Countertop Material Comparison Calculator

On the 18-linear-ft reference kitchen, quartz's blended $110/sq ft runs about $5/sq ft above granite — but granite carries a required install-time penetrating sealer (~$275), which leaves the two install bills within about $84 of each other at this size. The real separation is ownership: granite adds roughly $1,925 of resealing over 15 years when it's hired out, while quartz needs nothing — leaving quartz about $2,009 cheaper to own. Reseal yourself and granite closes most of that gap.

Test it with water drops every 6 months: if the stone darkens within 10–15 minutes, the seal is gone. Fox Granite's 2026 guide puts reseal intervals at 6–12 months for light porous stone, 1–2 years for medium tones and 2–3+ for dark dense granite, with professional resealing at $200–$420 per kitchen and DIY kits at $25–$65. This model reseals every 2 years — 7 treatments over 15 years.

Both run ≈ $4,683 installed here, but marble is calcite: lemon juice, wine and vinegar etch the polish, and it's porous enough to want sealing every year. That's 12 reseals plus 3 professional honing visits (Rose Restoration quotes $500–$1,500 per countertop to re-hone and re-polish, sealing included) — about $6,300 of care, roughly $6,575 more than quartz over 15 years. Skip the honing and live with the etch marks and the math tightens — that's a lifestyle choice, not a cost saving.

The most commonly cited lifespan is 10–15 years — seams swell where water sits, burns and scratches don't repair — though gentle owners stretch them to 20. Fixr's 2026 guide says it plainly: cheaper materials may need replacement sooner. This model budgets one full replacement around year 12, which is why laminate's 15-year total (about $3,766) lands near butcher block and quartz territory. If your laminate is holding up at year 15, subtract the ~$1,883 line and it's unbeatable.

Food-safe mineral oil wiped on about monthly — roughly $25 a year, $375 over the horizon here. Cut marks and stains sand out with ordinary sandpaper and a re-oiling, which is why no professional budget is modeled. The trade-off against its modest ~$3,826 15-year total: it's the only option here that can't handle a wet glass left overnight or a pan off the stove.

Yes — engineered quartz is non-porous, so no sealing, ever; that's the whole reason its care line is $0 in this model. Two cautions: resin binds the stone, so a hot pan can scorch it permanently (trivets are cheap), and direct sun can discolor it — a reason some owners still pick granite for sun-drenched kitchens despite the sealing schedule. There's also a repair asymmetry: a chipped granite corner can usually be re-bonded with color-matched epoxy, while quartz chips and gouges are hard to make invisible — worth knowing before a hard-use kitchen commits to it.

The sink and faucet themselves, plumbing disconnect/reconnect, decorative edge profiles (they add the same $10–$60 per linear foot to every material, so they don't change the ranking), full-height tile or slab splash, cabinet reinforcement for heavy stone, disposal of the old top unless you toggle it, and inflation — future care is priced in today's dollars, which is the honest way to compare materials against each other. Seams are material-independent too: slabs come off the bed in fixed sizes, so a run longer than roughly nine feet needs a seam whether it's granite, quartz or marble — your layout, not the material, decides where.