We picked a piece of Quartz (Category Z) from Mont for installation over all of our kitchen countertops. As a wholesale distributer, Mont does not sell the stone directly to customers, but requires a fabricator. We contacted 5 fabricators in Pittsburgh, and long story short, Lexmar was by far the best. I'll give a brief account of why we liked them so much, followed by a longer account of what happened with the other 4. Hopefully our experience will be useful to others.
I don't have enough good things to say about Lexmar, but to highlight a few: 1) very fair prices, 2) extremely nice personnel, 3) super high quality work, and 4) on schedule from start to finish (so rare in the renovation business!). Our stone was a category Z from Mont with a very heterogeneous pattern that needed to be cut into many pieces with lots of cutouts. First, Cheryl, the contact person, is truly one of the nicest and most informative people I have encountered in the renovation business. She explained the entire process to me (and it unfolded exactly as she said it would), and answered all my questions without being patronizing or impatient. Second, the guy who measured the kitchen (before the demolition of the old tiles and countertops) must have done a great job, because when the pieces arrived, they were not a millimeter off. Third, when I visited their warehouse, the stone cutter patiently worked with me for an hour to match this unusually difficult-to-work with piece of stone into the right arrangement of pieces to make the seems look continuous. He really amazed me with his artistic eye for detail and how he traced the complex pattern from one end to the next. Finally, the installation went super smoothly. They showed up on time, worked diligently to make sure the necessary structural support was there and added pieces if in doubt. They did the plumbing as well, installed the cooktop, and tested everything. The result was the most gorgeous countertops ever! (will post pics when the renovation is complete!). Could not have asked for a better experience, and could not have been happier about supporting a local business with people who truly deserve the support.
For the record, here's our experience with the other 4 fabricators that we did not hire:
1- Armina stone: The most expensive quote, i.e., exactly twice as expensive as Lexmar. No itemized pricing was provided.
2- Magnotti and Son: the second most expensive quote. I have been their customer for stone and hearthstone for two fireplaces. They provide good quality cuts, but are sometimes unnecessarily expensive. For example, they charged me 50% more for a box of limestone from Eldorado compared to another distributor.
3- Quality Granite Outlet: Same price at Magnotti and Son, but itemized and detailed. Fast response and an offer to price match. We did not follow up with them because the price was still 60% higher than the least expensive quote we had, so we figured price matching was probably not going to work out.
4- Ultimate Granite: Second least expensive option after Lexmar. I had them recommended by our tile guy, so I was interested in working with them, and their low price and good reviews were appealing. I'm afraid our experience with them left much to be desired. In contrast to Lexmar, they could not be less unfriendly. Speaking with them on the phone felt like a grand imposition. Even though the price was only slightly higher than Lexmar, when I asked them whether they were interested in matching it, they dismissed it right off the bat with no attempts to retain us. When I asked for specific prices of like backsplash, they never got back to me. So, they were naturally out. read more
