Going over books from 2007 I came up with this break-down of what I do.
71 % Solid surface ( Acrylics only NO polyester)
11 % Quartz & Granite
7 % Custom laminate I do NOT do post-formed.
6 % Custom Cabinet installations (Kitchens by others)
5 % Commissioned cabinetry.
The fastest growth is in Quartz, which was less than 1 % in 2006. I template, digitise and e-mail. Then pick up and install. TaDaaaaa!
The Kitchen cabinet installations are usually retail customers who want a complete solution for (usually) new homes. I then buy the kitchens from guys who I already supply with countertops. Everybody wins.
I think I did 2 or 3 post formed countertops last year as favours, but man, I hate that stuff.... and I never touch cultured marble.
The commissioned cabinetry will go up in '08 when Bot comes on line.
On Dec 29, 3:34=A0pm, " snipped-for-privacy@aol.com" wrote: snip
Laminate has undergone some serious changes in the last few years. Wilsonart has led the way with great colours and finishes and their stuff is very durable. They use actual photographs of granites and marbles. Formica has done well with their 'effects' series.
Now that pros can buy 38 pound (propane-like) cans of spray-able contact adhesives, the lay-up is a cinch with minimal (if any) overspray and because the application is airless, you can do this in- house. The drawback is that the first container hurts, as you need to buy the hose and the sprayer head. The contents are good for about 15 4x8 sheets, so you need to add about $ 25.00 per sheet for adhesive for the first 15. (The kit costs close to $ 350.00) BUT... it makes building custom laminate tops a joy. Well worth it. Add a solid surface edge on the front, and you have a business opportunity that can't miss.
nart has led the way with great colours >and finishes and their stuff is ve= ry
I actually saw some marble Wilsonart with white oak trim edge that a fellow woodchopper put in a kitchen that I thought was real marble. The backsplashes were shop made with a nice wood cap, so there was no exposed edge anywhere. A tiny bit of sealant at the backsplash to top connection and they were really gorgeous. It was the same green base color with black/white/burgandy veining that my old bank used to have on their marble teller counters.
adhesives, the lay-up is a cinch with >minimal (if any) overspray and beca= use the application is >airless, you can do this in- house.
Is this water based or solvent stuff? The last water based I used was
3M brand, and it was a disaster. I had only used the Wilsonart solvent based before that, and it pretty foolproof. Once bitten though, twice shy. No more water based anything for me unless it is latex paint.
y that can't miss.
Ahhhh.... if you were only about 2500 miles closer....
Ah, got it. We looked at some of that at Lowe's; it was semi-appealing but couldn't come up with a good solution for the peninsula. They do sell individual sheets, so I could have gone with the post-formed for the wall pieces and made the straight run, but the choices weren't as good as the Wilsonart pattern we liked.
Now that's pretty amazing to me. Do you think that is the nature of the business you built, or is this a reflection of the building trends in CA? Around here (South Texas), undoubtedly granite is king, with quartz coming in second and marble in there somewhere. Even all our Home Depots and Lowes sell granite and quartz (Silestone and one more that has a pretty wild looking blue color). There are actually only a couple of solid surface guys left here that do it full time.
Most of the homes in the middle class/upper middle class neighborhoods being built by the tract home builders use laminate with wood trim edging. Any other surfaces are upgrades.
I saw an installation of a post formed laminate at a mini parade of homes last year that had no backsplash on the wall side, but had a rolled over laminate edge on the kitchen side that covered a straight downturned edge with a small 45 degree chamfer on the top of the edge. It was factory rolled/formed, and it was >>really
Noooo. Water based contact cement sucks. Although it is a lot better than it was a few years ago. If you have the controlled set-up which deals with temperature and humidity and you acclimatise your materials, water based can work very well in a production setting. That would include very strong pinch rollers as well.
This stuff I'm talking about is about as bullet-proof a system as I have seen in over 30 years. It is flammable but no ozone damaging CFC crap. The adhesive is high solids. It sprays on with a web-like pattern on your substrate and you do your laminate piece with a 90-degree orientation relative to you first spray. Less is more. You do not want to see puddles or bubbles, in fact, it looks like you're not putting on enough, but try it. You'll get a chuckle out of how fricking strong that shit is.
I googled a few sources for you:
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stuff you're after is the Imperial Permagrip 157 (the 107 is too fast) Comes in clear and green, and under Formica brand also in red. The green is my preference, it is not green like paint, more translucent. I can see it better. More like a light snot green.... in the beginning of a cold.
ity that can't miss.
Hey, most solid surface distributors will sell strips.
I'll try to find some time to take a couple of pictures of some samples tomorrow. Stuff sells itself and makes an honest buck.
There'd be no doubt in my mind. You guys have mosquitos down there?
Interesting, I had never seen that stuff. It sure does look like a propane bottle.
OK, allright. Buddy, you have been in the field too long. To define the actual color of snot to make your point... it sure made me laugh, though. Hey, and I knew what color you were talking about!
I would really like to see them. If you want, zap them to me directly at
nailgarbageshootertrash@sbcglobaldotnet
Just take out the garbage, trash and the dot.
Nope, haven't had for a while. We have had near drought for about five years and even when there was an extended period of rain this year there were so few that they never were a problem. Until this year I literally hadn't seen any except once or twice for the entire year for the past 3 - 4.
Now where Swing and Leon live, that's different. When sundown comes, you need to make sure you are in a safe place if they have had rainy weather. Just image.... Hueys coming down low over the ocean.... lots of Huey gunships... they music comes up.... the opening strains of "Das Valkyrie" are heard.... so Apocolyptic... those are the kind of flying blood suckers they have.
That's Houston. Born there, spent part of my childhood there, worked there, still visit my sister there. If there is anything for Texas braggin' take it from me that there is no exaggeration when talking about Houston/Galveston 'skeeters. Literally (honestly) you can hear some of them when they fly by your ears. When splayed out, leg to leg there are some that will cover a quarter. Talk about raising a welt. And they can come in clouds. After a long rain spell, the city still drives the trucks up and down the street spraying insecticide into the air.
Might explain a little about the folks living there... '^)
Got the visual! I absolutely hate the damned things. We had the opportunity to borrow a cottage at the foot of the Confederation Bridge (Runs from New Brunswick to Prince Edward Island) on the St. Lawrence. Yummy, fresh clams etc.. but noooo, mosquitos big enough they need FAA registration numbers. I asked one of the locals why nobody ever built docks for their boats. "Naa" he said, "The skeeters use them to land on." I saw one latch onto the ass of a horse, and by the time it was done taking a drink, the rider's feet were dragging on the ground. We stayed for a couple of hours. There was no fighting them. They didn't give a damn about some pretty serious repellant either. I blew a couple of cans of fog and all they did was high-5 each other yelling " Hey! That's out brand!" When I saw them riffling through our luggage looking for souvenirs, it was time to leave.
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