Pental quartz has the most reasonable price point around here about $1000 a slab for their basic colors. I know it is not everywhere though....I am in the PNW

Which color of Zodiaq did you want? That would help people suggest alternatives in Corian, other quartz brands, and other materials.

It is Savory. It pulled both warm grays and neutral beige. I have a Blanco Truffle sink and it looked awesome with it. Neutrals that don't go too warm that have a hint of gray.

DH and I were planning for a laminate counter in our new kitchen, but we fell head over heels in love with a Cambria pattern. It was a significant splurge, but I'm glad we did it.

Can you cut back somewhere else?

You may try Silestone; I've heard their pricing can be a bit less. (Silestone Bamboo seems to be the most similar, but is in the higher Group 4 price band). But, be sure to seek out other well recommended dealers/fabricators -- and don't fret about the Big Box or Warehouse Clubs, most people have found their pricing to be high.

I've seen Corian and comparable Solid Surface brands for less than typical quartz.

Here is a link that might be useful: Silestone Bamboo

Do you have access to Stone-Design Color Quartz? We are in the midwest - I think they pattern their colors close to silestone. Might be worth a check, they were more reasonable.

ColorQuartz Stone

Cambria is only 63 sq/ft in my area. That is installed any pattern with any edge you'd like. Much cheaper than other quartz and any of the corian (witch hazel, raincloud etc) options we liked.

The thing about the quartz brands that you have to buy entire slabs for the jobs is that even though the per slab quote looks inexpensive on the front in, youare overbuying for what you need. And youstill have to pay the same labor.

So, do the math here. If you have an average kitchen with 60 square feet, if you look at a $80 sf quartz ( fabricated and installed) then you are looking at a basic price o $4800. If you are looking at a quartz that has a whsale slab price of $1000, you will need 2 45 sf slabs. That's 2K, plus 60 sf of fabrication labor at $30 a sf, for $1800. Thats's $3800, so 1K of savings.

Or is it? What usually happens is that the premium faricators who sell by the square foot instead of the slab offer several freebies in the mix becase they get to keep the remnants. Like free edges, and free sinks. If you have to add $300 fora bullnose edge, and the $ 500 for a sink, and $ 200 for the sink bumpou, and another $ 200 to radius the island corners, where the guy who charges by the square foot includes most of that at no charge, who's saving what?

The bottom line is to get COMPLETE quotes from eveyone, and don't be so sure thatt buying the Asian knockoffs actually save you any real money for the uncertainty of their long term quality. The name brands have a long history of quality and customer service. And that's an important part of what you are purchasing. It' not just about the lowest price that you can possibly pay for a knockoff.

In mid-February there is a Home and Remodel Expo at exposition hall at the state fairgrounds. It'll bring in vendors from all over the Milwaukee metro area and (generally) they have specials and deals, etc. My plan is to go with copies of countertop schematic and see if I can pull a wide range of quotes on the Zodiaq and any alternative option. This is cutting it close for someone like me who plans in advance as our job will be ready for a countertop measure a week to ten days after the expo. I'll have to have a runner up option if this doesn't pan out

If you're open to a different island and perimeter, you could go looking for off cuts for the island! Love ours, steal of a deal at 50 percent off square foot for materials (but same price fabrication).

iheartgiantschnauzer where are you located? I live in MN (home of cambria) and when I was looking at it over the last couple months it was upwards of 100/sq ft installed from multiple sources. 63 is a bargain price IMHO

If you live in West Coast, you should look at Pental. I got three 119"x55" slabs for about $2500.

Quartz is worth the splurge! I'll never go back to laminate, acrylic or granite. I love my Silestone tops! Best countertops I've ever had. I would rather use plywood for a year and save for my tops than to use an acrylic or laminate product. The average cost difference between them is probably $800 on an average size kitchen.

You are doing this a little backwards. You first find the fabricator with a good rep, and then ask him what brands he carries that will be budget oriented. Looking for the cheapest price often results in major heartache when that also comes with the worst service. Find the person first, and the material second.

And, getting your heart set on a particular color also greatly limits your choices if you are on a budget. Be more open to other colors working in your space, and your budget may possibly stretch to get the material. It's like deciding that you want a car that will go 200 mph, only to find that they are all million dollar cars. Sometimes, the car that can go 100 mph, carry a bag of groceries, and get 25 mpg is a better compromise for all concerned.

