There is a big markup. Check out Ripano stoneworks in Nashua and Merrimack Stone in Merrimack. They gave me quotes that were significantly less.

Yes, and it was a mistake. I was using granite and was limited to their supplier. I wasn't able to go around to various granite dealers and first find what I liked and then negotiate the price.

I happened to be using a very available granite with not much variation (Impala black). If I wanted something more unusual or with a lot of movement and variation, it would have been a problem.

The company/showroom that we bought our cabinets from suggested that they could supply any countertop we wanted. I had them give price quotes and then compared the quotes with other suppliers. Our cabinet supplier is a large firm in WI (UBC)and I thought they might have better prices on granite, silestone, or corian. Wrong! Other suppliers were quite a bit lower priced and had better selections where you could see either actual product or bigger sample. My hunch is that they were probably buying from same retail providers (except getting commercial price) that I went directly to. No regrets about our decision to buy counters elsewhere.

I did not. I shopped around at a few different granite suppliers that have good reputations in our area, and went with the one that had the best price. They did a good job and I'm very pleased with the result.

My KD did not seem to care either way. He offered to help me with my countertops, but did not seem at all bothered when I said I was going to manage it on my own.

IMHO, There are 2 kinds of granite customers.

Those like me who just want a standard kind, and the stoners.

Us simple types should be finding out who the competent installers are. I was advised NOT to use the installing company that my local Lowe's uses. The company that does Home Depot and Costco in this area is much better. Lowe's offered to cut their granite prices because they really wanted to do both, but I declined and just bought their cabinets.

Stoners are going to go find their own individual slabs and installers and probably couldn't be restrained by a KD.

I purchased my cabinets from a cabinet shop, my hardware from Lees Hardware, my granite from a granite fabricator/cutter. Each had it's speciality and a lower price than an "I have it all shop" that is a middleman. Middlemen have markups. The supplier to you direct is cheaper.

Thanks everyone for confirming my notion that it makes no sense to buy countertops from the cabinet people.

I will be the sole dissenter here. Although I was suspicious when my KD said that if I did my granite through her fabricator I would get a "deal," we found it was true. We have not settled on a stone yet, but we were "allowed" to go to any yard we wanted to and were able to get quotes on several stones from the KD's recommended fabricator and fabricators we found on our own. There was a significant difference, with the KD's fabricator being lower. So then we thought, uh-oh, maybe the KD's person isn't so good. So we asked around at the yards we visited, mentioning the KD's as well as some of the others. Interestingly, we were told this one is good, this one I'd avoid, etc. All the yards had only nice things to say about the KD's recommendation. BTW, we made the apptmts at the yards ourselves and did not mention anything about our KD or which fabricator she'd recommended.

My vote is to do what we did. It takes more time and trouble, but you might get a better deal than you think...

I didn't buy my granite from my cabinet supplier, not just cause of the markup. But also cause the selection was limited. I was astounded when I went to a couple of granite warehouses at the enormous selection, compared to the 12-15 available at my cabinet supplier. Also, my cabinet supplier just had sample tiles to show me. At the granite warehouses, you can see the entire slabs, and I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to see the slabs. I cannot emphasize enough!

My cabinet supplier didn't mind that I bought my granite elsewhere. It is something they offer, but it's not their core business. In fact, they told me I should take one of their sample cabinet doors with me to the granite warehouses because it helps so much in the selection. They were correct, and I would advise you to do the same.

While it is possible that a shop will get a better price with a fabricator for the guaranteed business it often means the fabricator is making less money on your referral job than his own walk-ins so guess who gets the best service. often the cabinet place keeps the markdown and so the fabricator is making less and you are paying the same. Shop around before assuming it's a bad deal.

Janwad...that is TOO funny..... "IMHO, There are 2 kinds of granite customers. Those like me who just want a standard kind, and the stoners."

SO true!!! Many people are perfectly happy and WANT a uniform appearance to their countertops, which is fine if that's what you want. There are actually advantages to getting a "tamer" granite...you can really go wild with the back splash!! Bit then some people like me just HAD to have something wild and unique, no matter what it did to my poor overburdened budget. Stoner....I like that. Pretty darn accurate description too.

Erikanh, see what your KD has to offer and at what price, but don't be afraid to shop around. I did. I went to every granite fab shop in the area and found prices were quite varied for even the same material. Lowes was among the highest pricest. We ende up getting some amazing exotic granite at an unbelivable low price (Delicatus).

We also did not buy our granite through our cabinet showroom. There were many reasons--one was that we were just fed up with our cabinet salesperson/KD and didn't want his firm to make any more money off of our project. We also wanted a better selection and the ability to negotiate the price ourselves. Our KD has a specific fabricator that he pushes (he doens't just sell their granite--he PUSHES it hard). He began giving us the hard sell on his granite fabricator the very first time we met with him and we got the same lecture about the space age granite sealant that this fabricator patented (it turns out that it is actually Sensa granite that is sold at Lowe's!) every time we met with him. After we heard this sales pitch 85 times (and unfortunately we had to hear the entire story--from development of the sealant for the space shuttle to the templating process that is done with a laser and turns out flawless each time!!) I decided that I really wanted to shop around and see what else was out there. We then visited every fabricator in our area and I discovered that I really wanted an exotic granite which unfortunately means more money. Because we dealt with them directly we were able to cut a deal on it. The KD is still pretty bitter about us not buying our granite from him and he tends to blame every problem we have with the cabinets on the granite, but I do not at all regret our decision. Even the cabinet installer who works for the KD said that we got a better deal than using the KD for the granite because they mark up the price so much. Although the installer doesn't have teeth and listens to Rush Limbaugh very loud all day, he may actually be right about this.

I got a quote from our cabinet dealer's supplier and then I shopped around. I ended up saving quite a bit of $$ that way - not to mention the numerous choices in granite. I was one of those who went with a fairly common granite (New Venetian Gold) so it wasn't worth it to me so spend a premium on it. I just wanted them to do a good job on the install - and they did!

erika, I am not a 'stoner' so went with the deal from the cabinet people for uba tuba. But I had a friend who used the same fabricator for her granite only job and I was able to see how she did before getting mine. We both got ours through Montes in Methuen Mass - don't know where in NH you are... They did a great job!

Sorry - Montes is in Plaistow, NH!!

Our KD did encourage us to use 'her' granite people and we did get a quote from them. However, we went with another granite comapny. My parents had used this company so we knew that they did very good work. Their estimate also came in lower, but we chose them primarily for the quality of their work.

Don't feel pressure to use the company that your KD is suggesting. They may be fine, but you won't know if you don't look around also.