Laminate or Stone countertop?

Question

Hello BP,

I just recently purchased my first property. It's a 4 unit building in a D class neighborhood. I want to build the value of the home to get more equity. I have ran into a crossroad. I am getting new cabinets for the kitchen and the stone countertop cost $1400 more than laminate. In fact, the quartz countertop cost more than the cabinets and laminate put together. With everything being said, should I purchase the laminate countertop or quartz?

James Mc Ree · Answer

Consider Corian if laminate is too "low" and quartz is too "high".

Consider if laminate --> Corian --> quartz gives you any rent increase. We don't know your market at all, but my guess is that laminate would work fine in a D area. You can always upgrade to quartz later when the laminate is destroyed. I would try to get resilient, but inexpensive, everything for a D area.

Marcus Auerbach · Answer

Stock laminate. Which is not the answer you'd expect from me, because we do quality in all things, because I am a do-it-once-do-it-right type of guy and cheap stuff usually cost you double in the end. We have probably 80% laminate and 20% quartz and granite in our class B portfolio and I can't justify the cost difference to upgrade to stone.

We go with stock laminate, because if you go higher end or custom sizes your price is getting so close to stone that you might as well do the upgrade. Contrary to popular belief, we do not see tenants destroy laminate counters. And if they did, they are so cheap to replace - like $180 for the whole thing.

Time is a big reason for me. Stone takes a couple weeks to laser measure, wait for production and then install. Meanwhile, my carpenter can pick up stock laminate, already miter cut and install in 30 minutes.

Pro-tip: we use relativley monochromatic patterns that don't try to hard to look like marble with a lot of "movement" - those are the patterns that look very fake.

Chris Seveney · Answer

We never do laminate we also do some type of solid surface countertop - as it can withstand abuse by tenants and will end up saving in the long run. also if you ever want to sell it, it is easier to sell with solid surface.

Doug Smith · Answer

Because of our investment arm, we've built great relationships with stone yards. We buy the counter tops by the slab and have the fabricator cut and install them instead of shopping at Home Depot for them. When we remodeled our personal home's kitchen and master bath, one of the granite yards had 12 slabs of beautiful calcutta marble that they had over-ordered. They let us have 2 slabs, which is what we needed, for $800/slab. It cost about that same amount for fabrication and installation. Given, that was 5 years ago, but I felt like we stole it. Now, I wouldn't recommend marble in a rental, but you might want to inquire at the granite/slab yards in your area to see what remants/overstock they might be willing to part with on the cheap. Just go with something durable (definitely not marble). If you're curious, here's what we got...

Doug Smith · Answer

Thank you. Part of it is establishing the relationship with the provider and doing volume. We not only do it for ourselves but we also manage jobs in the Tampa Bay area and a few other markets for other investors...whether they are partnering with us or we're doing it. Mostly, though, we do it for our own company. That being said, we do a lot of construction volume, so we've found establishing relationships with the local granite yards and fabrictors keeps costs down but still provides an attractive product.

Jules Aton · Answer

I prefer quartz but in a class D neighborhood I'd go with laminate. There some that look nice now and if the area turns around you can always upgrade at that point.

Gene K. · Answer

Go laminate unless you find super cheap stone. Using laminate won't hurt the cabinets so you can always swap out later.

Jules Aton · Answer

@Doug Smith that slab is fantastic. I recall another thread speaking to how inexpensively some can get stone which I've not done. OP if that option is available at a similar price to laminate that would be a no brainer.

Bruce Woodruff · Answer

Any type/color of stone would be preferrable to laminate. At the right price. So as @Doug Smith said, go to a stone yard (s) and see what they have as left-overs and bargains. You may find something. And if you're even a little bit handy you can install yourself.

Stone is much more durable as well....

Laminate or Stone countertop?

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