Add me to the YES group! The price is incredible, esp. since you're already thinking of using marble. When we did our kitchen we had to buy the slabs, not just what we used of them, so we have a fair bit left. Some of it is now being made into a countertop for a bathroom, and then I plan on using more again as a fireplace surround. (I haven't planned beyond these two projects.) If you have some left you can find other uses -- marble is addictive!

Any pictures?

If I loved the look of the slabs,
I would buy them & use them for sure!
vic

not to be a downer, but i think the fabricating and installation is a very expensvie part of granite costs normally so maybe you should find out how much that will be for your backsplash before thinking its a great deal, also i don't think they are something you can throw in the back of your mini van so maybe costs to transport?

Emphatically Not in a Million Years!

Why? The raw slab cost for marble simply isn't that high, so $10/SF for material alone isn't that great a deal.
But more importantly, because it ties you down and really limits your choices down the road. Have you also taken into consideration that 24" isn't deep enough for a kitchen countertop?

I have three 'bargain' granite slabs sitting in my garage (that Hubby bought) and a 'bargain' granite table in my back yard that the dogs sit on to sun themselves...

Thanks everyone. I knew you all would give me something to think about. I do know that the 24" wide piece isn't big enough for a kitchen counter. If only it was 1" more...if only.

I have been heavily leaning towards a range backsplash and/or a 17" tall backsplash on either side of the stainless(where the subway tile is). When I asked my fabricator the price to cut the larger piece in half, she told me $20. Now that's without any of the edges being finished(I'm assuming it would only be the top edge or would I have to do all 4 sides so they sit smoothly against the counter and side walls?)

As bmore said, I am also planning a small 12" deep counter area that's not in the pic that could use a piece.

Sweeby - I'm actually surprised you don't think $10 sq/ft is a good price. He told me he bought the raw slab at $40 sq/ft.

Malhgold, I echo Sweeby. (BTW Sweeby, I love the red island.)

We purchased a 24" x 48" piece of honey onyx from a local stoneyard for $10 a foot nine years ago because the stone was so lovely and we thought it was such a superb deal. Oh my. The fabrication cost plenty -- about six times the price, and now we have a coffee table with a pretty top that we wear like a ball and chain: can't get rid of it b/c it wound up costing so much (and yes it is still beautiful). Every remodeling plan includes the line "What can we use the onxy for?"

The psychology underlying these "great deals" is itself a topic worth exploring some time. When the deal works out, you have a great feeling of having been very smart and lucky. When it doesn't work out perfectly, or when it works out in an unexpected way that introduces a new set of problems, you risk feeling weirdly manipulated.

The p.s.f. of granite can be very modest compared to the fabrication costs. Why risk loading yourself down with tons of what has a good chance of becoming a liability? Somebody else chose it originally, not you. Would you find that irksome after a while? Granite isn't scarce. You have time; it's a buyer's market; you can really have exactly what you want.

Would your fabricator charge you differently for stone that came from a different source?

I hope this forum helps you see the various sides of this tricky issue.

Good luck!

rc in Vermont

Okay, for whatever it's worth, I just called my fabricator (the world's nicest lady) here in Denver, CO, and she told me that today's price on 3cm Calacatta Gold is $53.76 per square foot, not including fabrication, not including installation. Raw Calacatta Gold in Colorado is $53.76 per square foot. (and that's the generic Calacatta Gold -- the "nicer" varieties [which look more like mine and mindimoo's] can cost up to $81 per square foot)

So I don't know what it is where you are (I think you're in PA or NJ, right?), but I cannot imagine it's going to be 1/5 what it is here in CO! When I told Linda the price of "your" slabs she audibly gasped "that's an amazing price!" Does it look at all like mine (pretty big swirls of grey)? If so, then you're getting an even better bargain!

Note to self: if you don't get it, I'm renting a truck with two carseats and coming to get it myself!

