By Tom McNall
Recently, I was asked by a prospective new partner (who hasn’t had his training yet) about pricing a terrazzo floor. Our exchange was educational for him, and I thought it would benefit anyone in the restoration business – or considering getting into it in the future – who doesn’t know how to price a job for restoration.
A rural south-central Pennsylvania location offers an easy reach to several diverse metro markets for owners Travis Collins and Rodney Bair. And anyone on a shop visit can also stay overnight in the company’s showroom: a renovated turn-of-the-19th-century hotel.
After a couple of odd-year jaunts to Chicago, Coverings moves in 2011 to Las Vegas and the Sands Convention Center on March 14-17. The event offers plenty of stone-related education and trade-show exhibits.
Granite and slate have an exceptional month. Marble is here and there, travertine gets its growth outside of Turkey, and other calcareous stone still suffers from the Lebanese letdown.
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MATERIALS
QUARTZITES
Marmi Bruno Zanet, Volargne de Dolce, Italy, introduces Tortoise, a quartzite that’s ideal for large flooring with a luminous black background with green/silver traces. The company also introduces Wasabi, a quartzite with orange/golden tones on a grey/green background for a look of elegan chromium plating.
Contact: Marmi Bruno Zanet, +39-45-6861706
Today’s downturn may be one of the best things that could happen to the stone trade.
— me, “Down is Good,” Stone Business March 2008.
I suppose, close to three years later, some of you would like to see me eat those words. No salt-and-pepper or gravy, either; just chew ’em up raw.
By K. Schipper
PLANTSVILLE, Conn. – Imagine leaving a going business, in which you’re a partner, to start again – and then starting your new operation just as the economy grinds to a halt.
By K. Schipper
AUGUSTA, Maine – Tucked right in among the organic vegetables and a strong dose of New England practicality, the new Hannaford Supermarkets store also offers an unlikely commodity for a retail grocery: knowledge.
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GRINDER CADDY
Alpha Professional Tools®, Oakland, N.J., offers the Alpha® Ecogrinder Caddy, allowing the operator to stand (and not work from a kneeling position) when grinding and sanding concrete, terrazzo and masonry products, or doing surface preparation work. The height-adjustment mechanism allows the caddy to accommodate each individual user. A halogen light, which can be turned on and off independently, shines above the grinding area to show scratches. The unit is available in two versions for either the 110v or 220v version of Alpha’s Ecogrinders.
Contact: Alpha Professional Tools®, 800-648-7229
In January 2006, I began this column with the words, “For the installer, the whole world is a stage.” 81,000 words and five years later, the countertop industry, and the world, looks dramatically different.