tcimino

You now have the ability to video conference with a stone pro from the convenience of your living room or home office.

If you still want to, we have a showroom connected to our fabrication factory and remnants lot in Barrington.

The truth is this, you do need to select your material in person.  There is no substitute because colors are never truly represented electronically.

However, by all means, begin the process, exchange all the detailed information, work with a highly qualified stone consultants for pricing and scheduling all from the convenience of your computer, tablet, or phone. Anywhere you are connected.

After 38 years of innovation and leadership as Chicago’s premier stone fabricator of choice, we are launching a brand new shopping platform, using the same tools we have come to rely on and appreciate for convenience as we work from home, go to school remotely and enjoy our entertainment.

You can do everything required now without traveling or leaving your home – except for selecting material. That is not going away.

Selecting material begins with the type of project.

• Large Installations – you select material at one of many stone warehouses we partner with in the area.
• Small Installations – you select material from the thousands of remnants available for viewing at MGT Stone in Barrington.
• Fabricate only for pick up – you select material from the thousands of remnants available for viewing at MGT Stone in Barrington.

Material Selection at MGT Stone – Warehouse Partner Network

Large jobs equate to slabs of material, where small projects like bars, vanities, table tops are typically fabricated using remnants. This is a way to save money, as remnants are more cost effective and the smaller the project, the more financially prudent it is to use remnants.

So savings is the plus, the negative is you are relegated to selecting only from available inventory (MGT Stone has the largest selection).

The policy on remnant inventory is – it’s there for us to fabricate, not to sell to other fabricators or sell direct to clients in raw form. The really small projects ore often “Fabricate only”. In those instances, We will not send someone to measure, and then run a crew out, to install.

With Fab only – The pre-production drawing with precise dimensions is the responsibility of the client, and must be produced on a provided document and signed. Finalization requires payment in full – up front (by check to avoid the credit card fee pass through of 3%, added to the total)

Clients are called on completion for pick up in 3-4 weeks.

Large Projects needing slab materials.

While we do have some inventory of material to select from at our fabrication location, we are not a stone warehouse. Our slab material is mainly consignment, and is a small representation of what is available in our local market.

At MGT Stone in Barrington, we work through our network of Stone Wholesale partners – using roughly 30 independent stone warehouses in the Chicago area.

Our Partners source their material from the origination quarry (Typically in either India or Brazil) and it is shipped in bulk by boat, rail and truck to their warehouse locations. They arrive in bundles. Blocks of stone that have been sliced like a loaf of bread. Bundles can be

The Stone warehouses only sell to fabricators, so they would be classified as Wholesalers.

When a client selects their material from a whosevers’ inventory, a “hold sheet” is emailed to the clients preferred fabricator.

Once we receive this detail, we plug in the size of the slab (s) and material cost, along with the calculated area for the project.

Our pricing algorithm generates a cost per square foot based on that custom project using the variables above.

Once the client’s decision has been made on which material at the respective price point.

If the selection is natural stone – We move to the all-important “specific slab for use selection” phase.

Since natural stone is highly variable – Like a fingerprint. No two slabs are identical.

We recommend a 2^nd visit by the client to identify your specific slab or slabs to be used in fabrication.

Everything else can be done remotely – conveniently and expeditiously.

Save Time – Money  and aggravation and work with authentic stone experts – it’s incredibly easy and convenient.

 Call MGT Stone at 847 713 8023, or email tcimino@mgtstone.com to schedule an consultation today.

Large jobs equate to slabs of material required, where small projects like bars, vanities, table tops are typically fabricated using remnants. This is a way to save money as remnants are more cost effective in the majority of cases and the smaller the more relevant it is to use remnants.

So savings is the plus, the negative is you are relegated to selecting from available inventory at the particular fabricator.

The policy on remnant inventory is – it’s there for us to fabricate, not to sell to other fabricators or direct to clients in raw form. The really small projects ore often “Fabricate only”. In those instances the fabricator is not going to send someone to measure, and then run a crew out to install.

The pre-production drawing with precise dimensions is the responsibility of the client, and must be produced on a provided document and signed. Finalization includes payment in full – up front (by check to avoid the credit card fee pass through of 3% added to the total)

Clients are called on completion for pick up in 3-4 weeks.

