Quartz vs Granite vs Laminate Worktops: Cost, Durability and Which to Choose
Laminate starts around £80–£250 per metre installed, quartz £300–£800 and granite £350–£900. Real per-m² pricing from Checkatrade and UK cost guides, plus honest pros and cons.
In this guide
The worktop is where kitchen budgets diverge most dramatically: a fitted laminate run costs roughly £80–£250 per linear metre, while quartz is £300–£800 and granite £350–£900, per the trade pricing collated by Renovation Notes' worktop comparison. For a typical 5–6 metre run that's the difference between about £500 and £4,500.
On a per-square-metre basis, Checkatrade's quartz vs granite guide puts supplied-and-fitted quartz at an average of £375 per m² (range £200–£550) and granite at £435 per m² (range £270–£600). A standard 600 mm-deep worktop run converts at roughly 0.6 m² per metre — so a 5 m quartz run works out near £1,125, before extras.
Cost per linear metre, installed
| Material | Supply only | Installed | Typical 5 m run |
|---|---|---|---|
| Laminate | £50–£150 | £80–£250 | £400–£1,250 |
| Solid wood (oak/beech) | £90–£300 | £150–£450 | £750–£2,250 |
| Corian / solid surface | £300–£600 | £400–£750 | £2,000–£3,750 |
| Quartz | £200–£500 | £300–£800 | £1,500–£4,000 |
| Granite | £200–£550 | £350–£900 | £1,750–£4,500 |
| Marble | £350–£700+ | £500–£1,100 | £2,500–£5,500 |
What "installed" actually includes for stone
Quartz and granite are almost always supplied as a templating, fabrication and fitting package: the stonemason lasers your room, cuts the slab on a CNC machine, then fits it. The fabrication charge — typically £400–£650 — is why stone quotes never look like "metres × price". Cut-outs add more: hob cut-outs £50–£100, undermount sink cut-outs £80–£150, drainer grooves £100–£200, and waterfall ends several hundred more, per BestBuilders' worktop pricing.
Durability and maintenance, honestly
- Quartz — engineered stone, non-porous, never needs sealing, near-zero maintenance. Slightly less heat-tolerant than granite; don't put a screaming-hot pan directly on it.
- Granite — natural, unique patterning, best heat resistance of the trio, but porous: needs resealing every 1–2 years or it stains.
- Laminate — modern laminates (Egger, Formica) are impressively realistic, wipe-clean and repairable by full replacement for a few hundred pounds. Weaknesses: hot pans and water sitting on joints.
- Solid wood — the best-looking budget-to-mid option for traditional kitchens, but needs oiling several times a year and shows knife marks.
- Corian — seamless joints and moulded sinks are possible; scratches can be sanded out, but it's the least heat-tolerant premium option.
Which should you choose?
For a budget or rental kitchen, a good laminate is unbeatable value — put the saving into better units instead (see kitchen unit costs). For a family kitchen you'll keep for a decade or more, quartz usually wins on lifetime value: Checkatrade notes granite is roughly 15% cheaper at entry level, but the sealing maintenance and resale preference for quartz narrow the real gap. If you want natural stone character and will actually reseal it, granite is the classic choice.
Price your own run in the calculator — it models per-metre material plus the templating/fitting fee — and compare the other surfaces in our worktop cost guide.
About the author
Kitchen Cost Calculator Team
We research UK kitchen prices from trade suppliers, national retailers and published cost guides so you can budget with confidence.