You can try calling Passoni in Pomona, NY. We paid $65 a sq/ft for our granite (Labrador Golden Flake). I think they gave us a slightly better price than it was originally supposed to be for that granite (?).

I live in Bergen county- shopping in this area is more expensive. There are enough people around here still spending money so they are getting their price. I found a granite that was perfect- called Crema Latte- at a place in Rutherford, NJ- they wanted $ 72sq ft. That was more than I expected- so I googled it and found a place in North Brunswick, NJ called "Natural Stone Granite & Design". They quoted me the price over the phone of $ 45 sq ft. I told him I didn't want to drive a hour to find out he would charge more. He assured me the price was firm...

I went to North Brunswick, they took me to the warehouse (Ohm International in Monroe, NJ) to look at slabs, I had a sample of the "creme latte" granite- which looked exactly like the Giallo ornamental and the New Venetian Gold.

They are installing in this week. Came to template on Saturday and the expect it to be ready Weds or Thurs. He stuck to his word - $ 45 sq ft which includes installation, sink cutout, several standard edge (they are going to do the same 1/4 bevel edge around the sink as well).

Hope this helps!

try benchmark in mahwah. They can e-mail you a quote if you send your measurements/layout.

The cheapest around is likely All Granite & Marble in Ridgefield. People have reported different experiences with them though. Several people (including my contractor) recommended them, but I've also heard some stories of people who were very unhappy, so you need to do your homework if you want to look at that further.

If you have a specific stone in mind, call/e-mail around for quotes on that particular stone. Some places classify a stone in a higher price category than another place for the same stone.

cat_mom, marigolde,annie.zz,
Thanks a bunch for all the leads. I will certainly do my homework. Best, Bebe

I just went to Everest Marble and Granite in Clifton yesterday. They seemed to have a good selection(at least to me) and they do have marble, as that is what I'm looking at as well. You do need a fabricator. I wouldn't say they were very helpful. I went in there knowing what I wanted, but if I had no idea I think my head might have been spinning. Especially since they don't quote the price. I've also heard good things about Atlas Marble and Belstone, both in Newark.

I'm going through the same dilemma right now only I'm on the west coast, so I have a little of perspective on this matter.

There are several variables involved in the granite prices. Some of them are hidden and the cost gets passed onto the consumer. For example:

* 2 cm versus 3 cm granite? The cost differential between the two should be negligible--I was quoted around $2 - $4 per square foot.

* Pay for the entire slab or just what you use?

Some granite places make you buy the entire slab whether you need it or not, so if you need 1 1/2 slabs, you still pay for two slabs and they give you the left-over, extra granite.

* Does the supplier sell the granite and fabricate it as well?

Some places sell the granite only at pretty high retail prices and leave you on your own to find a fabricator. There may be other hidden fees such as transferring your slab from the granite supplier to the fabrication location.

2 cm granite, more widely available on the west coast costs more to fabricate and the cost is passed onto you with building up the edges to avoid seeing the underlying plywood.

If you can find 2 cm or 3 cm granite in a color that you like at $45 per square foot fabricated and installed, then go for it. Make sure they walk you through their process of templating and installing and where the seams will be up front to avoid any disappointments.

There might be other things that I'm missing in terms of variables.

You might want to check your local IKEA because they often contract with granite suppliers/vendors in your area and because of the IKEA agreement, you may get a better price through IKEA and still have a descent choice of granite and man-made (engineered) stone.

Have you checked Craigslist in your area? Some cities are experiencing real competition and you can get standard granites for $29.95 s.f., installed with ss sink.

was at a granite yard in LA just two days ago. Prefab counters in at least 40 colors (ubatubas, blue pearl, madura gold, kashmir white and others) were between $130 and $300 per 8x2 counter.
They also had some peninsulas and islands.

pharoah makes a great point - some places sell granite already cut in 25" (counter depth) pieces, at better prices. If you can find what you want, especially if you want a small amount or a stone w/o matching problems, that can be a good way to go.

Have you considered granite tiles? I've seen them used beautifully on HGTV but have no idea what the cost is.

Also: do shop around. We found that prices varied wildly as we shopped during the past few weeks. We got at least five quotes. Our designer tried to get us to buy through his preferred fabricator, and we are sure there was a nice kick-back built into the price, because it was outrageous (close to $80/sq. ft.)! We ended up choosing someone else and are paying around $45/sq. ft. Needless to say, the decorator is not happy with us, trying to tell us that that we will be sorry (the stone will not be treated properly, we will have to wait too long for the finished tops, etc.), but we feel we made the right choice. And we are only paying for what we use - we don't have to buy 2 full slabs. I hope you find something you love in your budget!

My KD quoted a price for "standard colors" that was 1K more than any of the other quotes I have. Definite markup there.

Like someone mentioned above, I'd say try and find the precut slabs. We're in the midst of remodel on a budget. For the 8 foot long counter section, I paid around $300 each( I need 3 for my kitchen). I was able to pick out the 3 that I wanted so I knew they would look good together. Then I paid separately for installation. They go in next week, I'll let you know how it works out. :-)

I've seen some pre-cut standard colors (Uba Tuba, etc.) at Home Depot, for I think either $199 or $299, for an 8 foot slab, bull-nosed that you can load into your truck right there. This doesn't included installation, but still! That's almost comparable to formica! If you're on a tight budget, I'd buy one of those, and find an installer on Craigslist, if the Home Depot's installation is outrageous.

Carla in Sac

"Natural Stone Granite & Design" /Ohm I heard was really good with their pricing too from a large cabinet distributor in central NJ. best I could tell from their price list - they were fairly good.

Marigolde- keep us posted on the outcome since I might want to pay them a visit once I get the kitchen plans finalized. They are not far from where I live.
What where the prices for the edges if you have them?

My granite was installed on Friday. I love it! It's beautiful - They had to put in one seam near the sink because it was to narrow and they were afraid of breakage during transporting it. They also put in a 4" backsplash on the wall that was not going to be tiled and didn't charge me- but I later discovered a small chip and there was a seam, so I assume there wasn't enough left and this was scrap anyway. I guess that's why they didn't charge me.

In all, I would recommend them- the price was right, there are several standard edges included along with the sink cutout. I chose the 1/4 bevel and it looks great with the shaker cabinets. There were 4 guys doing the installation- how they lifted those pieces, I don't know...

If I could figure out how to post pictures, I would...