Our Production Process
Pricing
The process begins with the submission of your plans or layout for an estimate. Plans & information can either be faxed or e-mailed. We do not accept verbal descriptions over the phone. An estimating sheet is available via this link for your convenience. Once you provide us with some basic information an estimate is prepared and submitted back to you within 24 hours. Large project or multi unit projects will require additional time.We do not provide square foot pricing. Our estimates are based on the specific criteria for your project. If you provide us with the specifications for the job we will provide you with a fixed price estimate which includes material, templating, fabrication, installation, tax, etc. another words a complete price which will not change unless the job changes. This provides you with the peace of mind that square foot pricing cannot due to the variables that only become known once plans are submitted or an onsite survey has been made.
Stone Selection
We stock over 60 different types of granite in our indoor warehouse for you to choose from, as well as marble, limestone, slate etc. We only inventory first grade materials and hand pick the majority of them from our distributors. We encourage you to come in and select the specific slabs for your project. Once you have selected your slabs they are tagged and removed from our active inventory.If you cannot decide on a specific stone we can provide you with a budget estimate based on price groups. Every stone is marked with the price group number as well as the industry recognized name of the stone clearly marked on it. We do not used made up names or inventory numbers to identify our stone. This is a practice which other shops use to prevent you from shopping. We want you to feel comfortable with your purchase and we are secure enough in our product that shopping does not bother us. All we ask is when you shop a job make sure it is apples for apples. When selecting your stone use the same degree of scrutiny that you would use when it is installed in your home.
Templating
Templates are the full size patterns which are made on the jobsite which will be the guides for the fabrication of your tops. All design decisions should be resolved at the jobsite during the templating. Therefore anyone who is to have a say in the design such as the Customer, Interior Designer, Architect, Contractor, etc, should be present at the templating at the beginning of the session and plan to stay until they are completed. Once again please use the same degree of scrutiny when reviewing the templates as you would your finished counter tops. Please do not sign off on templates or work orders until you have a clear understanding of what they represent. Remember your decisions are written in stone. Feel free to ask as many questions as you want. The average lead time for templating is about a week.Wood templates vs. Electronic templates (e-templates)
We prefer the use of solid templates because at this time we are not convinced that e-templates are 100% reliable and accurate based on the industry feed back we receive as well as the number of used e-templating systems which appear for sale each month in our trade magazines. In addition having a full size physical template in place for the customer to see helps the customer in their understanding of the final design.
Layout & Fabrication
Upon a customers request we will set up a layout session in our shop so that the customer can approve the placement of the templates on the stone prior to fabrication. This service is usually limited to customers who are using stone with a lot of movement, shading, or variation.Once the design and layouts are approved the job moves into the fabrication stage. Fabrication in our shop is a combination of state of the art machining and traditional hand work. We believe that quality standards and aesthetics dictate the methods to be used. Although our industry is constantly being bombarded by advances in technology We consider machines a tool, not a replacement for a skilled craftsman. We take pride in fact that no employee in our company has ever lost their job to a machine.
We do not use chemical enhancers or waxes to obtain a polish on our edges. Our polish is achieved by the use of graduated abrasives therefore the polish will not start to fade shortly after your tops are installed.
We use three types of reinforcing rods when required. A ½ inch wide by 1/8” thick stainless steel flat bar for reinforcing 3cm thick stock. A ¼ inch by 1/8” thick cold rolled steel bar for 2cm stock, and a 3/8” by 1/8” thick fiber glass rod for radius & specialty work. All our counter tops are under smoothed three to four inches in so that when you run your hand on the bottom it is smooth to the touch.
