Forum Archive: Posts by: ditmaspark

slate research continues…

i’m finding some places online that sell 16×16 slate much cheaper than, say, tile center. about 1/2 the price.

that said, i’m uncertain what the quality will be. not that i need the best, but i certainly don’t want to get stuff that looks completely awful.

we’re decided on honed montauk black, if that makes any difference.

also, i know there are different countries where the stone is sourced – are there any particular slab originations i should absolutely avoid? this is for kitchen floor, btw.

anyone here purchase slate tiles online and have had good experience?

does anyone know where to find slate tiles for the kitchen floor that have uniform color? i keep seeing online pics of slate floors that have varying shades (be it greys or earth tones) on each tile – i’m trying to avoid that and have as uniform dark grey (or black) as possible.
i was introduced to this ceramic tile called durastone which is a uniform color across all the tiles, but i’d rather have slate if i can get the uniformity.

also, i’m thinking 16×16 instead of 12×12.

thoughts in these two issues?
tks!

same topic of kitchen reno – has anyone used Lowes (in bklyn) to do the entire kitchen (cabinets, tiling, plumbing, electrical, minor wall work, etc.)?

in the process of doing research for a new kitchen, i dropped by there today and had an interesting convo with the rep. i’m starting to lean toward kraftmaid cabinets over ikea.

decided to go with Ikea kitchen cabinets for a renovation job.
will need to get a GC to do some other work in the kitchen.

with that in mind, i need to decide whether to have the GC build/install the ikea cabinets or have a specialist (e.g., traemand or kitchen couple) do the work. i’ve received a ballpark estimate of the work from a few of these specialists, and the cost seems a bit ridiculous to me given that all they’re doing is putting the stuff together and installing them.

i’m inclined to have the GC do it all, but my question is are the ikea specialists really that ‘special’?

one of the major reasons why i’m inclined to have the GC do it is because i think there may be special fittings or fixes that need to be made in order for the cabinets to work in our layout – e.g., corner sink and hood ventilation.

anyone here who have used their GC to build and install their Ikea cabinets? if so, how did it come out?