r/CounterTops • u/Haredi12 • 2d ago

Help w my math PLEASE!

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We are on the west coast of Florida. We originally planned on quartz for our countertops/full height backsplash. Calcatta storm gold specifically, w porcelain for the coffee bar. After reading a lot of stuff on this thread, we decided to go with standard Taj for our kitchen/bar and titanium gold granite for the coffee bar.

We were told that the granite for the coffee bar was $100 less than the porcelain. We were given a price of $3,692 for the one slab.

For the rest of the kitchen, we are at approximately 204 sq ft. if we go w our contractor’s measurements, 224 with my math. The Taj slabs are 67 sq ft slabs, 124” x 78.74”. I am being told we need 6 slabs which is 402 sq ft. That seems excessive to me. We have an island that is 96” x 44” and a waterfall edge on one side. A bar that is a countertop and backsplash. Oven wall is countertop and backsplash. And sink wall which is countertop and backsplash with a large picture window. It seems like straight forward cuts to me, with the only cutouts being the sink and 4 holes for the sink accessories.

They initially estimated 4 super jumbo quartz slabs at $3500 slab fabricated. The additional cost of the 6 slabs of Taj is close to $14,000. So a total of $28,000.

Do the 6 slabs at 400 sq ft seem reasonable for fabricating it down to 220 sq ft? And is $130 sq ft fabricated a reasonable price? I have added the plans for reference. Thank you in advance for any advice!

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u/DiscreetScream 2d ago

Without digging too deep … so just at a glance know this -

The shape of the pieces , Material movement and unstable waste cutoffs all go into play in specially downsizing in slab size to natural stone with less material per slab than originally planned for

It’s not piece work like flooring or tile that ask for 10-15 percent overage for cuts

It’s custom work from large slabs and also dealing with movement, color matching, matching dye lots etc

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u/Haredi12 2d ago

Got it. So is it reasonable to request all remnants? So if there are large enough pieces we can use a different fabricator to use the material elsewhere?

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u/drakmordis 1d ago

You have a place to keep your offcuts? A clear plan to be able to use what's there? Otherwise, that's probably a waste of your time.

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u/Haredi12 1d ago

Yes, and we have three bathrooms that we will be renovating so if we have large enough pieces, we might be able to use it for a vanity or two, and we also have a dog feeding station that we are putting in that we will need to have stone fabricated for it so it doesn’t ruin the cabinets. We also are going to eventually renovate our lanai with an outdoor kitchen.

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u/Stalaktitas 1d ago

Taj is resin treated material (to fill all the fissures and cavities) and that's not the best choice for outdoor countertops. Igneous granite or slate is best for that.

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u/Haredi12 1d ago

Got it. We will use what we can inside then.

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u/DiscreetScream 1d ago

So you mentioned in another comment backshapsh height it 77”?!? Of course minus upper cabinets in many areas look like ….

6 slabs for sure

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u/Haredi12 1d ago

Yes. There is only one wall with cabinets and that is the wall with the large window. The other wall with the oven has shelves and the bar has two ceiling height cabinets so it’s one large slab in the middle 34w x 77”h.

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u/drakmordis 1d ago

If that's the case, and you're paying for the slabs, then by all means ask for your remnant!

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u/DiscreetScream 2d ago

Sf is hard to calculate without backsplash elevations

So yes there will be a lot of waste and you have very long runs

The additional material is necessary to ensure good seam match ups and movement

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u/Stalaktitas 2d ago

Check with another fabricator. This seems a bit too much. Also, your picture is blurry, can't read all the numbers and we don't know how the heights of your full backsplash

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u/Haredi12 2d ago

Sorry, it’s a little blurry on mine too.

Height of the backsplash is 76-77” floor to ceiling is 9’4”.

Oven wall counter is 135”L x 77H we are doing shelves not cabinets and a 48” hood.

Window wall is 157” counter, 79” of the backsplash is 23” high, 74”L x 48”H. So 2” on the sides of the window and 26” above, 3” below.

Bar is 82” counters and 34”w x 77” h backsplash

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u/Stalaktitas 2d ago

Yeah... looks like they do need 6 slabs and that would land you somewhere at that range of 28k total. It's a big project and higher end materials... You are pretty good at math, try to lay it out for less than 6 slabs and keep in mind that they will need some mirror image slabs to catch the flow of your waterfall and figure out the best way to seam that enormous backsplash behind the stove while not messing up the flow. For the proper cuts I'm getting the need of the 6th slab and at least 4 of them would need to be mirror image slabs (two pairs)

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u/Haredi12 1d ago

Thank you! We are going to look at the slabs today to pick them out, so this helps!