★ CONSTRUCTION · KITCHEN · COMPARISONS
A 40 sq ft kitchen costs $3,400.00 in quartz or $2,800.00 in granite to install — but granite needs resealing every 2 years. Over 10 years the granite costs $3,800.00 against $3,400.00 for quartz, so quartz wins by $400.00. Enter your kitchen size and local prices to see which one wins for you.
Quartz costs more up front and almost nothing after: it is an engineered stone that never needs sealing. Granite costs less to install but it is a natural stone that must be resealed every couple of years, and those reseals add up. Enter your countertop area, the installed price per square foot for each material, and the cost and interval of a granite reseal to see the install cost, the 10-year total, and which material wins.
The comparison has two parts: what each material costs to install, and what it costs to keep. Quartz is an engineered stone — about 90% crushed quartz bound in resin — and the resin makes the surface non-porous, so it never needs sealing and stains barely touch it. Granite is a natural stone, cut straight from the quarry, and it is porous: it must be sealed when it is installed and resealed regularly, or spills soak in and stain. The install price is area times the installed price per square foot; the 10-year total adds the reseals, one every interval years, for 10 years.
At the defaults — 40 sq ft, quartz $85/sq ft, granite $70/sq ft, reseal $200 every 2 years — quartz installs for 40 × $85 = $3,400.00 and granite for 40 × $70 = $2,800.00, so granite starts $600.00 cheaper. Over 10 years granite is resealed 10 ÷ 2 = 5 times, adding 5 × $200.00 = $1,000.00, so its 10-year total is $2,800.00 + $1,000.00 = $3,800.00. Quartz needs no resealing, so its 10-year total stays $3,400.00 — quartz wins by $3,800.00 − $3,400.00 = $400.00.
| Item | Quartz | Granite |
|---|---|---|
| Install cost (40 sq ft) | $3,400.00 | $2,800.00 |
| 10-year total | $3,400.00 | $3,800.00 |
| Install price per sq ft | $85 | $70 |
| Needs resealing? | No — non-porous | Yes — every 2 years |
| Stain resistance | Very high | Good when sealed, poor when the seal wears off |
| Heat resistance | Good to about 300°F; resin can scorch | Excellent — hot pans are fine |
| Durability | Very hard, but can chip at edges | Very hard, can crack if poorly supported |
| Appearance | Consistent pattern, many colours | Unique natural pattern, no two slabs alike |
| Outdoor use | Not recommended — UV fades the resin | Fine outdoors |
Setup: countertop area 40 sq ft; quartz $85/sq ft; granite $70/sq ft; reseal $200 every 2 years.
Line 1 — quartz install. 40 × $85 = $3,400.00.
Line 2 — granite install. 40 × $70 = $2,800.00.
Line 3 — granite reseals. 10 years ÷ 2 years = 5 reseals, at $200.00 each = $1,000.00.
Line 4 — 10-year totals. Quartz: $3,400.00 + $0 = $3,400.00. Granite: $2,800.00 + $1,000.00 = $3,800.00.
Line 5 — the winner. $3,800.00 − $3,400.00 = $400.00 in quartz’s favour over 10 years.
Line 6 — the break-even size. The reseals cost $1,000.00 in total and quartz costs $15 more per sq ft, so the totals tie at $1,000.00 ÷ $15 = 66.67 sq ft. Below that size quartz wins; above it granite wins.
60 sq ft: quartz installs for 60 × $85 = $5,100.00 and granite for 60 × $70 = $4,200.00. The reseals still cost $1,000.00, so the 10-year totals are $5,100.00 for quartz and $5,200.00 for granite — quartz wins by only $100.00, because the bigger the kitchen, the more the $15 per sq ft install gap matters and the less the fixed reseal cost matters.
Quartz at $65/sq ft: quartz installs for 40 × $65 = $2,600.00, which is already cheaper than granite’s $2,800.00 before a single reseal. The 10-year totals are $2,600.00 against $3,800.00 — quartz wins by $1,200.00. When quartz is the cheaper install, there is no trade-off left to argue about.
Granite at $90/sq ft: granite installs for 40 × $90 = $3,600.00, more than quartz’s $3,400.00. Its 10-year total is $4,600.00 against quartz’s $3,400.00 — quartz wins by $1,200.00. Expensive granite loses on both counts: it costs more to buy and more to keep.
Reseal $150 every 3 years: granite is resealed 10 ÷ 3 = 3 times in 10 years, costing 3 × $150 = $450.00, so its 10-year total falls to $3,250.00. Granite wins by $150.00 — cheaper, rarer reseals flip the answer: when resealing is cheap and infrequent, granite’s lower install price finally outweighs its maintenance.
Reverse — the break-even area: the 10-year totals are exactly equal at 66.67 sq ft. Below that size, the reseals cost more than the install saving, so quartz wins; above it, the install gap is spread over more square feet and swamps the fixed reseal cost, so granite wins. A 40 sq ft kitchen sits below the break-even size, so quartz wins there — but only by $400.00, and a bigger kitchen would flip it.