I'll preface this by saying that I am a spender.

If you've seen the slabs and they are in good shape and you love the coloring... I would absolutely GO FOR IT!

No, Brooke, 'cause I'm only across the river in NYC and I can get to NJ faster than you! :) I totally agree on the operative point being that we're talking Calacatta. In fact, I have to admit that when I saw that $10 per sq.ft, I wondered if maybe the stoneyard isn't trying to snooker Mahlgold by claiming another less premium marble to be Calacatta. How could Calacatta be that cheap? But, honestly, if it's the real deal, I repeat my advice to not pass this deal up!

I love marthavila!

If malhgold doesn't get them then I'd love to enjoy the slabs vicariously through you and your incredible taste.

And you know I love you back, Brooke! :) Shucks, when it comes to taste, you know you rock! I'm pretty certain that the first time I even became aware of Calacatta was when you unveiled that hugely inspirational kitchen of yours. Before that, I think all I knew about white marble with grey veining was Carrara.

Here are the slabs. As always, hard to see from a photo. The smaller one looks like there might be a ding at the top, near the clip. The longer one definitely looks like it has more "gold" in it. Let me know what you think.

Would you buy these based on viewing the photos. The seller wants me to pay up front and commit to these as he said it's difficult for the stone yard to take these slabs in and put them away if I don't want them.

Would that change your mind about buying these?

Are they local enough that you can inspect them? Did you take the photos or did the seller send you the photos? They look beautiful!

They are really nice looking, especially the larger one. If your island was two-level rather than one and depending on its length, you could use the 34" x 66" on lower level and the 24" x 64" on top. Either could probably be used in bathroom depending on the vanity. Using as backsplash and all the way up behind your hood would also look good. Just seems like there are several options depending on what all you are doing. And if you decided you didn't want to use them, there are probably several people on here that would love them depending on your location, so you could always get rid of them if you decided not to use (LOL--including me!).

Are you absolutely sure THOSE are the slabs?
Because the proportions of the dimensions you gave don't appear to match the proportions of those slabs...

Oooh -- they are beautiful! I mean really, really pretty, and based on what my fabricator told me I think those (in CO) would be in the $60 - $70 per square foot range -- I mean really, really pretty.

Do you like them? I agree with farmhousebound that these slabs offer many possibilities -- backsplash, countertop .... So, on your island, have you thought of doing some marble and some butcherblock like erikanh? I'm not trying to change your kitchen plan (I swear!), it's just a thought of how to get a lot of bang for your buck.

Based on the photos I think the slabs are beautiful, but I'd hope you can see the slabs in person so you can run your hands over them to see if there are any "flaws." Please please please keep us updated!

Haven't seen this discussed yet, (but may have missed it as i skimmed this thread once only so far)... I would never leave money at someone else's business in a downturn. Possession is 9/10ths of ...

Have the slabs delivered, and consider them art or an investment.

No matter what wonderful story you can tell us as to why someone needs your money now, you probably do not want to be the holder of a certificate or a verbal contract.

-david

Sweeby may have a point. Not sure of the scale, but if that paper with the number written on it is 8.5 x 11, then that first slab is about 68 x 88. Have you called any other stone yards to price Calacatta, slab only?

They are both much bigger than the dimensions posted in the original thread starter post. This brings the cost per Square Foot down to about $4.

I'd still have them delivered.

I read through this thread with a deeping sense of concern. When you said you couldn't inspect the slabs before giving your money a HUGE red flag went up. I don't care how great a deal it seems like I wouldn't do it.

Think of it this way - would you give me $250 dollars if I offered to sell you something based on a photo? Seriously, I don't think it's a good idea to spend money on something you can't inspect first.

I'm guessing that 1) the photos are deceiving when it comes to scale, since we can't see the whole slab against other things of defined size, 2) they're not the slabs advertised, or 3) the pieces advertised are scraps of these slabs? Whichever it is, I doubt they're bigger than advertised for the same price, so the sq ft price wouldn't change...

