Selling Wholesale Granite Slabs to the Public

As you may have heard, there are a lot of changes happening in the Hampton Roads/Tidewater granite countertop industry.  Fleet Imports, a local importer and distributor of natural stone has recently changed it's business model and decided to sell granite slabs to the general public.  You may have heard their TV or radio adds.  

What does this mean to the consumer?   

It means that NOTING is going to change, other than it's going to make purchasing Granite and Marble Countertops, Vanity Tops, and remnant pieces more affordable to the general public.  By working with Quality Stone Concepts, one of Fleet's qualified "preferred fabricators," the general public will be able to purchase their slabs directly from Fleet.  Fleet will have the slabs shipped directly to us and then we will measure/template, fabricate and install the kitchen countertops.  Customers can save 20-30% by purchasing their slabs directly, and Quality Stone will still warrenty their fabrication and installation with our 5 year written warrenty. 

If anyone in the Hampton Roads, Tidewater area has any questions about how this affects their job, please don't hesitate to call us. 

www.qualitystoneconcepts.com

Your "preferred fabricators"
Quality Stone Concepts

The truth about Granite, Granite Countertops and Radon

Recent media attention has focused on granite countertops and whether they can increase your indoor radon levels. While testing your home is always a good idea, before you purchase you in home radon detection kit, a few clarifications are in order.

The EH&E (Environmental Health and Engineering, Inc.) has completed a detailed evaluation of potential human health risks of naturally occurring radioactive materials in granite countertops. The extensive measurements and rigorous mathematical modeling conducted to date indicate that (i) external doses of ionizing radiation emitted from granite countertops are well below levels that would pose a health concern and (ii) contributions from granite countertops to radon levels in homes are lower than background levels of radon exposure typically found outdoors and indoors.

Radon levels associated with emissions from granite countertops in homes are low in comparison to typical background levels of radon exposure. In other words, natural stone is a minor contributor to concentrations of radon gas within homes. These finding are consistent with an earlier review of the scientific literature that EH&E performed (EH&E 2008)

You can view the entire report on the Marble Institute of America’s website at: http://www.marble-institute.com/industryresources/assessingexposurereport.pdf As always you can always contact me directly at www.qualitystoneconcepts.com or fill out our request for info form here.

Granite Countertops Alternative - Soapstone

Quality Stone Concepts is now the authorized distributor and fabricator of Soapstone granite counters from the Alberene Soapstone Company.  This is the last working Soapstone quarry in the United States and is the only architectural grade soapstone quarried in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.   

Alberene Soapstone is a non-porous and antibacterial material.  Unlike granite or marble it is resistant to stains, heat and spalling.  Soapstone is a  natural heat conductor - perfect for bathroom floors and fireplace surrounds.  Quality Stone considers soapstone to be hassle free, no special treating or cleaning is needed and impervious to even the most corrosive chemicals. 

In addition to soapstone, Quality Stone Concepts is still the premire fabricator of Chesapeake, Virginia Beach and Norfolk granite and marble countertops. 

Quality Stone and Beco Homes going the extra mile

It is official.  Granite countertops have replaced laminate countertops as the new industry standard in Hampton Roads.  How do we make such a claim?  Well, in addition to installing 3cm Ubatuba granite counters in various “flip houses” throughout Virginia Beach, Norfolk and Chesapeake, we’re also in the middle of two apartment complexes.  Windy Knolls and Harrison Creek are both Beco Communities located in Newport News and Petersburg and both are leasing faster than they expected.  Low end laminate countertops, which have been a traditionally been the application for apartments are now being replaced by 2cm granite countertops.  
 

We are performing the granite fabrication for both of these projects by employing a mix of local production and overseas production.  This unique labor combination allows Beco to achieve both cost savings by ordering granite overseas while allowing our crews to keep us with any changes in their production schedule.  In the building industry it’s like the best of both worlds.

I’ve attached some pictures of the units that are renting from $980 to $1165.  Community amenities include; gated entrance, resort style pool with tanning sundeck, state of the art fitness center and clubhouse with demonstration kitchen and espresso bar. 

The hospitality industry experienced a similar granite boom in the early 2000’s.  Most major brand hotels, including Marriott, Hampton Inn, Hilton, Hyatt and Choice Hotels were required to change from the standard cultured marble vanity top to a 2cm granite bathroom vanity top.  If these two jobs are any indication, we’re expecting a similar boom in the apartment industry. 

For more information or leasing information about Windy Knollls please see their website at:
http://www.windyknolls.com/contact.htm

Our First Kosher Kitchen

As business in the building industry has grown tougher and tougher over the last several years, we at Quality Stone Concepts have used the slowing economy as an opportunity to actively seek out distinctive projects.  Exploring projects that other companies have traditionally shied away from has enabled us to take on unique projects that have really allowed our services to stand out and even develop a niche market.  

Last month, in Norfolk, we designed and installed of our first kitchen that adheres to kashrut, or Jewish dietary law.   After our initial consult with our customers, my business partner Tony Pirrone and I raced back to our office and did our research.  Our first introduction to kashrut, or kosher in English, was made by Wikipedia.   What did people do before the

The first thing that we had to understand when designing our first Kosher Kitchen was that Jewish dietary law restricts meat to be cooked with any dairy products.  That meant we had to design two completely different kitchens in one room.   We needed space for two corner sinks, two dishwashers, one for meat and the other for dairy, and enough cabinet space that allowed for two complete sets of dishware.  In addition to keeping the kitchen Kosher, designing the kitchen for entertaining purposes was high priority for the customer (especially the island).     

A design that would have usually taken about 3-6 man hours grew to over 2-3 weeks of design; however we were pleased to learn that Granite Countertops are the perfect application for a Kosher Kitchen.  We learned that the main concern of any koshered kitchen is cross contamination.  Even though, we explained that Granite Countertops are porous in nature, they could be sealed and our customers were happy with that.  Conversely, we learned that while Quartz surfaces are considered nonporous they are made of engineered material and not 100% natural. 

What further complicated this project was that it was in Historic Ghent and walls were being knocked down and rooms were being expanding.  So we didn’t know exactly what we were dealing with until the project was well “under construction.”  Finding out that our customer’s beautiful Travertine floors sloped approximately 3” from one sink to the other was a surprise.   

All in all our first experience in the Kosher Kitchen business was a HUGE success and our customers are happy with their new kitchen.  I’ll attach some pictures to QSC’s Facebook page if you’d like to take a look. 

QSC's Facebook Page

Become a fan of Quality Stone Concepts on Facebook click here: 

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Virginia-Beach-VA/Quality-Stone-Concepts/130095246582?ref=ts