Worktops are quoted by the job, not by the metre, which is why two kitchens of the same size can come back with very different figures. The stone itself is only part of it. This guide sets out what actually shapes the price of a granite, quartz or sintered stone worktop in Ireland, so you can read a quotation properly and know which questions to ask before you commit. Still deciding on a material? Start with our sintered stone vs granite vs quartz comparison, or browse our stone collections.
The short answer
Why There Is No Single Price Per Metre
A worktop is cut from a slab, and a slab is a fixed size. The moment your layout is drawn onto it, the cost is set less by how much stone ends up in your kitchen and more by how much of the slab your shapes consume. A long straight run nests efficiently. An island with a waterfall end, a peninsula and a tall upstand can use most of a second slab for a modest amount of finished surface.
That is the honest reason a reputable supplier will not publish one number. What we can do is show you exactly which decisions move the figure, so nothing in your quotation arrives as a surprise.
Six things set the figure
- The material and the individual slab you choose
- How your layout nests onto that slab, including offcut and waste
- Edge profile and thickness, especially mitred or waterfall details
- Cutouts for sinks, hobs, taps and sockets
- Upstands, splashbacks and drainer detailing
- Access and installation on the day
Cost driver one
The Material, and the Slab Itself
Granite is quarried natural stone. No two slabs are identical, and the more striking the movement and colouring, the rarer the block it came from and the more it commands. Quartz is engineered, so colour and pattern stay consistent from slab to slab, and the range runs from plain, quietly practical shades up to heavily veined designs that are priced closer to premium natural stone. Sintered stone sits at the technical end, valued for its hardness and heat resistance rather than for rarity.
Within any one of those families the spread is wide. It is entirely normal for two quartz worktops in the same kitchen shape to differ substantially simply because of the design chosen. Material is a decision, not a fixed input, and it is usually the single largest lever you control.
Our material comparison guide sets out how the three perform in daily use, which is worth reading before you narrow down on looks alone.
Worth knowing
- Natural stone is sold by the slab, and slabs vary even within one name
- Engineered quartz gives predictable colour across a large kitchen
- Heavily veined designs need careful set out, which uses more of the slab
- Always view the actual slab where you can, rather than a sample tile alone
Cost driver two
Fabrication: Where the Work Actually Happens
Between choosing a slab and standing in a finished kitchen sits the part most people never see. Your kitchen is templated on site once the cabinets are in, so the measurements reflect the room as built rather than the room as drawn. That template is then set out on the slab, cut, profiled, polished and finished before anything is delivered.
Each of those stages carries real time and real skill, and they are the reason a worktop quotation is a manufacturing price rather than a shelf price. A quote that looks unusually low is often quoting a thinner stone, a simpler edge, or leaving fitting and sealing to somebody else.
You can see how we handle each stage on our installation process page.
What fabrication covers
- On-site templating after the cabinets are fitted
- Setting out the template on the slab, including vein matching
- Cutting, edge profiling and polishing
- Cutouts for sinks, hobs, taps and any pop-up sockets
- Delivery, fitting, jointing and sealing on installation day
Cost driver three
The Details That Move the Figure
Most of the variation between one quotation and another comes down to detailing. A waterfall end, where the stone turns down the side of an island in one continuous run, is the clearest example: it needs additional slab, a precisely mitred joint and careful vein matching so the pattern flows around the corner. It is a beautiful detail and it is properly earned work.
The same applies to drainer grooves cut into the stone, undermount sinks that need the aperture polished because the edge is on show, tall upstands, full-height splashbacks and any thickness above the standard. None of these are extras in the sense of padding. Each one is a decision that adds material, machine time or both.
Details worth pricing separately
- Waterfall or mitred ends on an island or peninsula
- Undermount sinks, where the cut edge is visible and polished
- Drainer grooves machined into the surface
- Upstands, window boards and full-height splashbacks
- Increased thickness, or a built-up edge to imitate it
- Curves, radius corners and anything not a straight cut
Planning an island? Our island sizing and layout guide covers the dimensions behind these decisions, and island worktop ideas shows the finished results.
Reading a quotation
Comparing Two Quotes Properly
If you have two figures in front of you and one is noticeably lower, the useful question is not which is cheaper but whether they describe the same worktop. Very often they do not. One may be 20mm stone against 30mm, a laminated edge against solid, or a price that stops at delivery while the other includes fitting, jointing and sealing.
Ask both suppliers to itemise the same six things and the comparison becomes straightforward. A worktop is fitted once and lived with for decades, so the value sits in getting the specification right rather than in shaving the invoice.
Ask every supplier the same six questions
- Which material and which specific slab or design is quoted?
- What thickness, and is the edge solid or built up?
- Are templating, delivery, fitting and sealing all included?
- How many cutouts are allowed, and what does an extra one cost?
- Where will any joints fall, and how will they be finished?
- What happens if the site measurements differ from the plan?
Getting an accurate figure
What to Send Us for a Real Quotation
A rough figure needs very little. An accurate one needs a plan. Send the following and we can price your kitchen properly rather than give you a range that changes later.
Send us these
- A kitchen plan with worktop runs marked and dimensioned
- The material or design you are drawn to, or a shortlist
- Thickness and the edge profile you have in mind
- Sink and hob models, and whether the sink is undermount
- Any upstands, splashbacks or window boards you want included
- Your county, and roughly when the kitchen will be ready to template
Not sure on some of it? That is normal at this stage. Send what you have and we will tell you what still needs deciding, and what it changes.
Plan your worktop on notjustgranite.ie
Not Just Granite · Galway, Ireland
Get a worktop price
built on your actual plan
Send us your kitchen plan and the material you have in mind, and we will come back with a properly itemised quotation rather than a headline figure. Family-run stone specialists in Galway since 2003, from concept through to completion.
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