Tips on Measuring Countertops for Quartz

Quartz countertops are all the rage nowadays and if you are planning to have them installed in your home, you will want a meaningful cost estimate from your local stone countertops provider. In order to get a reasonable quote, you have to provide the contractors a measurement of your countertops.

Measure your countertops the right way by following the tips below.

Tools for quartz measurement

The following are the tools required to measure countertops for quartz installation.

• Tape measure – Use a retractable tape with a steel blade because this type of tape measure gives the most accurate numbers. Stay away from cloth tape measures because they flex and stretch which means that they won’t give the right measurements of your countertops. Make sure that the tape reads in total inches as well as breaking into foot increments because you will be calculating the total area from inches and converting to feet. Additionally, make sure that it is easy to read the fractions of an inch for more accurate measurements.
• Pencil – Use a pencil instead of using a pen. Mistakes are bound to happen and erasing pencil marks are far easier than blotting out ink. Make sure that you use a pencil with a hard lead to avoid streaks and smudges. The numbers need to be clear because you’ll eventually be scanning or photo-copying your sketch for your countertop supplier.
• Graph Paper – You can make your sketches on plain paper but using graph paper can illustrate the measurements in a more accurate way. Graphs in this type of paper are in quarter-inch squares and work well with imperial measuring. When you plot, you can use a formula like one square equals two inches.
• Calculator – Unless you’re a math whiz, having a calculator is a must when measuring countertops. You will have to convert fractions to decimals and do some multiplication and division. A regular calculator will be enough for this job.

Taking measurements for quartz countertops requires much accuracy which you can see in this great Calacatta Laza project.

Take a look

How to measure for quartz countertops

Go through these steps for accurate measurements of the countertop space.

Sketch the room

Create a rough sketch of your kitchen or bathroom to provide a place to record your measurements. Include the appliances, sinks and fixtures in your diagram if you are planning on keeping them after the remodel. If you are planning to replace your existing appliances or alter the layout of your space, sketch the location of your new appliances, sinks, and or faucets on the diagram.

Include the layout of your cabinets

Draw the layout of your cabinets if you intend to keep your existing cabinetry. If you plan to alter the layout, sketch the cabinets in their new location.

Break into blocks

Break your existing counter surfaces into blocks. You’ll work with two main dimensions – the length and width. The length is the lateral run across the counter surface and the width is the depth from the back of the wall to the front face.

Start measuring

Measure the length of one section of your countertops by running a measuring tape flush along the back edge of the section from one end to the other end. Don’t stop measuring when you reach a sink but continue to measure until you reach the end of a cabinet, appliance, or a wall. When measuring the width of your new cabinets, run the measuring tape from the back of the cabinet to the front top edge of the cabinet. Add 1–1 1⁄2 in (2.5–3.8 cm) to the measurement to account for the countertops’ overhang.

Calculate

You need to give an approximate calculation of the countertops’ square footage to receive an estimate for the cost of your new countertops. To calculate the area of each countertop section, multiply the length times the width. (Length x Width = Area). Get the total square inches by adding together the areas of each section. You can calculate the square footage by dividing the total square inches by 144. (Total square inches / 144 = Total square footage).

Measuring Countertops with Angles

If you have an L-shaped counter or an irregular-shaped counter, here’s the way that you can accurately get its measurements.

Measuring an L-shaped counter

• When measuring this layout, you need to measure two surfaces. Label these surfaces section A and section B.
• Determine the length of section A by measuring from one end of the counter to the wall. To measure the width of section A, measure from the front edge of the counter to the wall.
• Determine the length of section B by measuring from the opposite end of the counter to the wall. To get the width of section B, measure from the front edge of the counter to the wall.
• Calculate the area or square inches of each section by multiplying the length times the width of each section (Length x Width = Area).
• Get the total area by adding together the areas of each section.
• Get the square footage by dividing the total area by 144 (Total square inches / 144 = Total square footage).

Measuring irregular countertops

• Divide the countertop into square sections if you have irregularly shaped countertops. These squares sections can have negative space.
• Measure the length and width of each square sections.
• For each section, multiply the length by the width to get the area or square inches.
• Calculate the total area by adding together the areas of each section.
• Get the square footage by dividing the total square inches by 144 (Total square inches / 144 = Total square footage).

Measure twice

Measure everything twice to make sure that you get accurate numbers!

Conclusion

Keep in mind that these guidelines on how to measure countertops for quartz are for preliminary estimation purposes only and there is still more measuring work to do for the actual cutting and installation. After taking your countertop measurements, call the nearest manufacturer and installer of stone countertops in your area.

Need help with your kitchen or bathroom countertops? Call Granite Selection at (888) 906 3317 and we’ll be happy to assist you.