HAve you used remnants before?

16 years ago

So.. I have been agonizing over the countertop for my full bath (my 4 & 6 yr. old girl's bath) with my new build. I am waaaayyy over budget for granite (I had an allowance of $5000 for kitchen and 2 bath's) and began looking at remnants. I found one quartz remnant but decided it was too blah. EVERY remnants I looked at was either already put on hold or had kitchen sinks or holes or glue etc.). I finally found one remnant that i thought would work- it was granite loved it. Figured b/c it was a remnant I figured it wouldn't be too bad..

Turns out I must have picked the most exotic granite the fabricator had.. It is Taupe gold and is going to cost $1500 for a 62 in. vanity top (that is including a30% discount for it being a remnants and 15% discount the builder gets).. Does that seem a little pricey to you for a remnant or is it just that it is an exotic stone?

Featured Answer

kudzu9

16 years ago

gillylily-
I just had a granite countertop manufactured for a bar in my house that was 70 X 17" and made from a 3 cm thick remnant. It was an unusual shape, and involved 45 degree angle cuts on all the edges that hid the seams of a special built-up edge treatment. It was $620.

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Comments (8)

sweeby
16 years ago
That's a very high price for a remnant, though a 62" piece is 'barely' a remnant, so not much discount...

Have you looked at Pre-Fab slabs?
goldielive
16 years ago
We just did! Our 60" x 26" vanity top for our guest bath was installed last week. It cost $495 plus tax which included installation with a bullnose edge, faucet holes, polished opening for the sink and its undermounting.
It took quite a few visits to many local fabricators and granite warehouses to find a large enough remnant for that size countertop, but we finally located a partial slab in excellent condition left over from another project.
We almost purchased a full slab just to be done with it, but I'm very happy with our new vanity top!
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User
16 years ago
Gilly, are you going to get granite in your kitchen? If so, I would ask to see the layout to see if there is ample overage for the bathroom.

Our bathroom counter was too big for a remnant as well and we ended up having to buy a half slab. Since the fabricator insisted the counter & backsplash was going to take the entire 1/2 slab, I found other remnants that sort of looked like our granite to use for the shower curb & threshold. However, when I signed off on the final layout, I told them I wanted all remnants after cutting. and as it turned out, there was piece left over that's big enough to use in our other bathroom.

If you're sure you won't have enough left over you may be able to get a good discount if you're willing to buy a half slab from the same fabricator. (some will sell in half slabs some won't) Another option is to keep checking other fabricators. We found one in our area that only charges for the fabrication and not the remnant. They had a full warehouse full including some that looked similar to our slab. In the end it cost us 75.00 to have a curb and threshold fabricated. I had gotten quotes for up to 160 by other fabricating stores, so it pays to shop around. Good luck!
gillylily
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks for all the good advice. As it turned out the remnant I picked out was supposed to be a table for someone (they actually think it may have been for my builder's own home), but the individual made a mistake with the dimensions and it didn't work with the legs.. The slab has already has double oggee edge. I guess I should look into what it would cost to just buy a 1/2 slab-although they don't charge per slab, only per sq. ft. used. I have to use this particular fabricator due to the deal our builder worked out with them (the 15% discount). I figured I had nothing to loose so on Friday I asked if there was any way to get it cheaper. Still waiting for that result! I forgot to mention that that price includes everything. I suppose I will be starting from square one tomorrow! Thanks again for your responses!!
sweeby
16 years ago
"I have to use this particular fabricator due to the deal our builder worked out with them (the 15% discount)."

Sure doesn't sound like much of a discount...
I'd shop around with other fabricators anyway to be sure your 'discounted' prices actually ARE.
jjaazzy
16 years ago
Yes most definitely I agree with sweeby, shop shop shop. I was looking for a counter that was a bit larger then yours and the highest price I got was around 800.00 that was with a double thick edge. I can't remember if that was with a back splash or not cause I have decided to not have one now. Then I got another price of 600.00 for different fabricator. So shop it out, besides if that granite was ordered and then didn't work out for the customer I am pretty sure it has been paid for already, the granite that is. So there should only be fabrication costs and then cost to deliver and install. Good luck!
User
16 years ago
Sweeby and Jjaazzy are right, shop around sometimes the guys that charge by the sf, are MORE expensive and that 15% discount you think you're getting is just a gimmick. And don't forget to haggle. Right now the market for granite is SLLLLOOOWWWW...you may be able to take advantage of that and get a very sweet deal however just be careful to use a fabricator that is well recommended.