Summary: Choosing countertop materials is a normal part of a ground-up kitchen renovation. The question is this: when is that choice made? Once it is made, can you change your mind?
Imagine gutting your kitchen down to the studs and starting over. You have so many dreams of what you want the finished product to look like. Among them are the new kitchen countertops you hope will be the centerpiece of your home. But at what point do you choose countertop materials?
The Bedrock Quartz philosophy goes something like this: choosing countertops isn’t a one-and-done thing. It’s actually a process that includes multiple phases. You could make a single choice during the design stage and never change your mind, but that’s not the norm.
The Construction Timeline
Ground-up kitchen renovations tend to follow a well-defined timeline. You start with an architect drawing up plans. Those plans are then put through the design stage and approved before any demolition is done. The next step is to gut the kitchen and make any repairs or modifications needed before starting the new build-out.
The build-out phase involves most of the actual construction work. It is followed by the finishing phase. All along the way, your idea about countertop materials will come into play. For our purposes, there are three stages at which you might want to make different decisions.
Stage #1: Early Planning
The early planning stage fits nicely into the project’s design phase. This is where you and your designer are trying to solidify the look you’re looking for. You’ll also be discussing kitchen layout, countertop functionality, in more.
In this stage, you might narrow down your choices. For example, you might decide you definitely don’t want wood or laminate. You’ve pretty much settled on stone, you are just not quite sure if you want a natural product like granite or quartzite or a manufactured quartz product. One of the keys here is understanding that the countertop usually determines the color palette for the entire kitchen.
Stage #2: Slab Selection
The slab selection stage occurs around the same time you order your cabinets. This is where you would come into a Bedrock Quartz showroom, look at some slabs, and make your choice. You would be free to ask questions you might have at that time.
This is the time to learn as much as you can about each stone product. You want to learn about durability, maintenance, sealing, in so forth. It is also important to understand how each stone material fits into your lifestyle. There is no point in putting your money into quartz if marble is more suitable for how you and your family live.
Stage #3: Countertop Templating
The third stage is the point of no return: it is the templating stage. Templating occurs after your cabinets are installed. Once a template is complete and you sign off on it, there is no changing your mind. Once the slab is initially cut, it is a done deal.
At any point prior, you could return to the showroom and choose a different slab. You could also decide to go with manufactured quartz instead of genuine quartzite. In essence, we can accommodate any changes to your material choices up until the point that the slab is actually cut.
Making the Right Choice, The First Time
It is not too big a deal when customers change their minds about countertop materials. And we certainly don’t want a customer sticking with an original choice just to avoid giving us more work to do. At the end of the project, we want you to be 100% happy with your choice.
Having said all that, we also want to give customers every opportunity to make the right choice the first time. As with all ground-up renovation projects, fewer mid-project changes mean fewer budgetary and timeline issues.
1. Be Realistic About Wear and Tear
For starters, it is important to be realistic about wear and tear. Maybe your current kitchen countertops take a lot of abuse because your family is an active one. Be honest about that. You may temporarily change your habits once your new countertops are installed, but you will remain an active family. Whatever material you choose needs to withstand the punishment you deliver.
2. Consider Short- and Long-Term Maintenance
Next, consider each material’s short- and long-term maintenance needs. At the low end of the maintenance scale is quartz. It never needs to be sealed. In terms of routine cleaning, mild soap and a cloth are sufficient. At the other end of the scale are granite and marble. They need to be resealed on a regular basis, so you are looking at long-term maintenance. Day-to-day, you need to be careful about cleaning up spills to avoid stains.
3. Look at the Rest of the House
Aesthetics are not necessarily as important as durability and maintenance, but they still matter. We recommend looking at the entire house to determine if your new kitchen fits the overall aesthetic. If not, your countertop choice could stick out like a sore thumb. Then again, that may be the look you’re after. It’s entirely up to you how your new kitchen fits in with the rest of the spaces in the home.
Things Most People Miss
There are a few things most people miss about new countertops when making their choices. Rest assured that the Bedrock Quartz team is here to help you dot all your I’s and cross all your T’s. That being the case, put so thought into:
- Overhang – The amount of overhang will affect the comfort of your workspace and island (if applicable).
- Sink Integration – Countertop choices have a direct impact on sync options. Ask if you’re unsure how.
- Lighting – The lighting in your kitchen will impact what your countertops look like. We try to mimic typical lighting in our showroom, but things will not look exactly the same.
Choosing countertop materials can be overwhelming. The good news is that you can always change your mind up until templating occurs. And if you make your choice early and stick with it, good for you!
FAQs
Can I change my sink after templating?
No, fabricators need precise measurements in order to begin cutting slabs. To change your mind after the initial cuts would mean paying for an entirely new slab. But even if the initial cuts haven’t been made, changing your mind post-templating will delay your project by weeks.
Will slab thickness affect my cabinet height?
Yes. It is best to have accurate cabinet height measurements when it comes time to pick your slab. If you’re thinking you want a thicker slab, you might want to order your cabinets with a slightly lower height.
Will my floor have to be reinforced to accommodate natural stone?
In most cases, code-compliant flooring can support a stone countertop just fine. However, floor reinforcements will be up to your architect and builder.
Will I have to wait several weeks for installation following my cabinets being put in?
Yes. There is typically a 10–14-day delay because we cannot template until your cabinets are installed. Templating requires precise measurements. So if we did not wait for cabinetry, we couldn’t get things right.
