The Great Granite Hunt - Part II

The next weekend, armed with internet knowledge of more granite yards (warehouses), we set off.  Now, the first place we went to, everything I liked on the sample floor was no longer available and the woman kept showing me things I wasn't interested in.  Again, I didn't think I was going to find it.

Next we head to Texas Granite off of I-35.  I learned a lot from them.  I learned I was an exotic type of girl and I liked granite with more movement.  Again, I learned that all stones are not the same, as I saw pieces of one stone that I liked, but didn't like it's companion stone.  However, their warehouse was closed on Saturday and we ventured on.  We then went to Allied Stone.  I saw a piece there that I liked called "Yellow River".  Now it looked like an old creek bed, but with a big old stripe of blue running through the stone. Since blue was not in my color scheme, it wasn't going to work.

Next we headed to Louisiana Stone over on Zodiac Lane.  Once again we find "Yellow River", but it is not as pretty as the Yellow River that we found at Allied.   We keep looking and Paul finds one he likes called "Golden Rustic."  I liked it but it's still not my A HA moment.   We did talk to the manager and although he still wouldn't tell us a price, he did educate us on granite prices.  Granites are classified into price groups - typically groups 1 through 7 - Group 1 being the least expensive and Group 7 being in the OMG ( what? you think you're f***ing rich) category.  Golden Rustic was in Level 3, so I felt pretty good. 

We go next door to Levantina Stone and there is it  "Yellow River", the slab of my dreams.  It had no blue in it and it looked in the OMG category.  It was a Group 4.

I am hopeful - two stones.  Now, I just need to find a fabricator and get some prices.  I emailed V, our KD who gave me two bids from two different folks.  I wasn't crazy about them, simply because I didn't understand them.  One figure was a bid for the slab and the other was a bid for the fabrication.  You see all these ads that say $55.00 per square foot, etc.  That's what I wanted.  So I asked her for one more place and she directed me to Heritage Stonecraft.  What I liked about this place was it was family owned and they were quick to respond to my email.  I have to say I was happier with their bid than the other two and I took a deep breath, went in and talked to their salesperson and set up an appointment to have the template done.  I also picked my edge which was an ogee. They also gave me another place to go look at slabs.

Now, I had to figure out which stone. I went back again with the piece of the hood, a sample of my flooring, and the handle of  the cabinet hardware.  I put them down by each slab.  I went and looked at Yellow River first and then I went back and looked at Golden Rustic.  To be honest, I couldn't decide.  Golden Rustic was a quieter stone, Yellow River was in your face, let's have a party.  I then went over to Dal-Tile (which was a stupid move) and saw a third one.

So, Heritage comes out and measures, they do it by computer which is really cool.  The person who came out also told me that when I picked my slab, to run my hands over the surface (to feel for cracks that will compromise the stone during cutting).  They also offer a service where once your slab comes in, you can schedule a template appointment, where you can help decide how the granite will be cut. Now there are certain things that you can't do when you cut a piece of granite, like take a big old hunk out of the middle.  That's why you make the template appointment.

As Paul said this was my stone, and he wasn't going to make the decision for me, unless I would do things that I am unable to talk about here.  So, I took my 17 year old daughter with me.  She has the eye, like her father. And she was nice enough to pick me up at work and bring me an iced coffee to go do this.  

We first went back to Dal-Tile.  Nixed that one.  Then we went and looked at Golden Rustic.  Then we looked at Yellow River.   I asked her, so . . . . . ? My very intelligent 17 year old looked at me and said. "Mom, you have been saying you want the kitchen to be calm, comfortable and an oasis, right?" "Yes", I said.  And she said what I had been thinking all along, that the Yellow River (or River of Gold as Paul called it), although gorgeous, was an "in your face" stone, and the Golden Rustic,while being restful, would work better.

So, I made my decision, went back over to Louisiana and picked my two slabs.  The kicker on this was Golden Rustic was less expensive. Thank  you Paul.