one, with a good discount. The client does not even know that by paying for Italy or Spain, he received China. Cheating remains on the conscience of the seller, and this, unfortunately, is not uncommon lately.

3. Choice of stone and thickness of the countertop 
A countertop made of natural and artificial stone is usually made from a stone blank (slab, slab, sheet). We will not even consider countertops that are made of molded (liquid) stone, since these are garage technologies and they have no place in our life and in this article.

Each slab of stone has its own size.
The standard dimensions of slabs of quartz agglomerate are 3000 x 1400 mm, acrylic stone – 3650 x 750 mm, natural stone – about 2600 x 1800 mm.
The correct savings in this case is obtained by selecting the plate of the right dimensions for a specific order. So that there is a minimum of leftovers, while all the details of the countertop fit into the minimum number of plates. Preferably for 1 plate.
If there are leftovers from the stove, then you can additionally make window sills or a countertop for the bathroom from them. In fact, it will be almost free. You will only pay for the processing of the stone. And that’s a significant savings!

Open the countertops on the granite slab.

The standard thickness of a stone blank (slab) is 2 or 3 cm.The

price of a 2 cm thick stone is naturally lower than the price of a 3 cm
thick stone.Therefore, a 2 cm thick countertop will be cheaper than 3 cm thick.And even more so with a thickness of more than 3 cm , which is obtained by gluing the stone along the visible ends of the countertop to make it massive.

A stone countertop is made from a stone blank (slab, slab, sheet) 2-3 cm thick.

It may seem to some that the 2 cm tabletop is too thin and looks “not solid”. But today it is a trend. Even old Italian factories present thin countertops at trade shows. And in America, where it is customary to simplify everything, stone countertops 2-3 cm thick without thickening have been in use for a long time.
Choosing a “thin” stone countertop today, you are provided with a high-quality work surface. Your kitchen will be relevant in design for many years to come. And you have saved.

There is a worldwide trend for thin kitchen countertops.

If a thin kitchen countertop is not your option, then most likely a 4 cm thick countertop (2 cm + 2 cm) will cost about the same as a 3 cm thick countertop.It
would seem a paradox, but the fact is that the price of a stone 3 cm thick about the same as the sum of the price of a stone in a thickness of 2 cm and work on thickening the countertop up to 4 cm. Pay for 3 cm – you get 4. Also savings of a kind.

4. End edge of the countertop

The next item affecting the price of the countertop. Here is the same principle: the simpler the edge, the less labor costs and the lower the price of the countertop.
The simplest and most inexpensive edges with a slight rounding (R5) or a small chamfer. These are standard options for 90% of countertops.
Complex curly edges are usually used in large kitchens in spacious interiors, the design of which is made in a classic style.
If your kitchen is modern in style with straight lines, monochrome colors, glossy or matte surfaces, then complicated edging is unnecessary. Choose a simple 2 cm edge.

The photo shows our 30 mm thick quartz agglomerate worktop with a complex LF shaped profile. The price for such a profile is about 5,000 rubles per 1 running meter.

If you are accustomed to luxury and beauty, and do not want to save money here, then you can order a tabletop with a multi-layer artistic processing of the ends. The price for such work will be from 10 to 15 thousand per linear meter.

5. Installation and fastening of the sink and the hob

There are four options for installing the sink and the hob:

1) Overhead on top of the worktop is the easiest and most affordable way. Cutouts of the required dimensions are made in the countertop and the equipment is installed from above. A good old way, but it’s easy to replace a boring or deteriorated sink.

2) Flush-mounted into the worktop (recessed from the top in one level with the flush-mounted worktop). This method requires milling the stone at the installation site, so this is a rather expensive and rare way to install a sink and cooker.

The following 2 methods are only relevant to the installation of the sink:

3) Suspended under the table top (under-table sink). Typically, modern metal and ceramic sinks are installed this way, as well as factory stone sinks such as Blanco, Franke, Florentina, Omoikiri, LAVA, etc. This is a good modern method, while the sink can be replaced in case of damage. But processing the cutout for the sink and gluing the sink itself to the countertop from the bottom will add about 4-8 thousand rubles to the price, compared to a simple installation of the sink from above (point 1).

4) Cast in (integrated) stone sink in the color of the countertop. This is obviously the most expensive option. Because an exclusive item is being created – sinks according to your size from stone countertops. This is manual work and, depending on the complexity, the price can vary from 15 to 80 thousand for one wash. Plus, integration into the countertop will amount to another 5-10 thousand rubles. As in any service sector, there are offers of different prices. If this option is yours, then you need to ask your contractor how exactly the sink will be made and integrated and what guarantees it carries.

You can find out more about integrated sinks at our free consultation or from the article about integrated stone sinks.

The post How to save money on a stone countertop without losing quality? appeared first on United Granite Countertops PA.

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