Quartz Countertop Installation: Professional Costs and DIY Instructions

Quartz is a sturdy and low-maintenance kitchen countertop material that can withstand years of spills and scrubbing without losing its luster or charm. Not only that, but quartz also offers several key benefits compared to laminate and granite countertops, including greater longevity, strength, and resale value. However, quartz is also more expensive than these other two options.  

The high price of quartz may tempt you to install your countertops yourself to save some money, but be wary. DIY installation is possible, but it’s tricky, time-intensive, and can even be dangerous.

Below, we break down why it’s better to hire professional installers. If you still decide to handle your installation yourself, we’ll also give you step-by-step instructions for ordering your quartz slabs, putting them in place, and gluing them down with your own two hands.

What is quartz?

Quartz is a naturally occurring mineral, but the quartz used for countertops is actually an engineered stone. Construction quartz is manufactured by combining natural quartz crystals with pigments for color and resin for adhesion and strength. Manufacturers fuse these materials under extreme heat and pour the mixture into molds to form slabs that can be cut down to size. 

Quartz vs. quartzite

Unlike construction quartz, quartzite is an all-natural stone that gets quarried directly out of the earth. The two have such a similar name because they’re both made from quartz minerals, but there are a few key differences between them. 

For one thing, quartzite stone countertops tend to be far more expensive than quartz options, but they’re also much stronger. In fact, quartzite is one of the hardest materials used in home construction. Quartz is still very strong, though, and can withstand decades of use in a normal kitchen. 

In addition to being more affordable, quartz is also available in a much wider selection of colors than quartzite since it’s man-made and can be dyed using various pigments. Quartzite, on the other hand, is only available in a more limited selection of natural colors. 

When choosing between quartz and quartzite, you’ll need to balance a few priorities like budget, your kitchen’s color scheme, and how strong you need your counters to be.

How much do quartz countertops cost?

Several important pricing factors contribute to the cost of a quartz counter installation. The most important factor influencing your price is how much quartz you need. A quartz slab can cost as much as $100 per square foot. 

The brand you get your quartz from is another key pricing factor. It is beneficial to shop around for specific pricing. Then, you can measure your countertops yourself if you want to get a good idea of what you might pay. 

The final major pricing factor is which fabricator you source your quartz from. Quartz manufacturing brands like Caesarstone and Cambria don’t sell directly to consumers. Instead, they sell to fabricators, who then resell them to homeowners. So the fabricator who sells you your stone and cuts it down to size will set your final price. Fabricators base their rates on fluctuating local trends and market influences, so it’s impossible to pinpoint how much a fabricator will charge until you meet with them.

In addition to these primary factors, your price will also be partially determined by which pigment you choose and how you get the edges of your counters shaped. To get a more complete breakdown of how all these factors work together to determine your final price, read our quartz countertop cost guide.

How much money can DIY installation save you?

Fabrication and installation make up the lion’s share of the cost for quartz counters. This means you can potentially save half or more of the costs we’ve outlined by doing all the work yourself.

Unfortunately, unless you have a factory-grade diamond blade saw in your garage, you can’t really get around fabrication costs. Quartz is too hard and heavy a material to cut with a run-of-the-mill table saw. But if you can find a fabricator who’s willing to provide and cut your stone for you and let you install it all yourself, you can still save hundreds if not thousands of dollars. 

Why you should hire professionals to install quartz countertops

While it can save you a ton of money, installing quartz counters yourself is a bad idea unless you’ve had professional training. The size and prominence of your counters make them arguably the most important decor element in your kitchen, so if there’s something off about their alignment or slope, they can ruin an otherwise immaculate kitchen design.

Additionally, the weight of quartz makes it hard to handle, and despite its strength, dropping the material can result in an ugly crack – and that’s actually not the worst-case scenario. The weight of quartz can seriously harm someone if it falls on them, and it can even injure your back if you don’t lift it correctly. 

