How To Buy Granite Counter Tops & Save 43% Every TIme

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How To Buy: Go to Daltile or IMC.  This is where most if not all local flooring showrooms get their granite to broker a deal.  Do not go to a flooring company to buy a granite counter top! Pick the slab you want.  Try to by the slab directly from these places if they let you to avoid the fabricators mark up on material.  Granite is bought in slabs based on the square footage of the counter top one needs.  Measure your counter top from end to end in inches. Multiply the length in inches times the width to get square inches.  Then divide by 144 to get a square footage measurement.  Make sure you get the backsplash as well it you want a granite back splash.  Most slabs in the slab yard are 45-60SF with a thickness ranging from 3 to 2cm’s and if you have a countertop that cuts into another slab you may find yourself paying for two slabs with a lot of waste.  So try and shop for a slab that fits within your square footage or minimizes waste don’t just shop based on color if money is a deciding factor. 

Once you pick out a slap ask the rep at IMC or Daltile for a recommended granite fabricator.  Business cards and folders of work completed are usually on their counters. Take 3 or 4 cards.  This is the direct way to buy a granite counter top and save thousands.

Locations: Daltile Dallas

http://www.daltilestone.com/series.cfm?c=1&s=108

Daltile Natural Stone Showroom & Slab Yard
2250 LBJ Freeway
Suite 300
Dallas, TX 75229  Phone: 972.620.8427  Fax: 972.620.8281

or

Daltile #214 Fort Worth Stone Center
6323 Airport Freeway, Suite B & C
Haltom City, TX 76117  Phone: 682-647-1100  Fax: 682-647-1112

IMC

http://www.imcstone.com/granite

Dallas

11210 Zodiac Lane Dallas Tx 75229   972-488-5700

Or

2100 Handley Ederville Rd.

Fort Worth, TX 76118   817 589 6032

If you don’t go direct and broker the deal through a flooring Company this is what extras you will be paying.

Costs:

My Fabricator Charges Me The Following Only!!! For a 3cm Thick Level One Granite Coutnertop.

1. I let him buy the granite and he marks it up once. Level one granite costs $9 to 15.00SF from IMC and Daltile.

2. Edging Bullnose full or half demi, flat on face, plus 2 other cuts Free

3. Cut out/Polish and Kit for Under Mount Sink: $150.00 a cut out.

4.  Stainless Steel Sink: $100.00

5. Template Fee To Make Sure The Granite is Cut Correctly: $75.00

6. Tear Out Demo and Disposal Of Old Counter Top: $100.00

7. Granite Level One Installed $32.00 SF Includes Tax On the material. Labor breaks out to $15 to $22 SF Installation.

8. $120.00 Trip charge if client is over 100 miles away.

This is it no other charges for a turnkey installation and guess what not tax as the whole project is a labor item.

What Flooring Companies Charge To Broker The Deal:

1. The granite is now market up a second time usually $5-$10 a SF

2. Edging Bluenose full or half demi, flat on face, plus 2 other cuts marked up $2.00 a Linear Foot

3. Cut out/Polish and Kit for Under Mount Sink: $150.00 marked up $100.00

4.  Stainless Steel Sink: $100.00 marked up to $299.00.

5. Template Fee To Make Sure The Granite is Cut Correctly: $75.00 marked up an additional $75.00

6. Tear Out Demo and Disposal Of Old Counter Top: $100.00 marked up another $100.00

7. Granite Level One $32.00 SF marked up to $35-$45.00SF

8. $120.00 Trip charge if client is over 100 miles away. Marked up to $250.00

9.  Then the worst thing of all is some companies try to tax the whole amount at this point adding an additional $300 to $400.  Granite is a labor item tax is already paid by the fabricator when he bought it at $9-15SF.  The only item that should be taxed is the sink but why would you pay $300 for a sink a fabricator sells for $100?

The average mark up for most flooring companies on granite counter tops is $1,200.00 to $2,400.00 just to broker the deal so don’t get fooled by the signs you see for granite countertops starting at $25 a SF since it never works out that way after all the markups. Using the example above a kitchen with a 70SF counter top and one stainless steel sink included, a person would pay $2,665.00 turnkey if they went directly to a fabricator. They would pay $3,830.00 or more if they brokered the deal through a flooring company or a company that had to pay a fabricator to install your counter top. A 43% Mark up!!!

Remember: Don’t ever go to a flooring store or showroom to buy granite! Go to look at the colors but that’s it. Most if not all flooring showrooms contract out this work since the machines used to cut and move granite around are expensive.  Why, would someone go to a flooring store when they can go directly to a fabricator and save this cost?  Not to mention the warranty comes from the fabricator as most flooring stores don’t give a warranty on natural stone such as this.  Don’t pay this added middle man mark up you gain nothing from this brokered deal except the loss of your hard earned dollars. 

David Hill

President Owner

Texas Best Flooring Company, Inc

http://texasbestflooringcompany.com/