Project stalled with someone else? We do take over unfinished work. Bring the drawings, the permit number and the last invoice, and we will tell you honestly what finishing it costs. Call 000-000-0000
A slab of marble is not a product, it is a slice of a specific block, and the piece two slabs along can look meaningfully different. So we do not sell stone from a sample chip. You come and see the slab your kitchen will be cut from, we photograph it with the layout drawn on, and you approve where the veining lands — down the island, around the waterfall, and up the backsplash if it is going there.
Templating is the other half. We template on top of the cabinets after they are installed and levelled, using a laser, never off a drawing. That is why a properly fitted counter has no shim gap behind the backsplash and why the sink cut-out lines up with the cabinet below it. A counter templated from plans in a room that is out of square arrives needing packing, and it never quite recovers.
And we will talk you out of things. Marble around a sink will etch, book-matching costs real money and only works on the right material, and a mitred porcelain edge is a fabrication skill rather than a purchase. All three are worth knowing before you choose, not after.
Choosing the material honestly
The short version. There is a fuller comparison on the materials guide, including how each behaves after a decade.
Marble
The most beautiful and the least forgiving. It etches on contact with anything acidic and no sealer prevents it. Right for people who want a surface that records its own life; wrong for anyone who will be upset by the first ring.
Quartzite
Natural stone with the look of marble and much of the toughness of granite. The catch is that a lot of what is sold as quartzite is dolomitic marble and etches exactly like marble. We test before we buy.
Engineered quartz
Non-porous, consistent, forgiving and entirely predictable. It cannot take a hot pan and it cannot be refinished, and the printed veining repeats on a very large island unless the layout is planned.
Porcelain slab
Effectively indestructible and unaffected by heat or acid. Large formats mean a shower wall with almost no joints. Its weakness is the edge, which must be properly mitred to read as stone.
Solid timber
Warm, repairable and cheap by comparison. Not for either side of a sink unless you are genuinely willing to maintain the oil, which most people discover they are not.
Stainless and zinc
Professional, hygienic and honest about ageing. Zinc darkens and marks from day one, which is either the entire point or a complaint waiting to happen.
The fabrication decisions that show
Two counters in the same material can look very different. This is where that difference is made.
Edge profile
A slim eased edge reads contemporary, a thicker mitred edge reads substantial and costs more because it is built up from two pieces. On porcelain and thin slabs a mitre is not optional if you want it to look like stone.
Seam placement
Every kitchen over about ten feet has a seam. Where it goes is a decision — behind a tap, at a cabinet break, never across a cut-out — and a fabricator who does not discuss it with you will place it where it is convenient to cut.
Book-matching
Adjacent slabs opened like a book so the veining mirrors. Spectacular on a backsplash or a waterfall island, and it requires consecutive slabs from the same block, reserved at the time of selection.
Waterfall ends
The veining is mitred to run continuously down the side. Done well it is the single most striking detail in a kitchen; done badly the mismatch at the corner is the only thing anyone sees.
Sink installation
Undermount for stone, with the reveal specified — positive, flush or negative. It is a small detail that changes how the counter cleans and how it looks.
Drainer grooves and hot rods
Machined into the stone beside the sink, and steel rods set into the underside across a cut-out to stop a narrow section cracking. The second one is invisible and it prevents the most common failure in a stone counter.
Countertops & Surfaces in western Queens
Slabs chosen from the block, templated on your fitted cabinets, and cut so the veining runs where you want it.
Every job of this kind starts the same way: somebody climbs it, photographs it, and writes down what is actually wrong before anybody quotes a price. The survey is free, the report is yours, and you are under no obligation to use us for the work it recommends.
Questions
Countertops & Surfaces — the questions we are asked most
Do I get to choose the actual slab?
Yes, and for marble and quartzite you should insist on it anywhere you buy stone. We take you to the yard, you approve the specific slab, and we photograph it with your layout drawn on so you can see exactly where the veining will land on the island and the backsplash before anything is cut.
How much does a kitchen countertop cost?
A typical Woodside kitchen of around 40 to 55 square feet including an island runs $4,500 to $8,800 in engineered quartz, and $7,200 to $19,000 in marble or quartzite. Waterfall ends and a full-height stone backsplash are the two options that most move the total.
Will marble stain and etch?
It will etch, which is different from staining — it is a dull mark where an acid has eaten the polish, and it happens within seconds of lemon juice or wine. Sealing reduces staining but does nothing about etching. A honed finish hides it far better than a polished one. This is a lifestyle choice and we would rather have the conversation before you buy.
How long does it take from choosing to fitting?
Templating happens once the cabinets are in and levelled, and fabrication is typically ten to fifteen working days after that. That gap is normal and it is planned into the programme — a kitchen has its cabinets, sink and tap in place and then waits for stone. Choosing the material late is what turns that into a delay.
Can you seam the counter where it will not show?
We can place it where it is least visible and least structurally risky, which is usually at a cabinet break, behind a tap, or at a change of direction — never across a sink or hob cut-out. On a long run a seam is unavoidable; where it goes is a decision we make with you rather than at the saw.
Do you replace just the countertop?
Yes, frequently, and it is one of the best-value things you can do to a tired kitchen. New stone, a new sink and tap, and new hardware on existing boxes transforms a room for a fraction of a remodel. We check the cabinets will take the weight and are level enough first.
Related
Often needed alongside this
Kitchen & Bath
Kitchen Remodeling
A measured design, a fixed price and one firm doing the drawings, the approvals, the cabinetry and the stone.
Read more
Kitchen & Bath
Bathroom Remodeling
Waterproofing done properly, stone set flat, and a small room made to feel considerably larger than it is.
Read more
Kitchen & Bath
Custom Cabinetry & Millwork
Cabinetry drawn to the millimetre and scribed to walls that are never straight — from our own studio or the partner houses.
Read moreFree survey, written quote, fixed price
Book a free measured survey
Tell us the room, the building and roughly what you are hoping to spend, and we will tell you honestly whether those three things are in the same place. The survey and the written quote are free, and the Design Study fee is credited in full against a build contract.