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Making A Counter Offer

CANDACE C. MUNDY/TAMPA TRIBUNE PHOTO

James Romanello, with Porterhouse, Inc., cleans a newly installed granite countertop in a Hannah Bartoletta Homes house under construction in the Mobbley Bay subdivision.The granite countertop was supplied by Stone Savers, which is the exclusive supplier to Hannah Bartoletta Homes.

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By B.C. MANION, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 30, 2008

Additional Photos

LUTZ - Setting out to upgrade your kitchen, your master bath, or outdoor living spaces can seem a daunting challenge.

What are the best materials to use? What colors work best? How do you get the look you are seeking while staying within a budget?

The folks at Stone Saver, a new showroom at 300 W. Lutz-Lake Fern Road, pride themselves on walking customers through the process of creating a fresh appeal to their home or business.

It should be fun, and there shouldn't be any surprises, said Jim Martin and Sharon Cantrell, a father-daughter team who started Stone Saver eight years ago as a stone refurbishing company in St. Petersburg.

The company has evolved - specializing in recent years in custom flooring and countertop design work for luxury home builders and professional remodelers, Martin said.

They decided to open their showroom because people saw their work in model homes and designer show houses and asked where their showroom was, Cantrell said.

They converted a house into a showroom and opened Oct. 8 with Linda Krause, an experienced showroom manager, overseeing daily operations.

The company works with customers who want to upgrade - indoors and out.

The showroom is full of samples of materials for flooring, countertops, table tops and accent pieces.

There's a sample of brick pavers out back demonstrating combinations. There are different styles of flooring, table tops and countertops throughout the house.

In one room, the floor is porcelain tile with a chiseled edge and a granite border. In another, it is polished marble. In one room, there is a granite desk top, in another a marble-topped bar.

There is a room of samples of granite, marble, limestone, travertine, onyx and slate.

The company doesn't use synthetic products that look like stone.

"Granite, in essence, will last forever," Martin said. "It's a rock. It's hundreds of thousands of years old the day you deliver it to the home."

But the jury is out on the durability of look-alike synthetic products, Krause said.

"Right now, what sells those materials more than anything, I think, is color," Martin said.

"And patterns," Krause added.

With granite, if you buy a particular type now you can't guarantee the same pattern will be available at a future date, Martin said.

One lot may have small flecks in the pattern, and another may have large flecks, he explained.

That's why when someone chooses granite for a project, the customer accompanies Krause or Cantrell to the yard to select the specific slab.

That eliminates surprises, Martin said.

The company helps customers make choices.

"We always ask: 'What type of price range do you want to be in?' We don't want to show them something that they love but they're not going to be able to afford," Cantrell said.

They also seek customer preferences.

"We try to find out what colors they don't like," Martin said. "We did a home up here that would have looked great with green, but she didn't like green. So, Sharon stayed away from green."

By knowing what a customer likes they may be able to recommend a product that has a similar look but fits into their price range, Cantrell said.

Once they have prices and colors in mind, they begin talking specifics. They discuss possibilities with the customer and send them home with samples to consider.

Once they have a quote, it takes 10 days to two weeks to install a countertop.

The company doesn't install or cut the stone but works with the same team of fabricators and subcontractors who do the work, Cantrell said.

The company's price list quotes granite and marble at six levels. The prices vary based on the availability - not quality - of the materials, Cantrell said.

For select types of three-quarter-inch, prices range from $40 to $55 a square foot. For select types of 1 1/4 -inch, prices range from $43 to $63 a square foot

There are exotic types as well, such as Costa Esmeralda, Rosso Verde Fuoco and Giallo Sienna. But the prices on those stones fluctuate wildly, based on the supply.

Besides covering the cost of the material, Stone Saver's price per square foot includes installation. It also includes one of seven standard edges, round, beveled and other treatments.

There are additional charges for some services, but those are indicated on the company's price sheet.

Two customers - Tricia Ray of Carrollwood and Rose Baker of Land O' Lakes - said they did research before choosing Stone Saver to do their granite countertops.

Ray said she could tell horror stories about some of the companies she checked out before selecting Stone Saver.

She had looked at a half-dozen before her son, who is in the construction industry, found out what she was up to and recommended Stone Saver.

"They had done some work that he saw," she explained.

She's thrilled with her new granite kitchen countertop, which has pass-throughs to her living and dining rooms.

"Oh, my God, I'm so happy," Ray said.

Baker said she chose Stone Saver because "they had Linda Krause who really took an interest in my project. She helped me pick the pattern."

The installers were accommodating, Baker said. They changed the date of her installation to match a day she would have off from work.

During the housing boom, the company kept busy with demand from builders, Martin said. Now, it is seeing more homeowners in the market. Some customers want an upgrade because they have been in their home for a while and think it needs a fresh look. Others are planning to sell their homes when the market improves and want to make it more attractive to buyers.

In one case, Martin said a seller asked for quotes for three colors of granite. That way, the seller can let the buyer decide what color to install - or to skip the upgrade and get a better price on the house.

IF YOU GO

NAME: Stone Saver, 300 W. Lutz-Lake Fern Road

HOURS: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday; 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday; and closed on Sunday. No appointments are necessary, but they are welcome.

INFORMATION: (813) 949-7906 or www.marble-institute.com

Reporter B.C. Manion can be reached at (813) 865-1507 or bmanion@tampatrib.com.

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