Chantilly, VA (PRWEB) January 15, 2015

Fairfax Marble and United granite are proud to announce the launch of a new website http://www.granitecountertops.pro The main purpose of this website is to better display current promotional deals aimed at driving awareness to our Granite remnants, single slabs, Marble Slabs, Soapstone Slabs, Granite Slabs and more

What separates granitecountertops.pro from the competition?

Without question it is the selection. Most granite shops typically carry 50-75 different slabs at a given time. Fairfax Marble and United Granite has approximately 350 different colors, variation and patterns at each location! For the largest of large kitchen countertops down to the smallest remnant threshold piece, there are tons of options to choose from.

Each location has built exceptional relationships with our sourcing partners overseas. This allows http://www.granitecountertops.pro to be first choice in selecting our marble and granite slabs, which creates an environment of having premium quality while also allowing us to offer extremely competitive prices. The stones are sourced from areas in Italy, Brazil, and India.

Digital measuring technique is used for each job completed. Many of its competitors still template by hand which can omit slight variances. Digital measurement machine and talented CAD technicians can see any variation in cabinet, wall or granite countertop down to 1/16th of an inch.

Turnaround time for a completed job is typically 5-7 business days upon approval.

"Our fabricators have over 30 years of experience in the natural stone market and are master artisans. Many of our fabricators grew up in and around the stone quarries of Europe and beyond," said the company general manager Tim Donovan.

Please stop by one of the showrooms today to speak with an associate, give a call or view the new website, http://www.granitecountertops.pro to receive a free estimate!

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How to Get Best Granite Countertop deal ever

By Scott Van Voorhis

Boston.com Correspondent | 01.13.15 | 3:54 PM

Marble, quartz, and honed granite, as well as more neutral color design patterns, are the hot tickets now in home design when it comes time to sell, experts say.

The changing tastes come amid an uptick in spending on home renovations (including kitchen revamps), a brightening economy, and rising home prices.

Home renovation spending was on track for a record year in 2014. Home and kitchen upgrades were expected to surpass the $145 billion tallied in 2006, according to the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University.

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But while spending on home renovations are back, new styles and tastes are taking hold over the excesses of the irrationally exuberant bubble years. Crazy expensive customized kitchens are definitely out.

I think there is a decrease in excitement about granite everywhere, said James Roche, chief executive of Houseplans.com, which tracks building design trends across the country. The idea of covering everything in granite is equated with the Baby Boom McMansion phase. I dont think people like that aesthetic.

Homeowners who went nuts building over-the-top custom kitchens in the 1990s and 2000s learned the hard way, with the new owners often ripping things out and starting over, notes Neda Vander Stoep, a top agent in the Back Bay office of Coldwell Banker Residential Mortgage.

Some examples include crazy ornate backsplashes, black appliances, ornate floor tiles, customer, custom cabinets with ornate detail and overly customized cabinet hardware, she said. Instead, while owners still want great looking kitchens, they also want to ensure they are making a wise investment as well, she added.

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Home Renovations Bounce Back With Neutral Colors

The cause of a devastating fire that destroyed a business remained under investigation Wednesday morning in Armstrong County.

Blume's Solid Surface on Freeport Road in South Buffalo Township went up in flames around 6 p.m. Tuesday. The company specializes in kitchen countertops and has been in business for 25 years.

VIDEO: Watch Amber Nicotra's report

"I've never quite worked for a company like this," said employee Bob Waltz. "Coming here and seeing this, I liked working for this place. They were great owners, great people to work for. They went above and beyond everything."

When firefighters arrived, flames were shooting from all sides of the building. They encountered water issues when hydrants were frozen due to the extreme cold.

Several hours and more than 100 firefighters were needed to get the four-alarm blaze under control. Nobody was hurt in the fire.

The entire facility was destroyed, except for a few walls that are still standing.

South Buffalo Township Fire Chief Randy Brozenick says the fire appears to have started when an engine block heater caught fire in a truck that was parked behind the building in a loading area.

A state police fire marshal was investigating the fire, which spread rapidly in part because materials used to finish the countertops also burned.

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Fire engulfs, destroys countertop business

Riding a wave of increasing demand for fire arms, high-end gun clubs are popping up across the country to cater to a new generation of shooters. They're called "guntry clubs" and they are full of luxury. (Gabe Silverman/The Washington Post)

Blake Vaught and Alex Williamson, buddies in their late 20s, were having a cognitive dissonance moment.

This place is like a country club, Vaught said, looking at a concierge desk, granite countertops and sleek black couches.

Or like a really nice steakhouse, Williamson said.

They were not at a country club. They were not at a steakhouse. They were at Elite Shooting Sports, a new gun range in Manassas, Va., that, like a wave of other new ranges around the country, is targeting a new breed of shooter younger, more affluent, style-focused, increasingly female and even environmentally conscious.

The gun industrys term for these shooting retreats: Guntry Clubs.