When you finalize the order, we need 1 of 2 things – your choice.

A fabricator provided and completed form (Fab Only Sheet) with the project detail drawing and “exact and precise measurements”–

Or – Clients can provide a cardboard template of the piece you would like us to custom fabricate. This will be used to duplicate the dimensions required.

This is imperative, to avoid “do overs” which result in pricing adjustments upwards. Whatever detail is provide – requires sign off and is fabricated accordingly.  If after fabrication – the client wants a half inch shaved or other modifications after finalization, that becomes project #2, and there will be a charge for after sign off modifications.

Large Projects needing slab materials.

While we do have some inventory of material to select from at our fabrication location, we are not a stone warehouse. This material is mainly consignment and is a small representation of what is available.

At MGT Stone in Barrington, we work through our network of Stone Wholesale partners – using roughly 30 independent stone warehouses in the Chicago area.

Our Partners source their material from the origination quarry (Typically in either India or Brazil) and it is shipped in bulk by boat, rail and truck to their warehouse locations. They arrive in bundles. Blocks of stone that have been sliced like a loaf of bread. Bundles can be

The Stone warehouses only sell to fabricators, so they would be classified as Wholesalers.

When a client selects their material from a whosevers’ inventory, a “hold sheet” is emailed to the clients preferred fabricator.

Once we receive this detail, we plug in the size of the slab (s) and material cost, along with the calculated area for the project.

Our pricing algorithm generates a cost per square foot based on that custom project using the variables above.

Once the client’s decision has been made on which material at the respective price point.

If the selection is natural stone – We move to the all-important “fine tuning” phase.

Since natural stone is highly variable – Like a fingerprint. No two slabs are identical.

We recommend a 2^nd visit by the client to identify which particular slab out of the bundle gets to be used for their project.

A bundle is a group of 5-7 slabs in sequence from the block.

The staff then emails a “Selection Sheet” locking that material to your project and your fabricator. We, the fabricator use this sheet to attach a PO and then the Partner ships the material to us.

We know this additional trip can be inconvenient, but, this is critical to assure you don’t have any surprises.

The huge advantage, if the stone is dynamic, you get to help determine how and where in your project, any of the unique characteristics of the stone will appear and how they will flow across the project area.

If your material has little to no pattern, Black or Silver Pearl Granite is a great example, it may be advisable to skip this step if you prefer.

We always need 2 things to turn around a quote – a drawing with dimensions to tell me “How Much”?

And,

Material Selection to tell me “Of What”?

The dilemma all fabricators face is – how the project fits on the selected material.  

You get the best pricing when you have the highest utilization of the slab or slabs. The portions of the slab that go unused are partially factored into the project cost. 

Our best tool for determining what material works best for cost is called –  Nesting – This is where we use CAD, and visually layout/overlay the sections of your project on the actual slab we use to determine how this fits and looks before we cut. 

Recommended:

When selecting your material, either here at MGT or at a stone warehouse, we recommend you choose 3-5 materials you love. Keep in mind – sizes are not standard – each slab will be a different size.

As a consequence to this “variability” The nesting results will be different from selection to selection.

How to get the biggest bang for your buck?

Because we don’t know pricing until we complete the calculations using project area (in square feet) and slab – size and cost.

Choosing a 3-5 favorites, will allow us to provide a range of options ranked by price from lowest to highest. The desired outcome:  the stones you like, at a price that fits your budget.

Shop your material – Find the stone warehouses close to your project.

It’s always recommended you bring back those color samples of the Kitchen (Cabinet drawers, tile samples or paint color swatches).

Holding these next the stone will help you get an idea of how the colors will, or won’t work together and narrow things down to the most appealing material. Let me know what you would like a quote by email.

Within a day or 2 at most, you will receive an emailed quote for review.

Using this method, you can select not only based on aesthetics, but on price – for budget minded customers.

If we find that you do in fact have unutilized material left in the slab, we will tell you and ask, if there are other areas to add (email us with a drawing and dimensions E. G. Vanities, Fireplace Hearths, Tables, Wall Caps, or full height back splash options are common).

The advantage doing this is, the closer you get to full slab utilization, in general the lower the cost per square foot – Across the entire project!

Selecting fabrication material from a photo

Selections must be done live and in person. Natural stone is highly variable. No 2 slabs are identical.

