Philadelphia Custom Block and Board

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Philadelphia Block and Board built beautiful walnut countertops and a large kitchen island top for a remodeled condominium in the city.  I searched quite a bit for high quality, cost-effective options for this renovation and eventually found Philadelphia Block and Board through a craigslist search.  As soon as I placed my inquiry through craigslist, I received a highly professional response and estimate from Matt at Block and Board. In this remodel of an 11th floor condominium unit, we faced a special challenge.  The designers had created the whole space around an open kitchen with an extremely large island.  What the designers had not taken into account was that a very large island countertop would not fit into the building's freight elevator.  For an extended period of time, we searched for options that would allow us to keep the original design, including the cabinets we had already purchased, and still have a reasonably attractive island countertop. I hesitated to piece together a granite or marble countertop from several small slabs, since this island would be the focal point of the main open plan room in the condominium. My discussions with Matt were very encouraging.  He suggested that his family business could use walnut to craft the countertops, and that they could construct it in several parts that could be brought up in the elevator and then seamlessly brought together, essentially finishing the island top in the apartment itself.  Given the company's professional interactions, their willingness to meet with my contractor (and his assessment that he liked the team from Block and Board!), and their potentially very attractive and cost-effective solution-- I was sold! Little did I know how impressed I would be with both the process and the product.  The handcrafted island and countertops were recently installed, and they are absolutely a work of art.  The wood itself was a gorgeous choice, recommended by Matt.  The counters are a wonderful combination of elegance and artisanry.  This will undoubtedly become the statement piece in the condo.  It will also be a beautiful gathering place to cook, eat, and do homework!  I can't say which is more impressive-- the resulting countertop itself or the way Block and Board ultimately solved the "huge island" problem.  During the course of the work, Matt became convinced that he wanted to assemble the island top in its entirety in their shop, so that they could optimize the look and finish.  I may be wrong, but I think the guys at Block and Board actually carried the giant island countertop up 11 flights of stairs to ensure that it could be finished in the shop and delivered safely to the apartment.  And I think they did this during the major heat wave of 2011! Every chance I get, I will recommend this wonderful company.  They set a high standard for themselves, making work with them a pleasure.  Customers will be well taken care of and will delight in their counters from Block and Board.

After adding two additional cabinets to our kitchen, we wanted to add a butcher block top to the new cabinet instead of trying to match the existing countertop. So we contacted Rick at Philadelphia Custom Block and Board. We thought about getting a light colored wood, like maple, since it would contrast nicely with our cordovan-cherry colored cabinets. Rick suggested adding three cherry strips spaced among the maple which would pick up the color in our cabinets. The block that we ordered was 33 inches wide by 25 inches deep and one inch thick (standard base cabinet size) with a 4-inch backsplash. Because we wanted to be able to do food preparation on the butcher block, Rick explained ahead of time about the care the block would require. Rick was in constant contact with us via email. Since this was a small job for us, and we wanted to keep the price down, we agreed to install it ourselves. We also arranged to meet Rick to save on delivery costs. Overall it took about 4 weeks to get the board, and before we picked up it up, Rick had already emailed installation instructions as well directions for maintaining this beautiful butcher block. We were aware that using the butcher block for food preparation would mean taking care of it with frequent oil treatments, but we really wanted something that would make our small kitchen unique and the addition of this butcher block it does. We are so thrilled with this addition gorgeous addition to our kitchen, and the Cherry strips in the block will eventually match the color of our cabinet (see picture).