2 things that concern me: The actual price of fabrication, but moreso, that they may limit what you can put on the island. I think slab marble in both locations would be a lot of marble, and they'd obviously have to match/be the same kind. Would there ever be a problem with lot differences looking too much different to work together? Would you maybe be happy with another surface on the island when you've planned so long for marble?

NO! Absolutely DO NOT buy them money up front based only on those photos. As Sweeby pointed out, those are not photos of the pieces described. The Pieces may be the remnants of those slabs, but you don't know what part you would be getting, if they could be used together or what condition they are in. They could have chips, pits, cracks or other problems that would limit your use of them even further. And there is a risk that you might never actually see or get them. If you want them, see the actual pieces and arrange delivery to your fabricator before you hand over any money.

Trust me - they move slabs every day, sometimes all day long -- and they aren't showing you what they are offering. They are feeding you a line.

I'd do it. My local marble guy told me $80-$120/sq foot for Calacatta. Maybe more. Same guy would sell me a different marble (that was too pink for me) for $46/sq ft. I'd take these slabs in a heartbeat.

However - I'd pay when I went to pick them up, and I'd store them in my basement. I'd want to have them in my possession, like davidro pointed out.

just sent the seller an email. We'll see what he says about going to see the slabs. I also asked about the 1 slab appearing larger than the 66"X36" specs he gave me.

Just to clarify, this isn't the stone yard selling me the slabs, this is an individual person who didn't use all of the slabs he had purchased and is trying to sell the leftover pieces.

thanks for all the opinions......

I went looking for stone at a couple of marble yards in Houston, TX, last week. I did not find the purveyors helpful or informative. However, the one vendor who had Calacatta quoted me $4400 for a 2cm slab. It was a large, "average" size slab, and not one for which I'd give my eye teeth. This place only sells stone; they do not fabricate. FWIW. I'd only buy the ones that you are considering if I could inspect them in person, and if I were sure I loved them, and then, you can bet, I'd find a way to use them. I was looking for pieces for a utility room counter top and a summer kitchen bench top. 64" x 22" would have been perfect, if a perfect rectangle, for the first!

I don't know. This isn't like buying a pretty piece of fabric that you might find a use for someday. Rock slabs are huge and heavy. Personally, I wouldn't buy them unless I could see them, and unless I could use them in the next couple months.

I also wouldn't buy them if you needed to use them together to do a project, because (as you noted) the colors are off. Both look beautiful, just different.

Good luck.

I'm sorry to introduce a cliche, but it would help me in this very situation: If it seems to good to be true, it probably is.

I tend to become suddenly attracted to pieces of furniture and have bought a fair share of garage-sale "finds" and store close-outs which have ended up in my basement or on the curb (even Craiglist isn't hassle-free).

Something you REALLY want and is a fair deal will come your way. Not something you have to figure out how to make work while it sits in your basement.

Now that's my advice. What I'd really do in your situation is up for debate.

When something is going to be a steal, be sure to find out who is going to be the thief.

I would totally buy that marble, but let me preface this by saying the back of my closet is filled with bargains I knew would look smashing if I could only drop those 10 pesky pounds. My garage is the proud home of a Rohl farmhouse sink that I had to jump on because of the price- (even though I knew our reno. was at least a year away). The attic is full of treasures that I plan to paint or refinish or whatever. My hubby constantly teases me about things like an eight hundred dollar sink sitting in the garage. I quickly respond that at least my sink has maintained its value- unlike his syrrius stock that he thought was such a buy. If you decide they're not right for you, I'd love the seller's link! (I'm also in NJ)

So seller says that these pics were taken after his installation and these are the leftover pieces. The longer piece must have been taken at a strange angle. He said the chip in the top of the first slab was there when they bought it and the stoneyard typically excludes that part in the size calculation. He said they are in perfect condition and if I don't like them when I see them he will refund my money. He wants me to pay upfront so he knows I'm going to get them. I know what you all are going to say, I should pay when I get there, which is the way I've done all my craigslist transactions.

