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Cambria Home Additions & ADU: The Fort Lauderdale Owner’s Guide
Adding onto a Fort Lauderdale home with Cambria surfaces typically runs $45,000 to $130,000 for a full addition, and we install Cambria quartz countertops, backsplashes, and wet-bar surfaces inside those additions and ADUs every month. Most owners don’t call us because the Cambria failed. They call because a previous contractor cut a seam wrong, set the slab on an uneven substrate (the layer beneath the stone), or left an outdoor Cambria surface exposed to salt air without the right sealant. What starts as a hairline crack near the sink or a dull spot by the lanai door turns into a repair that needs a pro who knows this material.
We’re Penhallow Remodeling Fort Lauderdale, and we’ve handled Cambria work from full gut-renovations near Las Olas Boulevard to modest additions for longtime Fort Lauderdale homeowners. We are an independent contractor, not affiliated with Cambria, but we install their quartz on the regular because it carries its own lifetime warranty alongside our written guarantee. If you’re looking at a failed seam, a cracked overhang, or a Cambria surface that was never installed right in the first place, here’s what you need to know.
Which Cambria Models This Applies To
Cambria doesn’t make “models” the way an appliance brand does. It makes quartz slab designs in a handful of thicknesses, and your Cambria surface is cut from one of those slabs by a fabricator. That matters because the compatibility question isn’t about a model number. It’s about thickness and edge profile.
Cambria slabs come in 2 cm and 3 cm thicknesses. Most kitchen counters in Fort Lauderdale are 3 cm, while bathroom vanities and shower surrounds sometimes use 2 cm. The edge profile, whether it’s a simple eased edge, a bullnose, or a mitered build-up, changes how the slab sits on the cabinet and what a repair involves. You’ll find the Cambria design name printed on the slab’s underside near the fabrication label, along with the lot number. We use that label to match a replacement piece to the same design and batch so the veining lines up and there’s no visible shade difference.
For aftermarket decisions: Cambria is a breton-compacted quartz, meaning it’s roughly 93% natural quartz bound with resin. Off-brand slabs that claim to match a Cambria design rarely do. The veining pattern is proprietary, and a lookalike slab will announce itself the moment sunlight hits it from a different angle. We stock Cambria-specific touch-up kits, color-matched adhesives, and the right polishing compounds on the truck. If the repair calls for a full slab, we order directly through a Cambria distributor and verify the lot before it reaches your home.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your Cambria Home Additions & ADU Is Failing
- Hairline cracks radiating from the sink or cooktop cutout. This is the classic failure point. The fabricator cut the corner too square instead of rounding it, and stress concentrates at that sharp angle. In Fort Lauderdale’s humidity, the cabinet beneath swells and shrinks, and the slab flexes just enough to crack.
- Visible seam separation where two slabs meet. Cambria seams should be tight, filled with color-matched adhesive, and nearly invisible from above. If you can slide a fingernail into the seam or the fill has yellowed, the adhesive failed. Salt air accelerates this in homes east of US-1.
- Dull, etched patches that won’t polish out. Real Cambria doesn’t etch like marble, but the resin binder can haze if someone used an acidic cleaner or a scouring pad. The surface looks cloudy, and no amount of wiping brings the shine back.
- A hollow sound when you tap across the surface. That means the slab isn’t fully supported underneath. Cambria needs continuous contact with the substrate. Voids create unsupported spans that eventually crack under a heavy pot or a leaning elbow.
- Movement or a visible gap between the slab and the wall. In an addition or ADU, the structure settles in the first couple years. If the slab was siliconed tight before the framing dried, that gap opens and the caulk tears. It’s cosmetic at first, but it means water is getting behind the surface.
See the difference
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AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
For a Cambria repair tied to a home addition or ADU in Fort Lauderdale, you’re looking at $45,000 to $130,000 when the work is a full structural addition that includes Cambria surfaces. That’s the honest range, and it swings on square footage, roofline tie-ins, foundation type, and how much Cambria you’re putting in. Here’s how the pieces break down:
- Full home addition: $45,000 – $130,000
- ADU construction (full standalone unit): $90,000 – $220,000
- Garage conversion (often includes a small Cambria wet bar or bath vanity): $30,000 – $80,000
- Cambria countertop installation within any of the above: $2,000 – $6,500
Every Penhallow job gets a written price before work starts. That number includes the slab, fabrication, delivery, installation, and cleanup. You’ll also get our 365-Day Done Right Promise in writing: if the seam opens, the surface hazes, or anything we touched fails inside a year, we come back and fix it at no charge. No service call fee, no re-inspection charge. If it fails twice, we make the material right.
DIY or Call Us?
A homeowner can safely do two things before calling: wipe the surface with a pH-neutral cleaner and take photos of the crack or seam with a quarter in the frame for scale. That helps us understand what we’re walking into. What you shouldn’t do is attempt to glue, clamp, or polish a failed Cambria seam yourself. The adhesives are color-matched two-part epoxies that set in minutes. If the mix is off, the repair line turns yellow and we have to grind it out. If you try to clamp a cracked overhang without supporting the slab properly, you can snap the piece clean off.
Cambria quartz is heavy. A 3 cm slab runs about 18 pounds per square foot. A typical kitchen island top weighs 300 to 500 pounds. If it shifts during a DIY repair, you’re looking at crushed fingers or a broken slab. That’s not a scare tactic, it’s just what the material weighs. Call (754) 551-2922 and let us do it right the first time.
FAQs
Cambria’s warranty runs for the life of the original owner, and in a properly installed interior application, the surface should outlast the addition itself. The caveat is outdoor or semi-outdoor use. Fort Lauderdale’s UV index and salt air will haze the resin binder on any quartz slab within five to eight years if it’s used for an uncovered outdoor kitchen or lanai top without weather protection.
Sometimes, yes. A clean hairline crack can be filled with color-matched epoxy and polished to near-invisibility. A cracked corner or a slab that’s separated at the seam usually can’t be structurally repaired, and we’ll tell you that before we take your money. Call (754) 551-2922 and describe what you’re seeing. We’ll tell you straight whether it’s a repair or a replacement.
A seam repair or spot polish takes a single visit, usually two to four hours. A full slab replacement takes two to three weeks, because the slab comes from a Cambria distributor, gets fabricated to your template, and then hits our install calendar. We’ll give you a written timeline with the written price.
We keep Cambria-specific color-matched adhesives, polishing compounds, and touch-up kits on the truck for the most common Fort Lauderdale installs. That means the first service visit can usually address a minor seam or surface issue without ordering anything. We also work regularly with KraftMaid, Silestone, and Kohler products when a job crosses into cabinetry and fixtures.
Written by Trevor Nash, Owner, Penhallow Remodeling Fort Lauderdale at Penhallow Remodeling Fort Lauderdale, serving Fort Lauderdale and nearby areas.
