Toluca Granite

Austin TX Granite Countertop Fabricator

getting ready for granite

Granite Samples: Can You Have Some? Getting Ready for Granite Series

Austin Granite Girls, Getting Ready for Granite

Granite Samples are Great for Shopping.

Granite samples at Granite Fabricator Toluca Granite
So, you’re getting new granite counters. You take a few little granite samples home. You put the samples on your cabinets and pick one.

Sounds perfect, right?

Well, maybe. It sounds perfect until your counters are installed and they look nothing like the little sample you selected.

Here is what works better:

Do all of the above, and THEN: go to a granite yard and pick your actual material. You know, the stuff we’re going to cut up into countertops for your home or business.

That way you know for sure that the granite that gets installed is exactly what you picked, and not something that has one little corner that looks like the sample and a whole lot of other areas that look totally different. Oooh, terrible, right?

Granite Varies a LOT from Bundle to Bundle

Stone yards buy granite in bundles of 6 or 7 slabs. The slabs in a bundle are supposed to be the same, or to match each other really well.

The same is NOT true from bundle to bundle.

The slabs in one bundle might be close, or really close, in color and pattern to another bundle (especially if they were bought at the same time). Or, they might be pretty different.

Read the article about Santa Cecilia: It Ain’t All the Same for an idea of what we mean. Although that article shows that Santa Cecilia comes in a lot of different styles, they also vary in color and pattern within a grouping.

So, if you want to be certain that your new kitchen counters are what you really want, you need to go and put your hand on the actual stone in the stone yard and have them label it for you. (Read Austin Granite Yards: What to Expect).

Things to Know About Granite Samples

In case this is a little confusing to you, here are some things you need to know:

  • We’re a granite fabricator. That means we can buy stone from any of the reputable granite yards in Austin and make it in to your granite counters or tabletop.
  • We don’t stock stone at our shop (except for remnants for small jobs like bathroom vanities).
  • We DO have granite samples from past jobs. You can come and borrow some, to do your early research. The samples will help you make some decisions such as: light or dark? Big and bold pattern, or small and tight pattern? Ivories and golds, or blacks and greys?
  • Our samples are MUCH bigger than most of the itty bitty samples you can get at the big box stores. Throw that junk away and come visit us.

Take a few minutes to read some of the other articles in the Getting Ready for Granite Series to make getting your new granite counters even easier and less confusing.

Austin Granite Yards: What to Expect – Getting Ready for Granite

Austin Granite Girls, Getting Ready for Granite

Need to Pick Your Granite and Don’t Know What to Do?

When you get new granite or marble counters, you get to pick the stone you want!

Here are the basic steps:Austin granite slabs

  • Talk to us about your plans for new counters and look at some of our samples in the showroom.
  • Visit some Austin stone yards to look at material.
  • Talk to us again about the granite, marble or quartz that you saw that you liked.
  • We’ll get pricing and availability and share that with you.
  • Decide what you want, and we’ll get it installed in about a week.
  • You can start this process as early as when you realize you might want to re-do your counters, or as late as “Oh no! We ripped out the counters and now we need new ones fast!”

Sometimes you will need to make more than one trip and we’ll work with you to figure out which stone best fits your budget and your design.

What To Expect When You Visit a Stone Yard

After we’ve talked a bit about your job – to get a basic understanding of what you want with regards to size, style and scheduling – you will go visit one of the local stone yards. Fortunately, several of the Austin granite yards are within 10 minutes of our shop, which makes it easy to visit us and to visit several stone yards on the same day.

  • When you arrive at the stone yard, just park your car and walk on in.Austin Stone Yard Shenoy Granites SGM
  • Bundles of slabs are arranged in long rows so you can see all of the available material.
  • Sometimes someone might offer to help you, and sometimes you will have to flag someone down that works there. They will give you a selection sheet where you can write down your material choices, or sometimes they will walk around with you and write them down for you.
  • If you find something you absolutely adore, have them put it on hold. The hold can always be released if you change your mind.
  • Have them write both your name and Toluca Granite on the slab(s), that way we can be sure we’re pricing the right material for you.
  • If they ask who your fabricator is, tell them Toluca Granite.

If you want, you can also take some photos to help you remember the ones you liked the best.

What To Expect After You’ve Chosen Your Granite

We need a few things in order to put you on the schedule for installing your new countertops:

  • Your material selection.
  • Your measurements or templates (we will do this for you).
  • Your deposit.

After that, it takes about a week for your gorgeous new granite counters to be ready to enjoy in your home or business.