Just wanted to get an idea from the fabricator on cost. If I wanted to use the larger piece for an island, cost to template, fabricate and install would be $860. Fabricator will hold these for me, no problem.

Honestly, I don't think this guy is trying to pull one over on me. I think he just needs/wants to get rid of these and for $250 might not see what the issue is considering he paid significantly more for just the marble.

Sorry to keep beating a dead horse. In this economy I hate to spend any amount of money of something that I might not wind up using. Although I have had a few offers if I decide not to use them, so maybe it's just my time and effort to get them.

Thoughts?

I completely don't understand "so he knows your going to get them." What does that mean? He wants your $250 to be sure you show up? That's a lot of insurance.

Is there a problem with you getting there to see the slabs that you are wanting him to save them for you for several days or something, and he doesn't want them tied up while he waits? By what method are you supposed to pay up front? (Sorry if I missed something you already said)

I just don't understand why he won't know you're serious when you show up to see them and THEN hand him the money... Depending on a refund as your insurance seems risky and like it would be a hassle. Will he refund you in a way you know is legit?

Are these sitting at a stone yard you can verify is a legitimate business, and can you check the size, condition, and situation info with them?

I am going to email him saying I will go there on Monday, look at them, make sure they get in the truck(without damage-who knows what could happen when they try and move them. We've seen that before) and then pay him. He said his wife has a business and I can give her a credit card #. Not sure if that's the route I really want to take. He works in NY and the stone yard is in NJ. I don't think he wants to meet me there, just do the transaction over the phone. Maybe I should tell him I'll send him a check after I pick them up. Sort of the same thing he's asking me to do.

This is a legitimate stone yard. I had verified the size from them when I was considering these last month.

I don't really know why he doesn't want me to see them first. Maybe the stone yard is giving him a difficult time about this. They don't want to take the slabs out and then put them back. Who knows.

We'll see how he responds when I say I'm not paying until they're in the truck. I think I've spent way too much time obsessing over this already!!!

Thanks

The pieces are at a stone yard, but the individual is selling them? That makes more sense than the individual is selling them because the average HO doesn't have those clips and lifts available. Something wasn't making sense.

We had a guy who wanted to sell us an instrument for our son. He was in the business and does a lot of sales on ebay, but we noticed the phone number posted was local and called him. He told us we could take the instrument to get it checked out and assured us it was in great condition -- he would give us our money back if we weren't satisfied. I wouldn't be telling this story if that was true -- it needed almost as much in work as he wanted for the instrument -- better than 50% and then we would have to see how it was at that point -- probably a bit more to bring it up to snuff. We took it back and asked for our money back. He didn't want to give it to us -- and this was all the same afternoon. It was about to get ugly, but we did finally get our money back.

An individual may be less likely to go out of business, but they are more likely to change their mind, have already spent the money or cause other problems. At least with a credit card, you can dispute the charge.

The stone yard may be giving him a hard time because what often happens is the remnants are left behind and get sold to other buyers by the stoneyard. The stoneyard may be figuring that you would be taking money out of their pockets and they don't want to make it too easy for either of you.

Yes. These are being sold by an individual who already owns them, but they are sitting at the stone yard where he bought them.

Ahh - this is a Craigslist purchase? In that case I'd DEFINITELY wait until you've seen 'em before committing. That just makes sense, and anyone with any sense themselves will understand that you can't take that kind of risk. Yeah, you could theoretically stop the charge on your credit card, but that takes a lot of waiting around on the phone listening to Muzac.

If they're such a good deal, he shouldn't worry about you slipping away and being able to sell them to the next person. Hmmm.

