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Cambria Home Additions & ADU: The Jacksonville Owner’s Guide
A Cambria home addition or ADU in Jacksonville typically runs $45,000 to $130,000 for a fully permitted, finished space, and we install Cambria-quartz surfaces in kitchens, baths, and wet bars as part of that scope. Most homeowners find us because their existing Cambria countertop cracked at a seam, separated from the substrate, or a corner chipped during a remodel of the primary house. The part that fails isn’t the Cambria slab itself in most cases, it’s the seam adhesive, the subtop, or the support framing underneath. We fix those failures and build the addition around materials that hold up to Florida humidity.
Which Cambria Models This Applies To
Cambria manufactures quartz surfaces in over 150 designs, but the compatibility question for a home addition or ADU is less about the color name and more about the slab thickness and edge profile. Cambria ships in two standard thicknesses: 2 cm and 3 cm. The 3 cm material carries a lifetime warranty and does not require a subtop, so it’s what we specify for new additions and ADU kitchens in Jacksonville. The 2 cm material needs plywood subtop support, and if that subtop was installed wrong or has gotten wet, the slab fails along the seam line even though the Cambria itself is sound.
You can identify your slab by looking under the overhang: Cambria etches the design name and lot number into the underside of every slab. We use that lot number when matching a replacement section or a new slab for an addition, because quartz color can shift slightly between production batches. For aftermarket needs, we do not recommend generic quartz lookalikes; the resin content and density differ enough that a mismatched section will be visible in Jacksonville’s natural light within a year. Bradford Remodeling is an independent contractor, not affiliated with Cambria, and we source only from authorized Cambria fabricators so the lifetime warranty on new slabs stays intact.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your Cambria Home Additions & ADU Is Failing
- Hairline crack radiating from a sink cutout or cooktop cutout. In ADUs built with 2 cm Cambria over plywood subtop, Jacksonville humidity cycles swell the plywood enough to flex the quartz. Quartz doesn’t flex; it cracks.
- Seam separation of an eighth inch or more. Seams are supposed to be nearly invisible. A gap that widens and narrows with the seasons points to a settling foundation or an undersized support frame, which we see often in older Jacksonville garages converted into ADUs.
- Chipped front edge at the overhang. This is almost always impact damage from a dropped pot or a chair back, but a chip that keeps re-chipping tells us the overhang exceeds Cambria’s 14-inch unsupported maximum and the edge is under constant strain.
- Dull or etched surface despite being quartz. Cambria is non-porous and resists staining, but aggressive alkaline cleaners or a homeowner using abrasive pads will wear the polish. It looks failed; it’s actually a maintenance issue we can correct by re-polishing.
- Sagging or soft counter at the front edge. If you can press down and feel movement, the substrate has failed. That’s a structural repair, not a surface repair, and it needs to be addressed before new Cambria is set.
See the difference
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After
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AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
For a replacement Cambria countertop in an existing Jacksonville home or ADU, installed pricing runs $2,000 to $6,500 depending on slab size, edge profile, and whether the subtop needs rebuilding. For a full home addition or ADU with Cambria surfaces included in the kitchen and baths, the total project range is $45,000 to $130,000, and surface fabrication accounts for roughly $4,000 to $9,000 of that. The range moves with square footage, foundation type (slab vs. pier-and-beam), electrical and plumbing rough-in distances, and whether the ADU is attached to the main house or a detached structure with its own service panel.
Every quote we write in Jacksonville is a fixed line-item price. The Cambria slab, fabrication, subtop, sink cutouts, edge profile, and installation all sit on the page before you sign. There are no allowances that balloon at the door, and no “we found a problem” change order unless you approve it in writing first. The 365-Day Done Right Promise covers the installation and fabrication work: if a seam opens, a slab cracks due to our installation, or the subtop fails within one year, we return and correct it at no charge. That promise is written, signed, and handed to you at closeout along with a clean site and a documented scope.
DIY or Call Us?
What you can safely do: check your seams with a straightedge, photograph the lot number under the overhang, and stop using abrasive cleaners. What you should not do: attempt to lift, shim, or re-glue a Cambria slab yourself. A 3 cm Cambria kitchen counter weighs roughly 18 pounds per square foot; a 30-square-foot run is over 500 pounds. Lifting a seam to inject adhesive without proper support can crack the slab or crush fingers. If the subtop has failed, the slab has to come off entirely, the framing corrected, and the surface reset, and that is a two-person job with a granite cart and proper bracing. For seam repair, re-polishing, or a full Cambria installation in a new Jacksonville addition, call (904) 337-5929 and we’ll put an inspection on the schedule, not a voicemail.
FAQs
A 3 cm Cambria slab with a properly installed subtop and sealed substrate should last 30-plus years in Jacksonville’s climate; the material itself carries a lifetime warranty against manufacturing defects. The failure point in Florida is almost always the wood subtop underneath, which rotates through high humidity every summer and dries out in winter, so we specify kiln-dried plywood and mechanical fastening rather than adhesive alone. Call (904) 337-5929 and we’ll tell you whether what you’re seeing is a surface issue or a substrate issue, and quote the fix either way.
Yes, if the crack is hairline and stable, we can fill and re-polish it so it’s cosmetically acceptable, typically for a few hundred dollars in Jacksonville. If the crack runs through a sink cutout or the slab has separated at the seam, repair is a temporary patch; the structural cause is still underneath it. Call (904) 337-5929 for an honest read, we’ll tell you if replacement is cheaper in the long run.
A countertop replacement in an existing Jacksonville kitchen or ADU takes two to three days: one for template and tear-out, one for fabrication and subtop repair, one for installation and seam work. A full home addition or ADU with Cambria surfaces is a 10- to 16-week build depending on permit review, foundation, and weather windows. Either way, the timeline goes in writing before we start.
We order Cambria slabs per job from local authorized fabricators, so every slab is cut to your exact template and the lot number is documented before fabrication. That’s how we avoid the mismatch problem that comes from buying random closeouts. We also install KraftMaid cabinetry, Silestone and Kohler fixtures, so the whole surface and cabinet package comes from documented brands with manufacturer specs behind them. Call (904) 337-5929 to lock in your slab before the current lot sells through.
Written by Curtis Lane, Owner, Bradford Remodeling Co Jacksonville at Bradford Remodeling Co Jacksonville, serving Jacksonville and nearby areas.
