26 September 2008

Marvelous marble

Here are two shots of my favorite marble job of all time. I think I've mentioned this job before but I want to re-post these shots just because I think they're pretty.

This is honed Calacatta Gold Marble and the slabs used to make this counter were some of the best-quality marble slabs I've ever seen. This counter was expertly fabricated and installed by Custom Marble Works in Tampa. Their number is 813-620-0475. I lack enough superlatives to describe their work or recommend them adequately. If you find yourself in the vicinity of Ybor City, pop in there and see their showroom and slabs. It will change your life.

This first shot is a close up of the counter reaching up to the window sill. Notice how the window sill wraps around the corner of the wall and ends in a perfect half-round edge. Attention to those sorts of details is what makes a good counter job worth every penny.

I love how we made the full height back splash behind the range in this shot below. I don't like seeing big slabs of solid stone marching up a wall. Unless of course it's marble that's doing the marching. A marble such as this one is the only kind of stone I like to see on a wall. Mostly because most stones loose their luster and appeal when they're not lit directly. White marbles have a glow to them though. They absorb light and then diffuse it. Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous. Many thanks to my very happy client who lets me show off her kitchen.


4 comments:

  1. Hi! I'm getting ready to renovate my kitchen and the only thing that's holding up the project is countertops! I LOVE marble but everyone tells me not to put marble in! I could take the etching but I'm worried about discoloring....will marble discolor around faucets? I DON'T think I could take that! Thanks!

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  2. I write about marble a lot on this blog. If you click on the key word "countertop" you'll see that half of those 50 posts deal with marble.

    Marble is unlike any other counter material and it will not behave like any other material. Marble, when sealed with a Nanoseal (and it HAS to be a Nanoseal) will not discolor. Even with a Nanosealer applied, marble will develop a patina and that's a very desirable thing. A patina on marble means that it will mellow and darken slightly. It does this from being used. I say that a patina-d marble is a glorious thing because it starts to tell the story of the people who live with it every day.

    If you've ever been to Europe, Italy and Greece particularly, you'll see that every horizontal surface in those countries is made from white marble. None of it is sealed with anything and it's all hundreds of years old. That marble tells the stories of the lives of the people who have interacted with it. People leave marks on marble. They are subtle, soft marks and those marks are what make southern Europe such an enchanting place.

    So ask yourself if you want a counter top that will look as pristine five years from now as it did the day it went in? If the answer is yes then marble is not for you.

    If you want a countertop that will tell your story, that will reflect the fact that you bake and cook and feed your family on it, then marble is for you. It's that simple.

    The answer to your question lies in your expectations. Make sense?

    Thanks for your comment.

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  3. Thanks for getting back to me so quickly! I understand that marble is different, I just have never seen patina on marble. All the kitchens I've seen are shiny and new! Does patina mean yellow at all? Like I said, I can take nicks and such, I just don't want it to look dirty around faucets (like rusty). Have you seen that ever? Thanks!

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  4. Honed marble is a finish option that all good fabricators offer. If your marble fabricator doesn't offer a honed finish, then find another fabricator. Honed is the opposite of the glossy finish you usually see on stone counters.

    Honed marble is essentially pre-patina-d. If you take a sample of honed white marble and hold it up against glossy white marble, you will see what I mean by marble's patina.

    If you get a honed white marble, it still needs to be sealed with a Nanoseal. Again, if your fabricator doesn't offer that or know what it is, then you need to find a new fabricator.

    Honed marble with a proper Nanoseal will not look dirty around faucets. Scattered throughout this blog ar photographs of three or four of my marble kitchen jobs. All of which used honed white marble that I had Nanosealed. All of them still look terrific and my clients are still in love with them.

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