Will a quartz worktop add value before we move in five years?

[Throwawayquestioning]

Will a quartz worktop increase my house value?

We’re planning on moving in 5 years but I’ve always loved the idea of a quartz worktop! It could do with a refresh the kitchen is 13 years old and the laminate now has obvious marks in various places. We’ve been quoted £4.5k which is a big cost, but if it’ll increase house value then it’s worth it, right?

3 bed semi in West Yorkshire, we settled on a sale of £200k in 2024 but couldn’t find an onward so ultimately the sale fell through.

I think a quartz or granite worktop is a good investment if you're putting in a new good quakity kitchen, but I wouldn't put it on an old kitchen.

My kitchen is 25 years old. I've had the units rewrapped (5 years ago) but the worktop is the original. When I rececently had an estate agent to look at the house, she thought the kitchen was newly fitted.

Actually, the worktop is the reason I had the kitchen wrapped rather than replaced, and if I'd needed to do the whole thing, I might have changed the layout, so in a new (to me) house, a worktop that was too good to throw out, on a kitchen I wanted to replace might actually be off putting.

That seems like a bad use of 4.5k, tbh, in two ways.

If I were buying your house I would replace the kitchen, and I would not be able to reuse the worktop as I'd change the layout, sink, etc. So it's not an investment. I think most people who are bothered about things like worktops would at least replace the sink, paint the doors, and change the handles in your kitchen (sorry! I don't mean to be rude about your kitchen --your kitchen is actually fine I'm just saying if someone cared about worktops they would likely also care about those things).

I am in WY in a 3 bed house of similar value and I paid 1.3k for my quartz worktops three years ago. So it's not a good price either.

4.5k is very expensive for the amount of worktop shown. Shop around. We just paid less for a much larger surface area.

How is quartz damaging clothing?

Thank you all. It’s definitely a lot to consider. It wasn’t being considered purely for house resale value, it’s something I would get a lot of pleasure from and have wanted for a long time, so I’d get to enjoy it myself for the next 5 years first and then hopefully it might help us get asking price for our house when we do sell. But with the quote being around £1.5k-£2k higher than I first thought it would be, I came to mumsnet to try and justify the price to myself, if it’d increase the house value then it’s a no brainer!

I’m definitely going to approach some other companies and get a few more quotes. I expected it would cost £2.5k-£3k and I think that would be more reasonable.

@Melom was that supplied and fitted within that cost?

Exactly. The quartz worktop the people who’d previously owned our house had installed was the ugliest thing I’d ever seen. We lived with it for years, then replaced it when we replaced the kitchen cabinet doors (the carcasses were perfectly serviceable), and apparently caused outrage to both the previous owners’ adult son, who lived close by, and the installer, also local. These th8ngs are subjective. See also giant greige bathroom tiles.

I actually got rid of that horrid orangey quartz from my last house and replaced it with wood.

I think you can freshen up your kitchen with a pale worktop as in the pic as it definitely brightens it up.

Save your money to get exactly the kitchen you want in your next place if you're definitely moving.

I would have probably lived with the quartz longer if the layout worked well - but it really didn't. It's nice not needing place mats for pans when cooking.

@Throwawayquestioning yeah it was -- had the kitchen and bathroom done. I think it was Manchester Worktops but can't find the receipt now.

If it’s what you want and think it’s worth paying £4500 then go for it.

However forget any ideas of trying to justify the cost like that. It won’t add a penny in value to the house.

No, don’t do it! Im house hunting and im put off by quartz as it’s often in a kitchen that I don’t love and would want to replace and I wouldn’t throw it in a skip, so I just think that house is for someone else. It actually puts me off.

I would definitely get more quotes. We've recently paid £3k for kitchen and utility, including a large island and upstands throughout. Al Murad is often cheaper than others.

I hate quartz and would just rip it out. It would add no value to a house for me. I just replaced my worktops with a corian style material which looks great but was not cheap.

I dont think it would.

Have a look on Gum Tree. People often offer them for free if you collect. You'd have the hassle of arranging that, but it's not going to cost £4500.

If you can find them the right size, you can save on fitting costs, but that's probably only going to be £500 including any cutting.

Thank you all for your valued advice and input.

I have found a local company that is family run, they came out to measure and quoted me around £2.9k all in. It comes in just under budget and the owners were lovely, came across genuine and down to earth. They have many good reviews online also with photos attached of their work. Have attached a photo of the chosen colour, very neutral with subtle veins so hopefully won’t put off too many buyers when we do eventually sell. (Might take a short while to be approved and show on mumsnet)

Hard to say no now it’s come in under budget. ;)

I will say, we had another company come this morning (the kitchen restoration company) and I enquired about laminate after the advice on here, they quoted £3,400 for laminate and £6,800 for quartz! It’s amazing how big the difference between quotes can be for essentially the same job and material.

I gave Al murads a call after your message and found it to be too much hassle. They didnt offer to come out and measure I’d have to do it myself and it would be quoted over email and we’ve have to arrange for our own worktops to be removed and sort a plumber for the sink etc. I work full time with a 1 year old and a 4 year old so the less I have to organise and think about, the better!! I would probably save a bit more if I pulled some energy from somewhere though haha.

Have you looked into these companies that fit a new layer of workshop over the existing, for a cheaper refresh rather than fully replacing? They’re usually the same companies that will wrap/replace the cupboard doors too rather than refitting an entire kitchen.

Make sure they do all their cutting outside the house and insist they wear decent dust masks.

Tea stains come off really easily with Barkeeper’s Friend. Comes off even with dish soap on ours.

OP, no offence but that's a pretty basic looking kitchen (mine is too!) and installing a quartz workshop would be a complete waste of money if you are not changing anything else.

No offence taken, it was here when we moved in 9 years ago! I don’t mind the cabinets though I definitely wouldn’t have chosen them myself, but the worktop is awful and I always felt it looked out of place. I don’t want to waste money changing a lot, I just want to jazz up the space a little to get me through the next 5 years

They do the templating in their workshop, I will double check this though, thank you!

Thats very expensive for that much worktop, I would get more quotes. A lighter colour would improve yoru kitchen. If you can get it cheaper maybe you could use the extra money to change the doors, then it would look new and you might get your money back. 5 years is quite a long time though.