Either way I would make sure you can select the actual slab being used, not just select from a tiny sample. I would personally go with a repeatable fabricator & have them give you an estimate.

You can ask who each company uses in your area as fabricators and investigate reviews/reputation, etc. Also check pricing directly with those companies. For my kitchen Curava counters, I worked directly with their approved fabricator who then became the Lowes fabricator for Curava so I would have gotten the same company anyway and the price to me directly was same as what Lowes was charging. Some people feel more secure having a big company as middleman in case of problems (in that the risk to fabricator is losing the big account vs. just an individual annoyed person) but I liked the personal attention and having a contact right at the fabricator for questions. If you get your counters during a kitchen sale at IKEA and your total $ amount meets the minimum, you can use the sale discount on the counters. We decided not to do that for our in-progress bathroom remodel with a long run of IKEA Sektion b/c we liked our kitchen fabricators and wanted to stick with a local company (our closest IKEA is 90 miles away so good luck getting the installers back for any minor issues). Last thing is to check with local companies to see what they have on hand in a remnant program. Our company maintains a list of what's on hand and I was surprised that the sizes were often quite big.

A big box fabricator will be certified for whatever material they use, so if you select Dupont Zodiac, you'll get a ceritified Dupont fabricator. The big box stores also sell a cheaper line, at Lowe's it's Allen and Roth, and they're still good products but many have a higher resin content than Silestone, Dupont or Caesarstone, for instance. Also read reviews of the fabricator. Even though you're going through Home Depot, their contracted fabricator usually has a company name and often does work for customers outside of their big box work. You should be able to find reviews.

With the Craigslister's exception, the big boxes will not be beaten on price; end of story.

We got quartz countertops (Caesarstone) through IKEA. When we bought they were doing a countertop sale, but they did a kitchen sale a few weeks later that was even better. We took our receipt in and received a refund for the discount difference.

The fabricator was fantastic. We have two different colors; one on our island, and one on the perimeter. Our seams are amazing... one behind our farmhouse sink, and one in our 11' island. (We did check to see what pricing was if we ordered directly from them, because they were also doing a sale... 25% off vs. IKEA's original 10%. They were considerably higher.)

Our total price after the discount was about $4800. We have ~84sf, with two sink cutouts and the standard eased edge. We did have to pay a distance fee (included in that total), but we would probably have had to pay that with anyone, because we live in a remote mountain town.

" (We did check to see what pricing was if we ordered directly from them, because they were also doing a sale... 25% off vs. IKEA's original 10%. They were considerably higher.)"

Local fabricators cannot compete with big boxes on price; they will go broke trying. They do not buy material in the quantities that IKEA does, so aren't in the same negotiating position, therefore they will never get the material as inexpensively.

The fabricator earns the same money on the discounted job; the savings is coming out of Caesarstone's hide.

I compete quite well on countertops with the box stores most of the time. But I am lucky enough to have a couple great fabricators that stock their own material and can offer great prices to me on about 50 colors of quartz and granite. I have priced home depot to see where I am with them. Some of their colors are lower, some are higher and some are the same....and those prices change from week to week. Have you ever seen a HD countertop contract? They are responsible for nothing if something goes wrong! The homeowner is on their own for making sure it goes smooth. I help my clients pick out colors, edge profiles, seam locations, previewing slab layout....etc etc. You won't get that service with a box store. Even if I am a few hundred more, I think we're worth it.

Kitchen Place:

I never said the big boxes were the best value. Thanks.

@Hillside House Did they also demo your old countertop? Did you have backsplash put in as well and was that through ikea or a separate contractor?

Were I you, I'd go with a reputable independent fabricator - A far safer option than the big fish who's all about price.

Do your homework on this. A lot of counter installation issues are could have been prevented by owners who can't be faulted for not knowing initially, but can be faulted for not finding out before blindly diving in.

I would go to one or two local fabricators and let them give you an estimate after you have Home Depot’s.

For us, Viscont White granite and Soapstone, the local fabricator was cheaper.

elesia-st: No, because it was a total gut. We didn’t do a backsplash with them, but we did do a windowsill above our sink.

I am a fabricator. About once a year I go to HD to get a bid. My lowest price stone is usually cheaper than HD's lowest price after they add all the extra charges. The finished quality of the quartz and stone in their showroom is not bad, about what I'd consider average; not the same as my normal but we're pretty fussy.

I've beaten HD prices myself for my neighbor's solid surface bathroom tops and made a little money doing it. I matched their price, but threw in the demo and plumbing.

Bought granite through Home Depot. Their fabricator sent me to MSI for slabs (3). Granite price was good and fabricator was excellent.

m_gabriel, If you were to find a large remnant, how would you go about getting it cut and installed?

elesla_st, oldryder makes a good point. The big boxes generally charge extra for an edge profile and to undermount a sink. I tell everyone who comes in asking if I can beat HD's or Lowe's square foot price that when you add the extra charges, we usually come out the same. Plus, there's a lower hassle factor and if my fabricator messes up, I can get someone on the phone who wants to make it right. Once a fabricator has signed a contract with a big box, it's set in stone. An individual designer can't not do business with them. A smaller firm can decide to yank their business if a fabricator isn't doing right by them.

