Question and recommendation for those in DC area

15 years ago

Hi. We are currently building an addition with complete kitchen remodel. Our contractor has referred us to Charles Luck Stone for the countertops. Has anyone used them? They seem to have a very limited selection. What happens if we don't use the people recommended by our contractor? Thanks!!

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (6)

november
15 years ago
We did an addition with a kitchen remodel last fall - we live in northern VA. I think you can easily look around for other stone fabricators - there are so many around here. Unfortunately, I wouldn't recommend ours (Discover Granite in Chantilly) - they trashed the wall when they installed the countertops (it's fixed, but still). The countertop process can be pretty separate from the reat of the kitchen - they come template for the counters after the cabinets are in, so they don't need to coordinate ahead of time or anything. Ask around for recommendations - people here have used all different installers.
ljsandler
15 years ago
I used Capital Marble and Granite and LOVED them. Ask for Mercedes at 202-290-1306 for fabrication. I got my granite at IGM on Pickett Street in Alexandria. They had a great selection--1000's of slabs. I also went to 4 other granite yards but they didn't have as good as selection as IGM.

I do not know what your GC would do if you do not use the folks he recommends. He may have a relationship with them and is used to working with them. Nevertheless, it's your kitchen and you are paying for it--get what you want!!!!
Related Discussions
bulk mulch in DC area?
Q
Comments (28)
Dr Dirt is our friend Tom Gallagher (sp?), a staffer at Sandy Springs Friends School where the Fall Swap was held. He runs a composting program at the school, he usually brings a truckload of old manure and stacks of old coffee sacks to haul it in to any offsite swaps he attends, and by special arrangement I was able to get a carload direct from him on another occasion. Other good manure sources include Wheaton Park stables, Rock Creek stables, and contact the local 4H for names of folks who raise goats/sheep/rabbits in PG or Monkey Cty. I also have names of local alpaca and llama breeders I got from attending the MD Sheep and Wool Festival (MD Fair Grounds, Timonium, usually 1st weekend in May) -- I got several carloads of llama manure last summer in return for helping to paint fences. Tom Sawyer, eat your heart out. Lynn
...See More
Professional steam cleaning service in greater D.C. area
Q
Comments (0)
Hi, I'm ISO of a professional steam cleaning service within the greater Washington, D.C. area. To make a long story short we need our travertine stone and grout professionally cleaned and sealed since our contractor's tile guy failed to seal the tile and grout during the initial install (despite my questioning this). If anyone can recommend a reputable company I would greatly appreciate it!! TIA, DG
...See More
Gel Memory Foam + DC-area mattress store recs?
Q
Comments (0)
Hi all. I'm launching a mattress hunt. My brief: I'm a stomach sleeper and I've always liked a very firm mattress but am nearing 50, getting achey and heavier, pressure points matter a lot more than last time I thought about this issue. The bed needs to accommodate one person and a rotating cast of dogs. 2 questions: 1) I'd planned to steer clear of memory foam because I don't especially care for my mom's thick m-foam topper, which I've tried, and because of the concern about heat. I'm much more prone to overheating than under - approaching menopause, sleeping with dogs - not likely to get cooler around here any time soon. Today, though, I stopped at one of those discount chains to see what the current range from the big-name makers was, and I kind of fell in love with the firmest model in Serta's iSeries line. It's an innerspring mattress with a very thin layer on top of memory foam with gel mixed in - just enough to cushion the pressure points. The gel mixture is supposed to solve the heat problem with the memory foam. I basically don't believe that for a minute, but I wondered if anyone had had any experience with the gel-foam combos - either in this line, or the iComfort, which is gel foam all the way through, or another brand's version. Any opinions? 2) For those in the DC area, are there any mattress dealers you'd particularly recommend? I was going to check out the latex mattresses at Savvy Rest Natural Bedroom in Vienna, and the ones Room and Board sells. Any other specialty retailers to check out? Thanks!
...See More
DC Area Marble and Tile recommendations
Q
Comments (3)
We used Thomas Marble and Granite in Gaithersburg for our granite. They were wonderful to work with. Their prices were very reasonable. They are a tiny mom/pop shop (with lots of worker staff but family runs the office) so you actually deal with the owner and his sons, which is nice. They installed in a week - it was actually ready sooner when I checked in with them and they offered to deliver it sooner, but we had the day off work planned so we didn't move it up. They also gave us a great price - 1/2 off everywhere else without negociating for our Blanco sink.
...See More
Buehl
15 years ago
Avanti in Frederick has a great selection and they are very helpful...I wish we could have gotten our granite from there but alas, no true black absolute black (btw...they're one of the few places that checks to be sure the black granites are not dyed).

