AT HOME WITH STONE
Woonsocket-based Countertops by Superior will go to every corner of the globe to find the right surface for your kitchen
WOONSOCKET – They come from exotic lands with names that tease the senses – Volga Blue, Black Pearl and Typhoon Bordeaux.
But these imports aren’t something you drink – unless it’s with your eyes. They’re slabs of granite, each of them unique and beautiful as a work of art.
Here, in the cavernous gallery at Countertops by Superior, Matt Boulay, the CFO, stops alongside a giant slab that resembles something Jackson Pollock might have admired.
“This came right out of a riverbed in a rainforest in Africa,” says Boulay. “It’s something that we’ve seen used for floors in a shower.”
Boulay has been working in the
family business at 840 Cumberland Hill Road for 17 years, and he’s still intrigued by the myriad variety of color, pattern and other weird features of granite. Some catch light like the iridescent feathers of a hummingbird while others look like fossilized pebbles, pressed together by the forces of nature over eons of time.
But the sheer aesthetic appeal of granite is just one reason it’s a leading choice for home remodeling projects. Another is that it’s a great value, according to Charlene F. Souza, showroom manager at Countertops By Superior.
Whether the project is a homeowner upgrade or contractor’s housing flip, granite is one of the things that pays for itself, especially on resale.
“We have a lot of contractors who do flip houses, and they only do granite,” says Souza.
She tells a story about one house where a granite countertop actually sold the property. The seller installed a laminate countertop and had tried to market the property for months, but it just sat there until he found a buyer that liked just about everything – except the lack of granite. The seller ended up yanking out the laminate, eating the cost, and replacing it with granite to seal the deal.
For the homeowner who isn’t planning on resale, the value in granite comes in ease of care and durability. Laminates aren’t necessarily cheap, but they won’t last nearly as long as a natural stone countertop that’s properly cared for.
“If you take care of it, it will last a hundred years,” says Boulay. “You’re never going to find a Formica countertop that’s going to last that long.”
Quarried from sites in India, Africa and South America, natural granites – nearly two billion years in the making in the forge of planet Earth – are just one of the natural stone products used for interior design projects of all kinds at Countertops by Superior. They also offer limestone, soapstone and marble.
There are a few middlemen between the quarries and Countertops by Superior before the granite gets from the earth to the retail store, and there’s good reason for that, says William Yasick, the president. Granite comes in various grades, some of which aren’t particularly stable when it’s cut. Instead of buying directly in mixed-grade lots from the quarry, Yasick says Countertops by Superior deals only with a handful of wholesalers who cherry-pick the best grades that will hold up in the workshop.
“This is where the magic happens,” says Boulay, showing a visitor the area where granite goes from slab to installation-ready countertop.
Craftsmen use special tools to cut the stone and give it the desired texture – anything from a glass-like polish to more rough-hewn finishes. They also use heavy-duty routers to create beveled edges, like a piece of wood molding.
In addition to natural products, Countertops by Superior stocks synthetic stone products, including quartz countertops. In its natural form, quartz is a type of crystal, but the eponymously named counters are actually fabricated from pulverized stone products – including some quartz – bound together with high-tech polymers.
For ease of care and durability, man-made quartz and granite are in about the same league, says Yasick.
“For countertop purposes, I can’t recommend one over the other,” he says. “Pick on looks and looks alone.”
Despite the dazzling variety of color and pattern in natural stone, these days, some of the most sought-after products for interior design are the comparatively bland-looking synthetics, according to Boulay. Even though they’re more costly, the synthetics are very popular right now precisely because they’re less colorful – predominantly white or neutral – which appears to be the prevailing trend.
“Right now what’s in is whites – people want white, modern-style kitchens,” says Boulay. “It’s white or black, all the other colors aren’t moving.”
One of the marquee selling points of Countertops by Superior is turnkey pricing, according to Yasick. He says the company will never quote a customer a price based on square footage. It’s the whole job, and nothing but the whole job – installation included.
Many vendors will sell by the square foot, throwing in all the “a la cartes” later – details including the cut, finish and installation, according to Yasick. “By the time everything is added in,” he says, “sometimes the price has more than doubled.”
Yasick says Countertops by Superior will never commit a customer to a sale until the full price, from slab to installation, is agreed upon by the seller and the buyer. Generally, the company offers a free home sales inspection to develop a quote, but sometimes it can work off a sketch.
Granite has long been the material of choice for a variety of indoor projects, from bars and tables to counters and islands, but not all stone is destined for interior design. Increasingly, customers are interested in incorporating granite into outdoor living spaces, especially kitchens.
Yasick says Countertops by Superior has done “a couple of outrageous ones,” featuring bar-like kegerators, cooktops and even a woodfired pizza oven. For those kinds of projects, the company generally coordinates with a homeowner or a general contractor to pull together all the different facets of the project, which may include appliances, foundations and masonry features.
“It’s become one of the more of a popular things to do,” says Yasick. “It adds value to the home and it’s a stylish way to entertain.”
“If you take care of it, it will last a hundred years.”