Quartz samples will have true color tones, and brochure photo’s showing the veining patterns can be sufficient to comprehend the effect of a full slab pattern. Seeing a full slab of quartz is not essential but can help validate the selection in some circumstances.

With technology tools and jam packed schedules, it’s very tempting to select natural stone, or quartz material electronically. Forgoing travel and time to stone supply warehouse.

This is a very bad idea. While digital photography will do a wonderful job illustrating patterns, flow and veining, used widely as part of vain match tools. Colors are a complete wild card. True color may be captured and transmitted OK, but the issue is on the receiving end. Every display will have settings that can be adjusted period from PC monitors to phones and Tablets, there is no true color standard, so results are almost never true. When investing thousands of dollars into a counter you will have to live with for many years, there really is no substitute or shortcut. You don’t want to spend every day kicking yourself, for not wisely investing the time and travel.

Select your specific slab from the bundle.

Most stone warehouses will allow you the customer, to view and select your particular slab. This is absolutely recommended for certain natural stones. Each type of material has unique aesthetic characteristics so each slab is unique. Kind of like a fingerprint, no 2 slabs are identical. You may find a cool looking swirl, or an unsightly marking that you wish to avoid. It’s not uncommon for clients to say “that piece spoke to me”. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Trust your gut and make the effort. You will be far more gratified in the outcome if you are involved in the process.

If there was ever a breakthrough tool for interior designers, when it comes to planning and executing on a Natural Stone or Quartz, and even Porcelain these days, it’s “Vein Match” You can preview what your project will look like, how it will flow and where the seams will be located with this service, before the project is cut. Correct issues and validate the look before fabrication takes place.

 

This is a powerful tool that was pioneered here at MGT Stone in Barrington Illinois around 10 years ago, and is offered completely free to our customers for Kitchen and multi run projects. Essentially, it’s software that can overlay your project sections (Shop Drawings) on top of a photo of the actual slab about to be cut. As we move the pieces around the photo, on a second screen we can project (in advance) what the job will look like complete with seams and pattern flow, and adjust to customize the flow patterns and direction to the client’s preference. Designers love this feature, and seek us out for the prefabrication preview and influence of the design/pattern outcome. Your MGT Stone sales consultant will always make the recommendation when relevant, and ask if you would like to receive an emailed prefabrication layout for discussion and or approval.

When material has no variability and has consistent in pattern across the entire slab, common in many quartzes but due to the variability of natural stone, the impact and benefit of vein match is negligible. No Veins, No Vein Match.

It helps set good expectations and avoids what any client detests. With Vein Match – there are fewer if any Surprises to address. What you see is what you get. Again, keep in mind photo’s of a vein match layout are electronic and colors can easily end up not true to color, so keep that in mind. This is seem and pattern related. Clients can get a preview and approve or reject the layouts. Best part is – thanks to the preview being software, there is time to adjust and validate client satisfaction before any cuts to the material have been made.  The idea is – No Surprises. You get what you expect.

For us here at Marble and Granite Tech (aka MGT Stone)  – it’s an essential customer satisfaction  – must have. And, it’s included in your experience at no charge.

Vein Match is an advantage only when there are veins to be matched. Typically done on more complex projects so don’t expect this for a single piece Vanity or where seems are not required, or when materials have no pattern or variations to plan for. Your consultant will guide you and offer it when relevant.

 

 

 

 

Selections must be done live and in person. Natural stone is highly variable. No 2 slabs are identical.

Quartz samples will have true color tones, and brochure photo’s showing the veining patterns can be sufficient to comprehend the effect of a full slab pattern. Seeing a full slab of quartz is not essential but can help validate the selection in some circumstances.

 

With technology tools and jam packed schedules, it’s very tempting to select natural stone, or quartz material electronically. For going travel and time to stone supply warehouse is. This is a very bad idea. While digital photography will do a wonderful job illustrating patterns, flow and veining, used widely as part of vain match tools. Colors are a complete wild card. True color may be captured and transmitted OK, but the issue is on the receiving end. Every display will have settings that can be adjusted period from PC monitors to phones and Tablets there is no true color standard, so results are almost never true. When investing thousands of dollars into a counter you will have to live with for many years, there really is no substitute or shortcut.