All I can say is, if you're going to live with this kitchen for a long time, do what you can to get the counters you love. In our last house, when we remodeled the first time (1986), we decided to save money on the counters and did a dark grey laminate, figuring we could "change them later". Which we did - 20 YEARS LATER when we remodeled the kitchen again. (That time we went with two different granites, this time, new apartment, we went with Ceasarstone Organic White, which we love).

Op, you live in the MKE area. Have you checked Zuerns?

So, as I'm rereading the thread I think I might understand what's happening. Looking at shape and layout of counters, I've got no more than 1.5 slabs needed for the kitchen, but my quote feels higher because they are charging me for a full two slabs. I'm told some offer at 1/2 slab increments. Not sure if that is specific lines of quartz or the fabricators. Anyone know any quartz lines that sell by the 1/2 slab?

Zap- 100 for Cambria? Ouch! We priced Cambria last year in Cincinnati, Indianapolis, and Louisville. We were renovating two kitchens at two houses in the triangle of these 3 metropolitan areas. All Cambria quotes fell within 63-69 sq/ft. Otoh our corian quotes were outrageous at 80-109 sq/ft. I never imagined the home of Cambria would charge more. Sorry for the suggestion.

Colorquartz sells half slabs. Or find a large enough fabricator who can sell just the square footage you have. Mine is like that. They don't charge you for the waste, which is nice.

We live in the PNW and have Pentalquartz like calumin and Kam76. It is made by Vicostone, a company out of Vietnam using the same method of manufacture, Breton of Italy. All the name brands use this same Breton technology to make their quartz slabs. You may have to hunt around to see who carries Vicostone in your area.

It was much more affordable than the brand names. I think about $68 sf. We chose Tobacco/Bianco Romano BQ9420P, cream/taupe/grey with black veining and garnet dots. Our whole job of 36.5 sf, galley kitchen, with one seam, cost approx $2,500.00. We bought our Kraus undermount SS 30inch sink on line from Amazon, which saved money on the fabricator supplying the sink.

They make a color called Oyster that looks similar to your Savory. They have other very pretty colors that you might like.

I hope that you'll have luck finding an affordable quartz surface, because you'll love having quartz counters. :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Pental/Vicostone link

zaphod42:

Your home show low bidder strategy has the potential to blow up very badly. The longer you shop, the lower the price will go. When you find someone who'll do it for less, you're going to make every rationalization possible to convince yourself to go with them.

I just ordered more Hercules Universal Sink Harnesses, a 20 pack this time because the last 10 only lasted me a few months. I don't even ask customers why they don't call the original fabricator to reconnect the sink anymore because I already know the answer. He's out of business. Why? He didn't know his costs and therefore couldn't know his prices.

Five or six grand comes and goes in life, but unlike your countertop, you don't see the cash every morning when you make your coffee.

I wouldn't mix Corian with a stone product. Could you do a wood top on the island?

The big boxes here had a couple quartz manufacturers available as I recall. I guess those colors did not pan out for you.

P.S. Choosing the highest bidder does not guarantee a quality job. I wouldn't consider highest bidder to be any indication or consideration at all unless I knew, as a solid fact, it would correspond to paying for very good craftsmen with the necessary technical knowledge, experience and skills.

Snookums - I totally agree. Just because it is expensive, doesn't mean it is good. My parents got their quartz through Menards and it looks beautifully done. The idea for using the show is to gain a wide sampling of vendors in one location - 10 quotes are better than 3 IMHO. They all will also have their samples out so that there will be alternatives and they are all NARI certified. If you're looking for a wide pool, it seems like the thing to do. I'm also not planning to just pick one up like its last call at a singles' bar. I will vet through Angie's List, etc.

bcafe - Thanks for the idea. I contacted Zuerns after your post. They were very helpful and she's going to get together a quote. We talked about the slab or 1/2 slab issue.

kompy - Thank you for the Colorquartz idea. I made an appointment with them for next week to see their samples.

Colorquartz's colors are very similar to Caesarstone....mostly more modern, plain colors or average looking speckled ones. Nothing like Savory. I can't recall any brand having a color similar to Savory.

Have you considered asking for them to bring their price down on the Zodiaq? It probably won't be a lot...maybe $100-$200. There's not a lot of markup on quartz and granite. It doesn't hurt to ask. They might be wiling to do that instead of risking losing your business.

Here is a link that might be useful: COLORS

I also have another local source if you would like to email me. Zuerns are very helpful and a small local biz!