Furthermore, opting for self-installation usually means voiding your manufacturer’s warranty, so if your stone cracks when you heave it into position, you’ll have to pay full price to replace it or live with the unsightly crack. 

This threat can even extend past the day you install your quartz. If your old countertops are made of laminate, then your kitchen cabinets probably need some reinforcement to properly support the quartz replacements. If you don’t know how to correctly strengthen and level cabinetry with shims and ledgers, your countertop may start to slump and crack over time.

You also need to consider the weight of the quartz when installing it in homes without a concrete slab foundation. If the floor joists are unable to hold the weight of the material, it could cause the floor of the home to slope or sag and pull away from the walls.

With all of these risks in mind, we highly recommend you save up your money to pay professionals to install your new quartz countertop instead of doing it yourself on a tight budget today. 

How to DIY quartz countertop installation

If you’re confident in your abilities and willing to accept the risks of tackling this tricky project yourself, here’s a step-by-step guide for the installation process:

Step 1: Purchase your quartz

The first step is to hire a fabricator to come out and inspect your kitchen. During this process, the fabricator will make a template of your kitchen cabinets, draw diagrams with precise measurements, and account for every cutout your counter or backsplash will need for your sink, outlets, and cooktop. 

At this time, you’ll also decide which color you want your quartz to be and which edge style you want (eased, bullnose, bevel, etc). If necessary, your fabricator can take you to their showroom so you can see how the different options actually look in person before you make your decisions. 

Then, once you’ve finalized your choices and your fabricator has made their template, they’ll start cutting your quartz slabs for you. Your countertop will usually be ready two to three weeks after the fabricator makes the templates.

You can sometimes opt to pick up the finished slabs at the store, though this is risky if you’ve never had any experience transporting heavy masonry, so you should really pay the fabricator to deliver them to your home. 

Step 2: Remove your fixtures

Once you have your quartz slabs, it’s time to prep your old countertops for removal. If you don’t currently have countertops because you’re building a new kitchen from scratch instead of remodeling an old one, you can probably skip down to step 4. 

First, if your current backsplashes have any outlets installed in them, you’ll need to go to your breaker box, shut off their power, and then remove their cover plates. This task is pretty straightforward, but if you’re uncomfortable doing electrical work yourself, no one would blame you for hiring an electrician.  

Next, you’ll need to shut off the water to your sink and remove your faucets and basin. As with the electrical work this job will require, it might be best to hire a professional for this light plumbing job. 

Lastly, if you have a cooktop built into your counter, you’ll need to shut off the electricity or gas line to it and remove it as well. Once again, if you’re uncomfortable with this task at all, it’s best left to a professional cooktop technician. 

If you plan to reuse any of these fixtures, make sure you hold onto every screw, pipe, and all other components you’ll need to reinstall them. 

Step 3: Remove your old counters

With your fixtures removed and safely out of the way, it’s time to remove your old counters.

First, you should use a paint scraper to carefully peel away any caulk around the edges of your counters and backsplashes. Otherwise, the caulk could lift the paint from your walls or the finish from your cabinetry when you pry the countertops off. 

Next, check under your counters to determine how they’re held in place. Look for brackets, screws, or nails. If you find none of these, then your cabinets are simply glued on and you’re ready to go. If you do find hardware, you’ll need to unscrew or pry it all loose before you move on. Simply pulling upwards on your counters without removing the hardware could result in unfixable damage to your cabinetry or island. 

Once you’ve removed any fasteners you find, it’s time to get your pry bar and carefully disjoin your counter from your cabinets. Wedge the long, sharp end of your pry bar into the space between your cabinets and the underside of your counter then slowly pull upward. This will separate the old adhesive, so you should hear it creak and pop. If you start to hear loud cracking or tearing, though, stop exerting force immediately and check the source of the noise. It might be a bracket you missed, but it could also mean you have to pull up on a different spot to avoid breaking something. 

