Stone Creations and Poggi Brothers, Inc. Great for Granite and More

In the process of redoing our kitchen we had to go look for granite counters. We went to the area that has all the kitchen and granite in both Lowe's and Home Depot but found very little in the way of choices. It was suprisingly miniimal and getting sales help was impossible. So, we drove to the industrial area on Powerline Road in Pompano Beach where the granite and marble suppliers are. The first place we stopped was Fratelli Poggi. They are a stone gallery. They have offices, quarries and factories in Rome as well as in Pompano Beach.They are on the web at www.romantravertine.com. They sell marble and granite,onyx, Travertine, glass tile, limestone, quartzite and more much of it importred from Italy. They are members of the Marble Institute

The owner is on the premises,I heard her educating another customer on the advantages of one stone flooring over another. Everything we saw looked like works of art. The sales person we dealt with, Jenn Layne, was extremely knowledgeable. She took us into the warehouse where the huge slabs of granite and marble were displayed. We walked around and found three pieces we really liked. We discussed how these would work against cherry cabinets. Jenn suggested some different ideas on what colors would work the best with cherry wood. Jenn suggested we come back with a sample of our cabinets once we'd honed in on these three.

She wrote us up a sheet with prices. The prices ranged from $16.75 a square foot to $21.95 a square foot. You purchase one slab or more depending on how much counter you have. I took photographs of the pieces I liked. One was quite dark, one had a more pronounced green tone and one was a lighter pale taupe green and cream with a hint of rouge. .

We went home to return with a cabinet front. The pictures didn't give us enough definition but the moment we put the cabinet front against our choices the decision was made. Jenn ws right on target, she knew exactly what we needed to see to make an informed decision. Luckily, the piece we chose was the least expensive of the three. Jenn then sent us right next door to Stone Creations Fabricators. She gave us a list of companies that install but this was two doors away so we just walked right over. This is the company that cuts and installs the granite, the fabricator.

The service here was impeccable as well. They promised to have us measured and installed within a week. We were amazed. They have marble and granite for sale on the floor, already cut that they will install with sinks for about $595.00 for the piece plus installation. If you're handy you can install yourself when it's something this small. Neil explained the whole procedure for our installation and the time frame we could expect.

We were in the store ordering our granite counters January 7. Within 10 days we were templated (kitchen measured) and had our counters installed. The workman were prompt, clean and efficient. Neil who we contracted with was in phone contact with us all during this process. He called within a half hour of showing up for the scheduled delivery time. He had called the day before to confirm and the morning of the installation to reconfirm.The installation men cleaned up afterwards and did a beautiful job. Neil, the man I dealt with for installation through Stone Creations, was absolutely terrific. He was attentive, well mannered and on top of the whole procedure at all times.

These two companies were superb to deal with. Be sure to ask about the sealing procedure for granite. It does require some maintenance on a regular basis. Stone Creations carries a kit for heavy duty sealing and then regular sealing for everyday clean up.