We don't have an IKEA in our area, so I can't speak to their service, pricing etc.

@Britta This is exactly what we plan on doing. After we get measurements and quotes from HD we plan to shop around and get quotes from fabricators.

@elesia_st : That’s a good plan then! I was very surprised, but it is as the others said, all the extras that are not included in the per sqft price at Home Depot / Lowes Push their price up quite a bit.
Let us know what how the comparison pans out :)

For my third stone project -- I am an experienced home renovator. Thirty square feet is a remnant but some fabricators charge the same for whole slab cuts as they do for remnants. It just depends. I will never go back to my high end fabricator who did my kitchen, and my master bath vanities. And a bar top. Perhaps it is because personnel have changed, but they did not offer me best pricing on remnants. And another fabricator (eurostone) offered me remnant pricing on whole slabs. I ended up purchasing a high end remnant, from my previous fabricator, and another high end remnant from a company that I had never worked with before. I am not wholly satisfied with fabrication and will ask them back. But the price was $under 2000 instead of close to 3K.

When I asked my high end fabricator to fix my kitchen countertops (Blue Pearl, high end granite) because they had settled, the estimator would not guarantee replacement. In other words, their renovation did not last ten years, and they charged me for four slabs when three should have been sufficient. I did not know enough then to ask to see the lay out on the slabs. I paid for an extra slab to reduce the number of cuts, when I think I was just adding a slab so that someone would have a remnant for their home renovation project (my contractor's beach house?)

The estimator was quickly shown the door when he would not guarantee replacement of the slabs when their work had made the repair necessary.

-- then when I chose marble for my master bath -- I tried to save them funds -- and they still charged me thousands more than I expected. Yet still, I went back again, and spent way more time than I should have trying to get a good price. I felt that I had earned a good price on my downstairs bar, but they made me work for it . The only reason I went with them in the end is because they had the better fabricators. MarbleX is trading on past reputation, and treat the trade better than repeat customers who are designers working on their own homes. They are not worth the time and trouble unless you give them a lot of repeat business as a pro, not a homeowner.

Definitely shop after you get your estimate. Turns out the granite yard/fabricator who did my countertops also does the fabrication and installation for Home Depot but I'm not sure if Home Depot lets you approve layout and seam placement before installation. My fabricator called me in to approve and sign off on both before they scheduled install. Their price also included an option of about 4 edge profiles and the undermount sink installation.

if it's a small, simple countertop, look into pre-fabricated counters. they come in granite, marble, quartz, etc. $300-$600 for a 9' counter. hire a fabricator to cut it for your kitchen dimensions. (usually another 600-1000)

Thanks @beth. We do not have alot of countertops. Would you consider this kitchen to have simple layout where pre fabricated countertops could work? What shape would you consider our kitchen to be? I know its not U shaped, or L shaped...

elesia_st:

You could probably make prefabricated tops work, but I'd suggest a 36" short apron front sink as it would reduce the length of your seams by 90%.

Thank you for that suggestion @joesph. I have been getting feedback that apron sinks will be more difficult and cost more because they will have to cut the bottom of the sink to make it fit. Is that true? Does reducing the seams out weigh having to customize the cabinets for fit?

elesia:

It is particularly easy to retrofit a Kohler 3943 especially when the tops are being replaced because now the cabinet front doesn't have to be removed and reinstalled. Yes, you've got to alter the cabinet; 3 cuts in 3 minutes. Hack away; crap cuts are covered.

I believe the Kohler Whitehaven 7" short apron sink allows you to replace the sink without altering the cabinets.

We received our quotes and decided to go with a private fabricator. We decided on colonial white granite, white subway tile with gray grout, and a square undermount sink. We plan to paint the cabinets SW Pure White!

This is the look we are going for minus the apron sink.

Well good to hear it.

Do check references, thoroughly.

And while you have a paint in mind don't settle on it as yet if at all possible. Once things are in place, they often look different.Your layout, proportions, natural and artificial light etc all affect the look and the wrong paint shade can spoil it all.

Sounds great. Be sure that the fabricator allows you to see the counter top layout, including where seams will go, before they cut the granite. Mine insisted that I approve the layout and sign off before they would cut it.

@Najeebah So true. Paint will be our last step. Everything else will be completed first to make sure SW Pure White is what we want!

@katinparadise The fabricator has pretty good reviews. I did ask them if we could pick out the exact slab of colonial white and they said yes! They said some people want to pick it out and others don't, but I assured him we definitely want to pick it out. We did ask about the seams. They will be where the sink is located so we shouldn't be able to see it. How many times does the granite need to be sealed? Once or twice?