You’ll need to move around the edges of your counter and repeat this process in several different places before any single slab will be ready to come loose. Keep in mind that the goal isn’t to spill the old countertops onto the ground with your pry bar as it could damage your flooring. You’re just trying to loosen them so you can lift them off delicately. Take this step slowly and have a partner nearby to catch the old slabs if they start to slide. 

Once the countertops are fully disjoined from your cabinets, you and your partner can lift them off and haul them away. Afterward, you’ll need to go around the exposed top edges of your cabinetry and remove any leftover adhesive with sandpaper or a putty knife. 

Step 4: Install supports for your new counters

Adding wooden ledgers to support your quartz slabs is the final preparatory step. Look for large gaps in the top of your cabinetry. These can usually be found where your cabinets meet your walls. If there are any spaces around the perimeter of the cabinets where your counters would be suspended over empty space, you should install a ledger there.

Take precise measurements of each of these gaps and go to the hardware store to pick up some wooden planks and get them cut down to the sizes you need. These cut-down planks are your ledgers.

Take them home and install them flush with the tops of your cabinetry using wood screws and a power drill. If you’re drilling them into your walls, use a stud finder to find anchors for each one. 

Once every gap in the perimeter of your cabinets is filled with a ledger, you’re ready to move on. 

Step 5: Do a test run and make sure everything is level

It’s finally time to place your new countertops, but you shouldn’t glue them down just yet. First, you’ll want to simply set them onto the tops of your cabinets to make sure every piece fits correctly.

With your partner, lift each slab into its designated spot. If you have multiple slabs, make sure they all fit together like they’re supposed to. If you find any mismatched joints or the slabs don’t fit correctly over your cabinets, you’ll need to contact your fabricator for adjustments.

If everything fits together perfectly, though, it’s time to check the level of your countertops. Place a leveling tool on several different spots across your placed slabs to check the slope of each one.

If there are any spots where your counters aren’t perfectly level, you’ll need to sandwich wooden or plastic shims between your cabinets and your counter’s underside to raise any low points. Shims generally aren’t very thick, so each one will only raise your countertop a few fractions of an inch. You may need to use several in the same spot if it’s especially low. 

This step will be slow going and there will be some trial and error, but it’s essential you make all your countertops as flat as possible, so take your time and double-check your work. Once your countertops are perfectly level, lift the slabs off of your cabinets, glue or gently screw your shims into place, and get ready to glue your countertops down. 

Step 6: Apply adhesive and place your quartz slabs

It’s finally time to start gluing. For this step, you’ll want a strong silicone adhesive. 

Apply the adhesive in strips or beads around the perimeter of your cabinets. Each strip should be about two inches long and should be spaced 6-12 inches apart depending on what’s recommended on your adhesive’s label. Make sure that each corner of your cabinetry also gets a bead of the adhesive.

Once you’ve got all your adhesive down, place your countertops again. Luckily, you and your partner will have done this once before, so it should go pretty quickly. Once each slab is in its proper place, seal up any seams between adjoining slabs with your adhesive or a colored epoxy resin.

After sealing the seams, gently press down on each slab to ensure it adheres to your counters correctly. Don’t push down too hard, though, or you could ruin the level. You’re just trying to make sure each dollop of adhesive is touching the underside of your slabs. 

Step 7: Reinstall your fixtures

Once your slabs are placed and your adhesive is drying, you can reinstall your fixtures, but you shouldn’t turn their supplies back on until your adhesive is completely dry. Drying time varies between adhesives, so thoroughly read the label on your product to know when you can run your fixtures and appliances again. 

Once the adhesive is dried, turn everything back on yourself or hire a professional plumber and an electrician to come in and help. Once they’re done, your countertops will be fully functional and you can go back to using your kitchen like normal.

Installing quartz countertops: the bottom line

Quartz countertops are durable and stately, making them a fantastic addition to any kitchen, so many homeowners choose them for their kitchen remodels. Installing them yourself is a convoluted process with a lot of steps and some hefty risks, though, so we highly recommend hiring a professional for the job even though it can cost significantly more.