He's not likely to find anyone who will give him their credit card number over the phone (yikes) and then 'hope' to examine and pick up the slabs later. Either he wants to sell them ASAP and will be reasonable about your concerns, or he wants to keep them til he finds someone desperate, naive, or blindly trusting enough to accept his plan...which could be awhile and may require a drop in price.

I love craigslist and ebay, use them all the time. However, these past couple of weeks I was looking for a car and found several deals too good to be true. I emailed and they each turned out to be a scam. All were different listings with different names/email addresses but they all sent the same letter stating her husband had died 3 months ago in Iraq and she needed to get rid of the car. It made me so angry that they used our young men and women to try and scam people. I started a case with the FTC and forwarded them all the info/emails. I know this is comparing apples to oranges but please be careful with this. I"m sure it's legit; but I've never ever paid in advance on craigslist. Ebay... yes if it was being shipped; but not on local ebay listings.

I would simply tell him; I'll be there on Monday. I'll call in advance to make sure they are still availble. If it's meant to be then they'll still be there. If not; oh well... they'll be other slabs. Just my .02!

Any update?

I still think this is a bad idea, but at least now it makes more sense. The stone yard doesn't want to move them because the slabs can't earn them any more money. I'm surprised they even let the seller store them there. And the reputation of the yard isn't relevant since they are not the seller.

I hope this all works out for you. Best wishes.

update is that I emailed him saying I'd be at the yard Monday morning but I didn't want to pay until they were in my truck. I guess he didn't like that because I haven't heard back and I emailed him early this afternoon.

Well then, it probably wasn't meant to be -- or he's trying to get someone else to pay up front before Monday and won't commit to hold them. Whatever it is, I think his expectations are a bit unreasonable. And there is a chance that he doesn't own the pieces or you wouldn't get them. Anytime someone is pressing that hard, it's a red flag and I'd rather let it go.

It doesn't look like those pieces would really do much other than your splash or the shallow counter and I think they might limit you in terms of other choices to the point you might not be happy. You've put enough into the thought and planning process that you should have a pretty good vision of what you want and stick to it. If you deviate, it better knock your socks off, keep you awake at night, know it will be perfect and you're willing to work around it because you just can't live without it. Even then, I wouldn't expect to be asked to pay up front to even get a looksie.

FWIW, when we were looking for granite we did quite a bit of research. We found out that the actual cost of granite slabs in this area runs between $8.00 and $12.00 per square foot. What costs the money is transporting them and having the fabrication work done. Transporting them in particular is apparently quite an art.

Mick De Giulio has been doing stone countertops with smaller slabs that have mitered frames of the same stone lately. That's one way to make use of slabs that are smaller than island tops. However, knowing his designs, the fabrication costs are probably huge.

aacckk!!! After I had pretty much figured this was a lost cause, got an email from the seller today. Said if something happens to them before they are in my possession, he will refund my money. Basically he's saying I have the email as confirmation of this.

kitchendetective - I thought what De Guiulio was doing was cutting 1 slab into say 4 pieces and then miter cutting those pieces and installing them as 1 counter. I'm not sure how that would help with a slab that was too small for a counter. Thanks!

very funny, malhgold, telling us about the option you now have, to send money to an internet stranger. And to print out an email saying something.

Yes, but he also miters different stones, say, Thassos next to Calacatta.

Something is really fishy about this transaction. Mahlgold, I am in need of $250 if you really want to give someone money and get nothing but my gratitude in return. Wait until you are ready for the slab you want. You will be surprised because as you get closer to finishing your kitchen you will find another deal.

Good luck!

did you see the slabs? i'm interested to hear how this works out...

Did you have any luck?

I emailed the seller last night saying I didn't feel comfortable giving my credit card over the phone to a business I had no knowledge of. I guess if he was that interested in selling them, he would've met me at the stone yard. Oh well....there will be other marble slabs. As I stated before, I wasn't even sure what I was going to be able to do with them.

Thanks for the interest!!