The calculator counts reseals only as the ongoing cost: it does not count cleaning products, repairs, or the cost of your own time if you reseal the granite yourself. It assumes the reseal interval is steady — in practice a busy kitchen with acidic spills (lemon, vinegar, tomato) wears the seal faster, and a lightly used one slower. It assumes the installed price per square foot covers fabrication, delivery, and fitting, including cutouts for the sink and hob; edge profiles, a waterfall edge, or a thickened edge cost extra on either material. It does not count resale value: buyers often pay a premium for either stone, and the premium depends on the local market, not the material. Prices are US installed prices in 2026; your local quotes are what matter. Rounding convention: money is rounded to cents and all figures are computed from unrounded values, rounded only for display.
| Output | Formula | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Quartz install cost | area × quartz $/sq ft | $3,400.00 for 40 sq ft. |
| Granite install cost | area × granite $/sq ft | $2,800.00 for 40 sq ft. |
| Granite reseals in 10 years | 10 ÷ reseal interval | 5 reseals at $200.00 each. |
| Quartz 10-year total | install + $0 reseals | $3,400.00 — nothing to add. |
| Granite 10-year total | install + reseals × cost | $3,800.00. |
| 10-year winner | lower 10-year total | Quartz by $400.00. |
| 60 sq ft | same prices, area 60 | Quartz $5,100.00 vs granite $5,200.00; quartz by $100.00. |
| Quartz $65/sq ft | same area, quartz $65 | Quartz $2,600.00 vs granite $3,800.00; quartz by $1,200.00. |
| Granite $90/sq ft | same area, granite $90 | Quartz $3,400.00 vs granite $4,600.00; quartz by $1,200.00. |
| Reseal $150 / 3 years | same area, reseal $150, interval 3 | Granite $3,250.00 vs quartz $3,400.00; granite by $150.00. |
| Reverse: break-even area | reseal total ÷ (quartz $/sq ft − granite $/sq ft) | 66.67 sq ft — totals exactly equal. |
The math is exact for the numbers you enter: install is area times price per square foot, reseals are 10 divided by the interval (rounded down to whole reseals), and the 10-year total is install plus reseals times cost. What the model cannot do is know your kitchen: the area is only as good as your measurement, the per-square-foot prices vary by slab grade and by region, and the reseal interval depends on the stone and how the kitchen is used. It leaves out cleaning, repairs, edge upgrades, and resale value, and it assumes prices stay flat for 10 years. The comparison table’s durability and heat figures are general knowledge about the two materials — individual slabs vary, and a fabricator’s advice about a specific slab beats a general table. For the same logic applied to the whole house, see build vs buy a home; for the selling side, see realtor vs FSBO.
Bright Side Kit. "Quartz vs Granite Countertops: 10-Year Cost Calculator." https://brightoolbox.com/quartz-vs-granite-countertops/ Accessed October 24, 2026.Granite is cheaper to install; quartz is cheaper over 10 years. At the defaults, granite installs for $2,800.00 against quartz’s $3,400.00, but five reseals at $200.00 each bring granite’s 10-year total to $3,800.00 — $400.00 more than quartz’s $3,400.00.
No. Quartz is an engineered stone bound in resin, so the surface is non-porous and never needs sealing. Granite is a natural stone and must be sealed when installed and resealed every 1 to 3 years, or spills soak in and stain.
Only when the seal wears off. A freshly sealed granite counter resists red wine, coffee, and oil well. Once the seal wears thin — usually after 1 to 3 years — the same spills can leave a mark. The water test tells you: if a drop darkens the stone in 10 minutes, it is time to reseal.
Not directly. Quartz handles everyday heat, but the resin binder can scorch or discolour above about 300°F, so always use a trivet for a pan straight off the hob. Granite has no resin, so a hot pan will not hurt it — that is granite’s one clear practical win.
Both last decades if they are looked after. Quartz resists stains and needs no maintenance, but it can chip at thin edges and fades in direct sun, so it is an indoor material. Granite resists heat and sun, but it needs resealing and can crack if it is poorly supported. Neither one wears out in normal use.
About $200.00 for a typical kitchen, hired out. Doing it yourself costs much less — a bottle of impregnating sealer is $30 to $50 — but it takes an afternoon and the result depends on how evenly you apply it. At $150 every 3 years, granite’s 10-year total falls to $3,250.00, and granite wins by $150.00 — cheap, infrequent resealing is the one case where granite comes out ahead.
66.67 sq ft at the defaults. The reseals cost $1,000.00 in total and quartz costs $15 more per sq ft, so the 10-year totals tie at 66.67 sq ft. Below that size quartz wins on cost; above it granite wins.
Either one sells a kitchen. Buyers pay a premium for stone counters in general, and the premium depends on the local market and the colour, not on quartz versus granite. Pick the one you like living with — the resale difference between the two is smaller than the cost difference this calculator shows.