If your taste favors the look and design of granite as a countertop material, this choice won’t come very inexpensively. Before moving forward with granite, understand the bottom line of what granite will cost to install in your home.
Granite will stay beautiful for a lifetime, but this longevity does come at a price.
Cost Variables
The overall cost of installing granite counters in your home depends on the color and pattern you select. Your location also plays a determining role in the cost you will pay for granite. If it’s necessary to deliver granite over a great distance, transportation costs may increase the price of the stone.
Materials Costs
Granite varies widely in price, depending on the type of granite you choose. Granite comes in many different colors and patterns, some more affordable and others on the high-end of the price scale.
Prefabricated Granite
If you have a tight budget, or if you have a very small project like a vanity top or a fireplace hearth piece, a prefabricated smaller slab of stone might work for your counter area. These pre-cut slabs are ready for installation to fit into various areas.
Benefits of using prefabricated granite include a lower price and easier to handle pieces. The smaller pieces even make this type of granite a possible do-it-yourself project.
The price of prefabricated granite starts at approximately $25 per square foot.
Limitation of the pre-fabricated granite is that you cannot have custom fit counter tops or fancy shaped islands for your kitchen. You have to be a savvy DIY pro with plenty of time at your disposal.
Granite Slabs
A higher budget might allow you to choose slab granite for your counter. This stone is cut from the original granite full slab at the shape and width specified for your home. Full slab granite provides an opportunity to install your kitchen with least possible seams which often adds to the aesthetic appeal of the granite.
Fabrication and installation of full slab granite is better left to a professional granite Installation Company.
Customized fabrication, transportation and professional installation make slab granite a premium counter material. Prices per foot of slab granite range from $45 to $78, and most of the desirable granite colors fall in this price range. Some very high end and rare granite colors or natural quartz slabs may cost as high as $150 a square foot.
Installation Costs
Installation of granite counters involves transporting the stone, preparing the installation site, installing the granite, attaching the under mount sinks, drilling the faucet holes, completing the cook top cutout and cleaning up the project site.
Factor in services such as an under-mount sink cut out and installation, cook top cutout, removal of existing countertops and re-hooking of the plumbing after the granite installed. These add cost to the total project price on top of materials.
Keeping Granite Prices Down
If you perform some preliminary work prior to the installation, you can reduce the overall project price. Removing the sink and faucet prior to installation, removal and disposing of existing laminate countertops, and re-hooking of faucet after granite installation can save up to $350 to $600 dollars on the project. Leave it to a professional if you are not confident in doing it all.
Purchasing Granite on Sale
Many reputable granite companies offer Granite sale promotions on some granite colors. This could be a result of excess inventory of a particular color or this is to boost sales during a sluggish business season. You can take advantage of these deals to reduce your granite project cost without compromising the quality of granite.
You may have to make a little study to see if the granite sale is a genuine sale as mentioned above, or if it is an unethical method of low price advertisement to bait the customers. You have to invest some time to visit the granite fabricators and see the granite slabs on sale yourself. You will be able to figure out if the sale is worthy or not.
Purchase from a Fabricator who also stocks Granite slabs.
You have a good chance of getting great prices from a granite fabricator in your area who also stocks granite inventory. This way you only get charged for what is used for your project and you do not have to pay the profit of a middle man (the granite importer).
Although granite is relatively expensive, consider it a lifetime investment in your kitchen or bathroom.
If you are looking to install granite countertops in the St.Louis area, Arch City Granite & Marble is one of the most reputed granite providers. Arch City Granite directly caters to homeowners. Visit our showrooms to get an instant estimate for your project.