Once for how they look in the showroom, and again every morning for the next fifteen years. The material you pick decides both. We fabricate and install all four, so the recommendation you get is based on your kitchen rather than on what we happen to stock.
4Materials fabricated
1 dayTypical install
2004Installing since
Choose Your Material
Four Surfaces, Four Different Kitchens
Most requested
Quartz
Engineered from natural quartz crystals bound with resin and pigment. It is non-porous, so it never needs sealing and shrugs off wine, citrus, and oil. Because it is manufactured, the slab you approve is the slab you get, with no surprise variation between pieces. We install Cambria and HanStone, both backed by long manufacturer warranties.
Choose it if you want the lowest-maintenance surface and predictable colour across a big kitchen.
Harder than granite and genuinely one of a kind, with movement no engineered slab reproduces. Porous, so it gets sealed on install and resealed periodically. The pick when you want real stone and real drama.
Natural stone
Granite
The most heat-tolerant of the four and still the best value in natural stone. Reads as flecked and granular rather than veined, which hides crumbs and everyday use better than a pale slab does.
Natural stone
Marble
Nothing else looks like it, and nothing else asks as much of you. It is soft and reactive to acids, so it etches and patinas with use. Right for homeowners who read that as character, wrong for anyone who wants it factory-new in year five.
Side by Side
The honest version. Every material here has something it is worst at, and knowing which one you can live with is the actual decision.
Comparison of quartz, quartzite, granite, and marble kitchen countertops
Quartz
Quartzite
Granite
Marble
Sealing needed
Never
Periodically
Periodically
Periodically
Stain resistance
Excellent
Good, sealed
Good, sealed
Reactive to acids
Heat tolerance
Use a trivet
High
Highest
High, but marks
Scratch resistance
Excellent
Hardest of the four
Excellent
Softest of the four
Slab consistency
Uniform, predictable
Every slab differs
Every slab differs
Every slab differs
Ages by
Staying as installed
Staying as installed
Staying as installed
Developing a patina
Every natural stone counter we install is sealed before we hand the kitchen back, and we show you how to test it later.
The Edge Changes the Whole Room
Same slab, five different kitchens. A square edge reads modern, an ogee reads traditional, and the profile is machined during fabrication, so it is decided before the stone is cut.
Square Eased
A crisp flat face with the sharpness taken off. The default for modern and transitional kitchens.
Bullnose
Fully rounded top to bottom. Soft, forgiving, and the friendliest option around small children.
Half Bullnose
Rounded on top, flat underneath. Sheds water away from the cabinet face better than a full round.
Bevelled
An angled cut along the top edge that catches light and makes a thick slab read lighter.
Ogee
An S-curve profile. The most decorative of the five and the natural match for inset cabinetry.
From Slab to Installed
Countertops are the one element measured off the finished kitchen rather than the drawings, which is why they come late in the build.
Select
You choose your material, slab, edge profile, and thickness in person at the CMK Design Studio, with the real samples in hand.
Template
Once the cabinets are set and level, we digitally template the actual installed boxes, so the stone matches your kitchen and not the plan.
Fabricate
Your slab is cut, the sink and cooktop openings are made, the edge is machined, and seam placement is planned to fall where it shows least.
Install
The stone is set, seams are colour-matched and joined, natural stone is sealed, and our licensed plumbers reconnect the sink and fixtures.
Common Questions
Countertop FAQ
It depends on how you use the kitchen. Quartz is the most forgiving day to day because it is non-porous and never needs sealing, which is why most CMK clients choose it. Quartzite gives you natural stone with hardness close to granite. Granite is the most heat-tolerant. Marble is the softest and will patina with use, so it suits homeowners who want that character rather than a surface that stays factory-new. Your designer will narrow it down once we see your layout and talk through how you cook.
They sound alike but they are not the same material. Quartz is engineered: natural quartz crystals bound with resin and pigment, which makes it non-porous, consistent slab to slab, and maintenance free. Quartzite is a natural stone quarried in slabs, so every piece is unique, it is harder than granite, and it needs periodic sealing. Quartz wins on consistency and upkeep. Quartzite wins if you want genuine natural stone with dramatic movement.
No. Engineered quartz is non-porous, so it never needs sealing. Soap and water is the whole maintenance routine. Natural stone is different: granite, quartzite, and marble are porous to varying degrees and should be sealed on installation and resealed periodically. We seal every natural stone counter before we hand the kitchen back and show you how to check it later.
Use a trivet, whatever the material. Granite and quartzite handle heat best because they are pure natural stone. Engineered quartz contains resin, which can scorch or discolour under a pan straight off the burner, and that damage is not repairable in place. Marble tolerates heat but marks easily from acids. A trivet costs nothing and protects the investment.
Countertops are templated only after the cabinets are set and level, because the template has to match the real installed boxes rather than the drawings. From templating, fabrication typically runs one to two weeks depending on the material and edge profile, then installation itself is usually a single day. Plumbing reconnection follows once the stone is set. Your project manager schedules all of it around the rest of the build.
Most kitchens need at least one seam, because slabs come in finite sizes and an island or a long run will exceed them. What matters is where the seam lands and how it is made. We plan seam placement during templating to fall in the least conspicuous spot, match the veining across the joint where the material allows, and colour-match the epoxy. On a well-planned installation you generally have to look for it.
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Natural stone
Natural stone
Natural stone
