Frequently Asked Questions:
CAN I USE MARBLE, TRAVERTINE, OR LIMESTONE IN MY KITCHEN?
Yes, just beware, there are many things that can damage those stones that are used on an everyday basis in a kitchen. It requires much vigilance and a degree of careful attention to have one of these stones in your kitchen and keep it looking new. Ricon highly recommends that you only use these materials if they have a honed finish.
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE UNTIL I CAN HAVE MY JOB INSTALLED?
It can vary. Your time depends mostly on you or your contractor. If Ricon is provided with everything we need, (sinks, faucets, cooktop, stone selection, etc..) it takes us anywhere from 3-5 working days to fabricate and install. This time starts when we pull all of our final measurements on your cabinets. In extreme cases, we have properly fabricated and installed whole kitchens in less than 24hrs. This has been done at an additional charge to help a customer/contractor who is in a bind due to other factors and needs the job done immediately.
IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION PLEASE EMAIL IT TO jason@riconstone.com AND WE WILL ADD IT TO OUR LIST SO THAT OTHER CUSTOMERS CAN ALSO GET THE BENIFIT OF THE ANSWERS!
HOW LONG WILL THE INSTALL TAKE??
This answer also can vary, Most jobs are installed in less than a day. example: A new construction home that is getting stone put on the kitchen countertops, fireplace, outside kichen and the vanity tops in let's say 3 bathrooms would almost always be installed in less than a day. A kitchen by itself should take about a half day, sometimes any of this can take longer or take less time. We can make a seam in the stone in less than 15 minutes and then make the same seam and it will take hours to get it right. It's hard to judge, but the examples above are a good rule of thumb to make an educated guess.
I GET THIS CALL ALOT.
The customer will call and say, "I need to have my stone countertops resealed." and I say "Why do you think that?" and they will respond, "They look dull and/or dont shine like they used to."
This is trouble. Sealing your stone does not have any visual affect whatsoever. After we seal it you will NOT be able to tell that we have done so. The most common reason for your countertops to start looking dull if they did not look dull to begin with is that the stone has been chemically damaged. The only way to fix this is to have the surface repolished. This is an EXTREMELY expensive endevor. When you originally purchased your stone, you paid the fabricator all of that money to polish the small 1" face of the edge of the stone. So if you were to multiply out how much surface area there is on the stone, to repolish the surface will sometimes cost as much as double the price of replacing it with all new stone. The confusion comes from the fact that most people assume the stone itself is expensive. That is not the case, the labor to cut and polish the stone is usually 5-10 times the price of the stone itself. This means if you paid $6000.00 for kitchen countertops, maybe less than $1200.00 was for the stone itself, the other $4800.00 was the labor for the fabricator to cut and polish the small 1" thick edge. Of course every job is different so dont be afraid to call and ask. You may just have a build up of soap scum from using the wrong type of cleaner or something.
