Plain answers about materials, timing, seams and cost. If yours is not here, call 914-575-1705 and ask.
They are completely different materials with confusingly similar names. Quartz is manufactured — ground natural quartz bound with resin, made in a factory, non-porous and totally consistent slab to slab. Quartzite is a natural stone quarried from the ground, harder than granite, with one-of-a-kind veining and real porosity that requires sealing. Quartz cannot go outdoors and scorches under heat. Quartzite tolerates both.
Sealed marble resists staining well. The more likely issue is etching, which is different: acid reacts with the calcium carbonate and removes the polish, leaving a dull mark. Sealing does not prevent etching. A honed finish hides etching far better than a polished one, which is why we recommend honed marble for working kitchens.
Sintered porcelain, on almost every measure — non-porous, heat proof, UV stable, harder than granite. Its one weakness is impact chipping at edges. For natural stone, quartzite is the most durable overall. Engineered quartz is extremely durable indoors but fails on heat and sunlight.
Quartzite or granite. Both tolerate heat, neither etches, and both take the kind of daily use a real kitchen involves. Soapstone is also excellent if you accept that it will mark and patina. Marble is the one to think hard about, and engineered quartz needs discipline with trivets.
Typically four to six weeks from slab selection to installation, though most of that is waiting on cabinetry rather than on us. Once we template, fabrication usually runs five to ten working days. Most kitchens install in a single day.
After cabinets are installed and level, with the sink and cooktop on site. We template digitally to capture real conditions rather than drawing dimensions — walls out of plumb, cabinet runs that drift, appliance tolerances that differ from the spec sheet.
Yes, and you should. Visit our Bridgeport yard by appointment, choose your slabs, and we tag them in your name. We then overlay your template on a photograph of that slab so you can approve exactly where the veining lands and where the seams fall before anything is cut.
Someone should be, but it does not take all day. Cabinets need to be empty and access clear. Schedule your plumber for the following day rather than the same day, so the adhesive can cure properly before the sink is reconnected.
Almost certainly at least one. Slabs come in finite sizes and most islands are longer than the stone. The real question is where the seam lands and whether anyone notices. Placed well, it falls at a sink cutout or a natural break in the veining, and the pattern carries across it because both pieces were cut adjacent from the same slab.
Two rules. Softer profiles are more forgiving with children and hips; harder profiles chip more easily on brittle materials. And the busier your stone, the simpler your edge should be — a dramatic Calacatta with an ogee edge is two statements competing. Eased is the most specified for good reason.
Two pieces mitred at forty-five degrees and joined so the stone appears to fold and run to the floor. Done properly the veining continues around the corner uninterrupted. It is the most labour-intensive detail in stone and the most obvious when done badly.
Stone is quoted per square foot of finished material, but the headline number matters less than what is included. Edge profile, cutouts, waterfalls, full-height backsplashes and slab yield all move the figure significantly. Ask any fabricator for a total delivered price in writing so you are comparing like with like.
Yes. Remnants are the same quality stone left over from larger jobs, priced by the piece. They are ideal for powder room vanities, bar tops, hearths and laundry counters, and they let you use a rare slab that would be extravagant across a full kitchen.
Regularly. We template to cabinet schedules, hold dates, reserve material for specification, and credit design partners on portfolio projects. Bring clients to the yard to specify against real slabs rather than sample chips.
Our shop and slab yard are in Bridgeport. We fabricate and install across Fairfield County including Fairfield, Southport, Westport, Weston, Easton, Trumbull, Stratford, Norwalk, New Canaan, Darien, Greenwich and Stamford, and further afield for larger projects.
Yes, including stone we did not fabricate. We handle chip and seam repair, resealing, re-polishing dulled marble, and honing polished surfaces that have started to show etch marks.