DC/MD folks, your favorite granite yard?

ehs20815

16 years ago

Hi All,

My kitchen is completely gutted and my cabs are going in hopefully in about 18 days. About a month ago, I visited Avanti, Bramati, Marva and Stone Surfaces. I fell in "like" with some White Fantasy Quartzite at Avanti but then fell in love with some dark veined Carrara at Stone Surfaces.

I later read some concerning stuff on this board about Stone Surfaces that made me rethink buying from them.

Unfortunately, in the meantime, I slipped and broke a bone in my foot, and will be on crutches for 6 more weeks.

Between trying to keep up with my young kids, not being able to access my temporary kitchen (can't safely get down to the basement), and generally taking forever to do even the simplest tasks...well...it doesn't look good for me to do a thorough look through all the yards, let alone do so while lugging around the obligatory tile and door samples.

My thinking is that there are other TKO GWers who have visited every major yard and can provide some advice on which 2 (because they are all far apart, I can't drag my poor mother to any more in good conscience--DH will be busy shuttling the kids around) are worth the extra effort to visit.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

FWIW, I am interested in a dark veined white marble or quartzite, plus a black soapstone.

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Comments (9)

lagrant
16 years ago
Well, it sounds like we're on a similar hunt! So far I have visited GranTops, Avanti, NSI, Marva, Universal, Classic, and Levantini - some several times - mostly on a search for calacatta marble and black soapstone. The biggest overall selections were found at NSI, Avanti, Marva, and Universal. Universal had the largest selection of marble anywhere - BUT they do not let you pick your specific slabs, only a particular lot. I still may use them because their marble was beautiful. NSI has some amazing granite - lots of unique and exotic slabs. GranTops just got a new shipment of soapstone so I may head back out there again. Universal has "blue" and "green" soapstone - no specific names.

Classic is a supplier AND a fabricator and have been hands down the easiest to work with. If you walk in with a floor plan, you will walk out with a final quote for price grades A-F. All slabs are marked with their letter grade, so you know when you're shopping when to keep moving. They don't have as large of an inventory, but work with many of the suppliers around and will obtain whatever is needed from them.

I'm still shopping - will update with any additional info I find!
straw_bale_ln
16 years ago
I haven't been to this place and really know nothing about them, but my KD told me about them today - Norwood Marble & Granite in Brentwood. He was there yesterday and is very excited that they carry Icestone at a good price. They also seem to carry a lot of marble and exotic granite, so I'd give them a call. According to their website they say they carry 1500 slabs. My KD also mentioned they have soapstone on site, and their website shows them carrying Green Mountain soapstone. Maybe someone else will chime in if they have something to say about Norwood but it looks promising.

I haven't bought anything from Avanti but I've been there twice and both times everyone there has always been more than helpful. I definitely get a good vibe from them and wouldn't hesitate buying from them. Stone Surfaces, OTOH, I'd stay away from only because I didn't have a positive experience interacting with a salesperson. I'm wierd like that, but if you do something to tick me off in the first 5 minutes it'll be a long road uphill both ways to get me to like you again :) That, plus another GWer's bad experience would be enough to keep me away from them. HTH!

P.S. I looked at Grantops' new shipment of soapstone today and it's definitely not black. Lots of green spotting and some light white veining with a green tint. Nice, but not for me.

Here is a link that might be useful: Norwood Marble & Granite
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gneegirl
16 years ago
ArcStone is not listed here but you might try there. They have their "usuals" but they often get new stuff that is pretty special. Of the ones mentioned, except Stone Surfaces, all are pretty darn good. I stayed away from Marva because they wouldn't let me just browse and wanted me to pick 2-3 stones and that was it. I need much more freedom than that. But, I did like their stones. But I do know that they,NSI and one other place in Frederick - Bramati, had great looking stones. Someone here didn't like Bramati because they have a family dog there that is on her last leg, and she was wandering around. That could be a problem - I was there, and saw her and she was really harmless. It kinda tore my heart that her age was getting the best of her because you could tell she had MUCH better days. But I did like the stones - some I hadn't seen anywhere. GranTops uses them a lot. They also have a great relationship with NSI (see Eric).

I think if you go with either of the ones mentioned here, you should be OK. Take you time and go back if you aren't sure. I carried all my stuff with me to help match colors. After a while I just kept them in the trunk and only pulled them out if I found something that I thought would really work. Funny, when I finally did that, I found my stone - the light bulb truly went off and I ran to the car. It was just as I had imagined - a perfect match. Yippee!!! Anyway, as I said, take your time until you are comfortable. Also, you may want to call around to see who has what you want. I did that with AcrStone a lot and they were very helpful to check. Do you have a fabricator? If so, see who they have relationships with as sometimes you can get a discount.
teched
16 years ago
Try Virginia too! I did all those, but I found my "baby" at Dal Tile.

Dal Tile Stone Center
14790 Flint Lee Rd.
Chantilly, VA 20151
703-961-8425

EleMar DC
22890 Quicksilver Drive
Suite 189
Sterling, VA 20166
703.996.0121
http://www.elemarvirginia.com/index.html

EuropaStone
45805 Woodland Road
Sterling, VA 20166
703-450-4999
http://www.europastone.com/
pcjs
16 years ago
We had the bad experience with Stone Surfance and used Thomas Marble and Granite in Gaitherburg MD and they were wonderful.

We did the great granite search for weeks... we probably went everywhere. Ultimately, I loved Avanti and we got their Gold and Silver which is also their favorite given if you look at their showroom. They were so kind to us and helpful. Marva was also nice and we also liked Arc but on weekends they are just so busy and big it's impossible to get help bu they have amazing stones.

I was the one who didn't like Bramati as there was dog poop everywhere and that just grossed me out... ick, I didn't want to think it could be on my countertops and I wasn't impressed with their stones. The dog was harmless, I do agree with that but the POOP was just nasty!

Marva was very nice, but I also agree they were difficult in that they didn't let you browse, which was a huge turn off.

Avanti let us come several times and we browsed and browsed and browsed and drove them crazy and they were great.

Arc is just fun to go to though because they have some amazing stones! Even if you know what you want, go check them out at some point as they have some neat onyx and other stuff.
ljsandler
16 years ago
I used IGM on South Pickett Street in Alexandria and I thought they were great! I had gone to 4 others but still found the best selection at IGM.
gneegirl
16 years ago
OT:
Hi pcjs - Yep, you were the one I was referring to. I don't blame you RE the dog poop. I was just thinking about you over the weekend. I haven't finished - still at the 99% stage. But something I did must have satisfied me in some way because I don't seem to be able to get motivated to complete the rest of the work. Oh well. Anyway just hadn't seen your name much lately, as I was remembering all of the helpful people that gave advice and answered questions.
pcjs
16 years ago
We'll never be done :) A year later, we still have to paint, do a little trim, and do some recessed lights but at this point I just don't care as we have so many other projects going on that are more important - we still have to refinish the walls, trim and hardwood floors.

I freaked out when I saw the poop ... But, then again, I was the one standing there with the shop vac and clorex wipes as we were putting in the cabinets to make sure no dirt/dust got behind the cabinets as they went in. That's the one thing I like about being DIY - you can do it your way and we are really careful of making sure everything is clean given I am really sensitive to everything.

I've been around... we just been busy on the house and went to France for 10 days. :)
iris16
15 years ago
Has anyone had experience with Marble Source Unlimited in Annapolis MD? Any experience with the "Granite Guys" in Hagerstown, MD

DC/MD folks, your favorite granite yard?

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lagrant

straw_bale_ln

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