I wonder if quartz comes in tiles? Granite does and it's supposed to be a lot less expensive than slabs. The grout lines are very narrow.

Would a "regular" patterned granite tile work? We're getting Diamond Black (black w/silver inclusions) which is somewhat regular (at least no veining). So are Black Galaxy (black w/copper inclusions) and Absolute Black. There may be others in lighter colors.

You might also look into remnants. I don't know if fabricators that deal in quartz keep remnants around, but they might.

HTH!

Try ecounter.com, they advised me that they have quartz tiles but I'm not sure if you get the same amount of choices. I couldn't get a quote for the slab since I'm in Canada but try them and compare.
Good luck : )

buehl and sasquatchewan girl, thanks for the suggestions but i really would like just a smooth surface. tile is pretty, but i do writing and bill paying at my counter too and wouldn't like the bumps.

efmiller, thank you, i will look for sales...did you get the 15 percent rebate? the site said that is over now. also, i don't have a great indoors anywhere near by, dang it. sure looks like a great place to shop.

Ecounters sells the slabs too. I just couldn't get a quote because I don't have a US postal code.

Hi, Jessie. It sounds like you want slab, but I was looking at a full line of Silestone colors on e-counters that came in tiles of various sizes, including 18 and 24", although I think not all colors came in all sizes.

jessie21, I am planning a remodel which involves taking out the silestone that is there now "Amarillo Palmira" (only 4yrs old) I will be putting an add in the paper "take away best offer". So if you live near Milwaukee, give me a ring. I will be trying to find homes for all the old stuff instead of filling the landfills.

wow, wisrose, what a great idea! and thanks for letting me know, but unfortunately, i'm in pennsylvania.
good luck on your remodel and your responsible relocation of the old kitchen stuff.

Check out your local Costco...many of them now carry quartz countertops and the prices are rock-bottom. Also look for builder supply companies in your area...you may need a contractor's license or know of a contractor who will lend you their name/number. You can get them for 20-50% off retail that way.

And quartz is very difficult to template, cut, and install. Make sure you get a reputable dealer. If you buy from Costco, they will supply the fabricator, it's part of the price.

And don't be afraid to shop around and let the various vendors know the lowest prices you can get. Go to 3-5 different vendors and see how low they will go by playing them off each other.

The problem with quartz right now is that it's the most popular material in upscale markets...it used to be cheaper than granite, but now it's more expensive.

You can also reduce the price by going with a simple square beveled edge. And sometimes you can ask for a 2cm instead of 3cm thickness, that shaves a few more bucks off, but in my mind doesn't look as nice, especially if you have a square edge.

And remember...the more cuts or holes they have to do, the more expensive it will be. So minimize your sink cutouts, faucet holes, air switches, and soap dispenser holes. They can be up to $200/hole, because it's so difficult to drill thru the quartz.

We had to add one more hole for an airswitch, and they did it in place. They had to build a little dam of cardboard around the area, fill it with water, then it took the poor guy about 20 minutes to drill the hole. It got so hot it burned the wood support on the top of the base cabinet...you could smell the burning wood.

brunosonio, thanks for your input, it's really helpful. i do prefer the simple square edge and should only have one cutout for my sink area.

would definitely love to check out costco and may do so, but the closest one to me is an hour and a half away, dang it! wonder if my cabinet maker could order the material for me....he's a local guy and could not do the fabrication.

Brunosonia: Maybe it depends on the skill of your fabricator. If you are talking about engineered quartz like the Caesarstone we have on two bath vanities and kitchen cabinets, I never heard anything at all about it being hard to fabricate.

We have full Greek bullnose ogee edges -- double laminated edges (invisible seam) are in baths (making edge look 1-1/2" thick) and an invisible triple laminated edge in kitchen (is 2-1/4" thick). Polished shine is perfect all around! Granted the sink cutouts were done at the fabricator's shop, but all the faucet holes (9 all together) were done after the product was installed and no problems were encountered at all and it didn't take any time to drill those holes either. We were not charged extra for drilling holes, cutouts or the beautiful edge finishes.

Costco has quartz in the sense that it contracts with someone to provide it to its customers and pays the installer when the customer is satisfied, acting as a customer advocate. Costco does not have quartz in the store itself, so a trip there would probably not yield much info anyway. Look at Zodiac, which is the brand I believe you can get through Costco. If you find a color you really like, get a price locally and then call Costco. They could not even give a price at my local Costco, I had to call a number on the pamphlet and a representative got back to me. I was able to get them to give me general prices per square foot for granite and quartz over the phone, and if I find those again I will let you know. Then you will have a better idea if it would be worth joining just for the counters.

Sue

thanks so much, sue. i appreciate the info.

Zodiac from costco in my area, which is out of the Boston area, is 57.00 or 77.00 per sq ft depending on color. Granite from Costco is 51.00 or 67.00 per square foot. They only have granites with little movement because they are not set up to allow you to pick your own slab. Which just about rules out my getting granite from them, I think. Maybe if I was getting Uba Tuba or Black Galaxy or something else with not a huge amt of variation, but I am not. They charge 200.00 for the sink cut out but none for faucet holes or a slide in range. Although in the case of a slide in range you are paying for about 9 sq ft of counter top to get the 3" run behind the stove.

Sue

We could have gotten Cambria quartz from our Seattle Costco, but went with a builder supply wholesale contractor store instead. The prices were almost identical, but I already was buying so much from the supply house, I decided to give them the quartz business as well.

Costco only contracts with your local distributor. In the case of Cambria in Seattle, only one distributor exists, and everyone buys from the same company, from builder supply, to Costco, to Home Depot, to kitchen designers. It's whoever can negotiate the lowest deal.

I was accidentally sent all of the prices by the distributor for the 5 places I went to to get bids. I could see Costco and the builder supply were the lowest. The kitchen designers were about 4K higher!

Shows you how much profit they put into their price points.

What a rip! I'd like Silestone in my bathroom--or Swanstone.

Its hard to price. Installation cost can range widely. Better talk to a local pro for accurate pricing.

Here is a link that might be useful: quartz countertop prices

Check out Hanstone Quartz. I can't speak to the quality of the product, but I know that one of the local cabinet places here has Hanstone priced at the same price as a level 1 or 2 granite, depending on the color.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hanstone Quartz

these recent answers came to my email address...thank you both but this question was asked in 2007! Still wish I would have gotten quartz but ended up with a very expensive solid surface. thanks anyway!!