Qsc Delivers Granite And Cabinets To The Outer Banks

Quality Stone Concepts is proud to announce its ongoing partnership with Artisan Marble and Tile of Nags Head. This strategic partnership benefits both companies by expanding our product lines and geographic boundaries and allows both companies the ability to utilize a combined 60 years of granite, tile, and cabinet experience. This partnership allows QSC to fabricate granite in both South Eastern Virginia as well as the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Additionally customers will benefit from two show rooms, one in VB and the other on mile marker 4.5 in the OBX. Artisan Marble and Tile’s state of the art fabrication facility it will increase the convenience to our clients regionally in areas such as Edenton, Elizabeth City, and the Outer Banks.

Granite Countertops – Can you cut on them?

Watch this video from marble.com and learn about the surfaces of granite and its durability. Contact us today to learn more about our Virginia Beach granite installation and fabrication services.

Commerical and Premium Quality Granite Slabs

Find out how to spot the commercial quality slabs! We give you the insight of a trade professional so that you are an educated customer.

Kitchen Cabinet Types

What type of wood you choose depends on your own tastes, the style of your kitchen, and your home furnishings. Today’s truly custom cabinetry can be made of any fine wood depending on that wood’s availability and your price range.

The most common choices for custom cabinets are:

Maple (moderate price) - There are more than 10 types of maple in the North and Northwest.
Most maple used commercially comes from one of 5 species. The most common is the soft maples. Rock Maple is denser and stronger.  Certain Rock Maple logs are selected and peeled to create the beautiful “birds-eye” figure.  Maple finishes very well.

Cherry (moderate) - Sapwood is pinkish in color while the heartwood is a pinkish brown which will grow to red-brown over time and exposure to sunlight. It is typically straight grained, is moderately dense and strong, and takes finishing very well.

Hickory (Moderate) - Sapwood is light colored, the heartwood is reddish-brown, it is dense strong wood, typically straight grained and takes stains well.

Oak (Moderate) - There are 200 different species of Oak. The most common has light colored sapwood with tan or yellowish brown heartwood. Oak can be straight grained but can often be irregular or cross-grained. When quarter sawn it presents a silvery figure. It is quite dense and strong and takes stain well.

Pine (Moderate) - Pine is either white, yellow or ponderosa. White pine is white to straw colored, not very dense, straight grained and takes stain and paint well. Yellow pine is very similar in characteristics to white pine. Ponderosa pine has yellowish sapwood while heartwood is orange to reddish with very prominent resin duct lines. It needs special attention and surface preparation to take stain and paint well.

Read more: Kitchen Cabinet Types

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.