Marble Countertops: Tell Before You Sell

Most agree that marble should fabricate more quickly than granite because it’s a softer stone, but marbles don’t necessarily work as well with today’s equipment, either.

“For instance, some of the tooling bits for our CNC aren’t fabricated for marble,” Stasswender adds. “For some of the edges our customers require, we do it the old-fashioned way with a router. The process is a lot longer.”

Click photo to enlargeAnd, handling, both in and out of the shop requires some TLC, as well.

“Marble is less forgiving than granite,” says Artelye’s Yoltay. “If two pieces hit, they’ll chip right away. It’s the same with some edges. Because it’s not as strong and hard as granite, it might chip at the 90° point if you’re doing a double ogee.”

For all its challenges, though, shops had better be prepared to do some marble for kitchens – or see that part of their business go elsewhere – because predictions are more clients will want it in the future.

“I definitely think it’s going to be more-popular,” says Stasswender. “Look at all the kitchen and bath magazines. You’re seeing more marble in them, so that’s what your clients and their designers will come up with. We’re going to see a tendency toward more and more marble.”

Cangelosi says it may not even be easy for some shops, but it can be done.

“I love marble in kitchens, but it took me a long time to say that because we’ve always been concerned about making sure there weren’t problems with stone being used in the kitchen,” he says. “You have to explain marble to your clients, and then make sure they know how to properly maintain it once it’s in.”

Original publication ©2007 Western Business Media Inc. Use licensed to the author.

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