Granite used throughout house
KINGSTON, Huntsville, Tobermory, Sauble Beach. If you’re willing to pay for it, that’s how far Take Us For Granite will ship your countertops.
Despite its east mountain location, the Hamilton company has customers all across Ontario.
In its early days, says sales associate Maria Corcoran, most people were looking for kitchen and bathroom countertops.
In recent years though, the market has expanded. Granite is spreading throughout the house.
Sure, it’s still showing up in kitchens, but it’s equally likely to appear in foodie kitchens as rental units (stone is easy to clean and virtually impossible to destroy).
And it’s still topping bathroom vanities, but it’s also being used more and more to do thresholds and shower walls.
Elsewhere in the home, people are building full fireplaces, backyard kitchens and basement bars. They’re accenting space around outdoor spas and patios.
Right now, a good chunk of the business at Take Us For Granite is walk-in, but Corcoran says roughly 40 per cent comes from the four builders who have an ongoing relationship with Take Us For Granite.
Most recently, the company outfitted a 27floor condo in Toronto, kitchens and baths.
Corcoran walks through the small showroom and into the rear of the building, located in an industrial park off Rymal Road East.
There, massive sheets of granite lean like sliced bread against each other. Black, grey, white, pink, yellow, green.
They’re mined at quarries in Brazil, South America and India, then shipped to Italy for processing before arriving in Hamilton for sale.
Here, they’re priced at between $55 and $80 per square foot. A staff of 15 works with CNC routers to cut custom sizes and polish down pieces for everything from full walls (Take Us For Granite did the red quartz wall at Brantford’s hockey arena) to side tables.