Galapagos
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Details
- Material
- Natural Quartzite
What it costs installed
$4,500–$22,800 for a finished kitchen in Quartzite
Ace's own installed-project range as of 2026-07-21 — templating, fabrication, delivery and install, for kitchens from 30 to 120 sq ft of counter. Your number depends on square footage, edge profile, cutouts and tear-out. See the full range by kitchen size →
Templated, fabricated, and installed by our own crew across the northwest suburbs.
How we do quartzite & marble countertops →
Free in-home quoteAbout Galapagos
The numbers: 5/5 on heat, 3/5 on stains. In a working kitchen that means it shrugs off heat and copes with stains. Care is soap and water most days, with a periodic job you should not skip — see the care section below.
Templated off your real cabinets, fabricated in our own shop, installed by the same people who cut it. That is the whole reason the seam lands where we said it would. Installed, this material benchmarks around $110/sq ft in the Chicago suburbs — the table below shows the full range and where it came from.
How it lives — durability & care
Independent ratings and the real maintenance routine for quartzite.
| Factor | Rating | What that means day to day |
|---|---|---|
| Etch/acid | 4/5 | True quartzite resists lemon/vinegar; dolomitic stones mislabeled as quartzite WILL etch — acid-test a sample before purchase. |
| Heat | 5/5 | Excellent — formed under heat; hot pans are not a practical concern. |
| Impact/chipping | 4/5 | Very strong; edges can still chip under hard strikes. |
| Moisture | 4/5 | Fine when sealing is maintained; porous slabs left unsealed can absorb water marks. |
| Scratch | 5/5 | Approximately 7 Mohs — the hardest mainstream natural stone; knives will not scratch true quartzite. |
| Stain | 3/5 | Porosity varies widely by slab; some need sealing once or twice a year, and oils soak into a lapsed seal. |
| Sunlight (UV) | 5/5 | UV-stable natural stone. |
| Everyday wear | 5/5 | The hardest-wearing natural stone surface; polish endures for decades. |
1–5, higher is better. Independent material ratings, not a manufacturer claim.
Care routine
- Sealing and cleaning — Yearly · True quartzite is much harder than marble and does not etch under normal kitchen acids, but it is still a porous natural stone: clean with pH-neutral products and run the water-drop test a few times a year. Most kitchen quartzite wants resealing roughly once or twice a year depending on the stone's porosity. · Avoid: Vinegar/citrus cleaners as a habit, hydrofluoric-acid rust removers (damage all stone), assuming "hard" means "stain-proof" · If you skip it: medium — porous quartzites (and mislabeled marbles sold as quartzite) stain noticeably when never sealed
What it costs installed
Published benchmark ranges, so you can sanity-check any quote — including ours.
| Line item | Typical range | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| Quartzite countertop installed | $70–$150 | per sq ft |
| Quartzite countertop installed | $80–$200 | per sq ft |
| Faucet/accessory hole drilled in stone countertop | $65–$120 | per hole |
| Kitchen countertop project, 30-50 sqft | $2,000–$10,000 | per project |
| Sink cutout | $150–$400 | per cutout |
Typical price ranges as of 2026-07. Regional benchmarks for the Chicago market — not an Ace quote. Your number depends on square footage, edge, cutouts and tear-out.
Edge profile upcharges
| Edge tier | Upcharge | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| Edge upgrade — mid-range profiles (full bullnose, ogee, cove) | $12–$20 | per linear ft |
| Edge upgrade — premium profiles (DuPont, chiseled, laminated, triple pencil, mitered) | $20–$35 | per linear ft |
| Edge upgrade — simple profiles (wide bevel, pencil round, half/demi bullnose) | $5–$12 | per linear ft |
Over a standard eased edge. chiseled rock-face, dupont, laminated double edge and the rest are explained in the edge-profiles guide.
Sources: SlabWise, 2026; SlabWise, 2026; SlabWise; SlabWise, 2026
Similar surfaces
Same family — worth seeing side by side before you commit.
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More to compare
Other countertops that sit close to Galapagos.
Questions about Galapagos
Answered from this product’s own spec sheet and our measurement of it.
Does Galapagos need sealing?
Yes. Quartzite is natural stone and takes a sealer. It is harder than marble and far less prone to etching, but it is not maintenance-free.
How does Galapagos hold up in a kitchen?
As quartzite, Galapagos rates 5/5 for heat, 3/5 for stain, 5/5 for scratch and 4/5 for etch/acid on the independent material scale in the durability table on this page, where 5 is best.
What does Galapagos cost installed?
Galapagos is priced on our quartzite tier: installed, from $4,500–$8,550 for a galley kitchen (30–45 sq ft) up to $13,500–$22,800 for an extra large kitchen (90–120 sq ft). The quote for your kitchen comes from your own measurements.
What do you not list for Galapagos?
A spec sheet. For Galapagos we hold the name and the stone type, not its finish, thickness or quarry, so this page does not state them. They are confirmed on the actual slab before anything is cut.
Want this in your kitchen?
We fabricate and install Galapagos out of our Streamwood shop — templated digitally, cut to your cabinets, installed by our own crew.
Ready for a real number?
Free in-home template and an honest quote — you keep your money until there's a countertop to trade it for.