Universal Marble & Granite (Halethorpe/Baltimore, near BWI) also has a pretty good selection, but they don't let you reserve specific slabs...you reserve slabs from a "lot". They turned out to be the only ones who had a true black AB...in one very small lot (all other lots were coming in as gray).

Stay away from Granite Source and .
pcjs
15 years ago
We bought from Avanti - we had a problem with our initial installer and Avanti was a huge help. They say they are slightly more $$$ but we didn't find that to be the situation. They were very helpful (all 4 times we were there) and well... wonderful. Arc Stone also has lots of choices but they are huge and it's hard to get help - but they have some amazing stones - going during the week might help vs. Saturday. We went to about 15 different places. And, shop around for your installer. We got prices all over the place.

Stay away from Stone Surfaces in Rockville - they took our money, never held our stone at Avanti and were nasty.
lagrant
15 years ago
I made the rounds more times than I care to admit. In addition to liking Avanti for selection I would also check out Daltile in Chantilly, NSI in Glen Burnie, Marva Marble and Granite in Beltsville, and Levantina in Jessup (MD). Marble Systems in Fairfax also had a nice selection.

We weren't thrilled with whom our Contractor recommended, so we excluded our marble and granite from the contract and have gotten counters separately.

Keep in mind that we are recommending granite yards - you may still need to find a fabricator. If you also need fabricator recommendations, let us know! I'm sure many can chime in. Personally, I have had a wonderful experience with Classic Granite and Marble in Jessup - Andy. He is willing to obtain whatever slab you choose - from any of the yards. I picked my marble from Daltile in Chantilly. He has some inventory at his location as well.

HTH! Good luck! It took me forever to make a decsion and find material I loved!
teched
15 years ago
We were recommended by our contractor to try Luck Stone and Marblex. Both were outrageously expensive with little selection. Luck had a few slabs in the yard. Their primary business is done from the 10 or 15 well known granites like Verde Butterfly and Uba Tuba. For those, we were quoted prices 3X what other dealers were quoting.

We talked with Dominion Granite and Marble at a home show. They were super knowledgeable. One of the owners has grown up in the business and has relationships with suppliers all over the country. They sent me to several suppliers, but we found our slabs at Daltile in Chantilly. Dal was very professional and kind. They even let me "visit" my slabs every time I went to Costco (which is right across the street). They said they get that all the time and made me feel like I wasn't being weird at all.

Dominion did a superior job on our countertops. The only seam that is visible is bookmatched and just looks really cool. The installers custom matched caulk or whatever it is they stick the seams together with so that the seams would blend in. Our granite has a large gold river running through it and they templated it so that it ran over the counters in the most beautiful fashion. They also never tried to upsell anything, in fact suggesting that I go with the less expensive eased edge over bullnose because it highlights the thickness of the tops better. Very professional all the way around.

Oh, and they offer a lifetime warranty. Does it get any better?

Here is a link that might be useful: Dominion Granite

Question and recommendation for those in DC area

Comments (6)

november

ljsandler

Related Discussions

Buehl

pcjs

lagrant

teched

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US