Stone Edge

Description of Work: countertops for kitchen and baths during total home remodel

Description of Work: This was for granite for a kitchen. We did things a little differently than usual. We bought a slab from Mystic Granite north of Orlando. Everyone says they are too expensive, but they have beautiful stuff and a wonderful showroom. They make it so fun! They don't treat you like an idiot, like so many other granite yards treat homeowners. They even have snacks and drinks and a designer to give you free advice. They don't give you the big runaround other granite yards do, where you have to have a reference and/or template from your fabricator, and you pay the fabricator for the material and labor, so you never know how much you are really paying for either the slab or the contractor. I would recommend taking a very bright flashlight to shine down in between the slabs to see the sparkles, etc. in the granite. We were looking for one with lots of "bling". | |Anyway, we painstakingly made our own template out of heavy paper (then Stone Edge made their own out of wood) so we could try to make it fit all on one slab. We were buying cabinets also, so we had flexibility on size and layout. We found a beautiful really big slab of Alaska White at Mystic. Things get expensive when you have to use more than one slab, but they come in different sizes, so shopping on our own we were able to choose a bigger slab so our design would fit on one, and keep the cost down. | | We shopped several fabricators (Stone Edge, CounterKraft, Brevard Stone, and Corinthian.) We made a drawing on graph paper and listed everything we wanted them to do. Francisco from Stone Edge actually came to our house, and also suggested using part of the slab to make a window sill in the kitchen, a super wonderful and thoughtful suggestion - really a nice touch. CounterKraft was crazy expensive (more than double), Corinthian and Brevard Stone were a little more than Stone Edge, and Brevard Stone gave me a hard time. They are not used to people buying their own slabs. They said our layout would never fit on the slab - had a very "Can't Do" attitude. | |Anyway, Francisco said when he laid it out on the slab, I could go to the shop and help so the swirls in the granite would be where I wanted them, etc. He was so great. They did a beautiful fabrication job on a very difficult application. They had to cut around a complicated wall projection and also we had an L shape with a curved breakfast bar, all cut out of one piece with no seam. Corinthian had said only they could do such a hard cut because their cutting saw works from a computer, and only Brevard Stone would also have the expertise. Anyone else, they said, would be disastrous. But Francisco from Stone Edge did a wonderful job and put a lovely high polish on the eased edge. They made and installed it exactly when they said they would. | |Installation was a treat. His helpers were respectful, cheerful, and very gentle with all phases of the work. They are consummate professionals in every way. He said they did the granite on the Disney boats, and I can see why. The final product is just gorgeous! | |We recommended him to our neighbor for an odd granite job where they had to grind the granite in their kitchen and he was wonderful with them too, putting up and taking down a plastic containment shield so the granite dust would not go all over their house. Again, he was reasonably priced, punctual, very clean and respectful. | |We did not get a price from Design Surfaces, but did talk with him on the phone and he seemed like a good guy. We just kind of ran out of steam. | |Can't recommend Stone Edge enough! Buying the slab and arranging fabrication is time consuming and not for the faint of heart, but with a reputable supplier like Mystic (It was about $1800 for the slab and $150 for delivery to Stone Edge in Cape Canaveral) and a great fabricator, it can be done. Kitchen suppliers were quoting us $5000 if they contracted the granite, so we saved about $1400 arranging it ourselves, plus having complete control of the process.

Description of Work: Counter top for the kitchen and bathroom.

Description of Work: Created our countertops from granite. Everything was excellent from start to finish.