In Miamis arts district, a new high-end club attracts celebrities such as LeBron James who shoot fully automatic machine guns, then chill in VIP lounges. A Texas range features gun valets. A Colorado club offers custom-fitted earplugs, apps to reserve shooting lanes and chess sets. Membership fees at these new ranges are sometimes hundreds, even thousands of dollars. Cigar lounges yes. WiFi of course. There is lots of leather.

The high-end ranges come as the $15billion gun industrys sales have more than doubled since 2005. Fears of regulations with a Democrat in the Oval Office have juiced much of that growth, which is now leveling out. But experts also say an industry shift away from hunting culture has helped spawn a new generation of firearms enthusiasts buying up sleekly designed handguns and AR-15 rifles for tactical shooting practice.

The average age of new target shooters is 33, while 47percent live in urban or suburban areas, and 37percent are female, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a trade association for the firearms industry. Shooters spend $10billion a year on target shooting, including the cost of firearms, ammunition and range fees.

Those demographics and economics are attracting investors without firearms industry backgrounds; they see ranges as a new place to employ their cash. Elite Shooting Sports, a nearly $14million project, has investors from the electronics industry. Real estate, finance, hotel and auto industry executives have backed other new ranges.

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Guntry clubs target a new breed of shooter: younger, more affluent and female

By Troy Jefferson | Published 12 hours ago

Students will now have another off-campus housing option to consider as they make arrangements for the next school year.

Kincaid Henry Building Group andThe Element 903 have partnered up to construct a new mixed-use student housing project at 903 E. Grand River Ave., directly across from the Bogue Street entrance to campus and McDonalds, near the MSU law and business schools.

Location is huge, property director Jon Foster said.

The living complex features two bedroom apartments, each with its own private walk in closet, European kitchen and full bath.

Foster said The Element 903 will also offer three different packages a silver, platinum and gold suite, with the silver suite costing $750 a bed.

Each room is over 1,000 square feet with granite countertops, nine foot ceiling and natural light in every room, which is pretty ... unique,Foster said.

The complex will also be pet friendly but residents will be limited to one small pet per unit and are not allowed to have large animals.

A microwave, dishwasher, stove and oven, washer and dryer, a common area, hard surface flooring and a 24-hour emergency service are other included amenities.

Optional amenities include furniture, trash removal, internet service and underground parking.

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The Element 903 apartments slated to open Fall 2015

Kitchen Design, Remodeling, Cabinet, Granite Countertops- Taneytown, Finksburg Hampstead
Kitchen Design, Remodeling, Cabinet, Granite Countertops- Taneytown, Finksburg Hampstead.

By: brian pollard

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Kitchen Design, Remodeling, Cabinet, Granite Countertops- Taneytown, Finksburg & Hampstead - Video

CHARLOTTE, NC (Jonathan McFadden/The Charlotte Observer) -

The Carolina Panthers will renovate 158 luxury suites at Bank of America Stadium as part of the team's five-year plan to refurbish the entire building, team President Danny Morrison said Thursday.

Work will begin on the suites this month and continue for the rest of the offseason with an expected completion date of mid-June, Morrison said.

A major part of the construction will include adding a window-wall system to the suites that eliminates any barricades.

You take all your glass and the frame and everything, and it slides into the wall on the side, giving suite members a completely open suite, he said.

A planned middle aisle will make reaching seats more convenient for fans sitting on the left and right, he said. Currently, the aisles are positioned on the end of each row.

The overhaul will also see new televisions, carpet and countertops added to each suite, Morrison said. He hopes all the suites will be finished and open in time for an international soccer tournament planned for the stadium this summer.

Charlotte-based Wagner Murray Architects, which handled renovations to the stadium last year, will design the renovated suites. None of the suite renovations are coming at the expense of taxpayers, Morrison said.

This is a Panthers project, he said.

Final costs for the project had not been determined by Thursday, he said.

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Panthers plan renovation of 158 stadium suites

MIAMI -

A South Florida family was looking for a kitchen makeover for the holidays. After the contractor walked off the job, the family contacted Local 10 News consumer advocate Christina Vazquez.

Local 10 brought both parties back to the table to make sure the couple got the product they paid for and learned something about the contract in this case, which a legal expert said could be a red flag for customers.

For weeks, Josephine Francois hasn't been able to cook a meal in her northwest Miami-Dade home. She and her husband signed a contract with Alex Millwork Inc. in October. The contract was for $4,500.

She paid the bulk of it, and the cabinets were delivered and installed. But following a dispute with contractor Alejandro Morlans, the job was left undone, with no granite countertops and no sink.

"I wanted my parents to have the kitchen they paid for," said her son, Mark Francis. "My dad was in disagreement with him."

His father, Francis said, misreading the contract, didn't pay the second installment.

"I went there and they refused to pay me," said Morlans.

The contractor said he captured that moment on his cellphone. That's when Francis stepped in to smooth things over.

"For the sake of argument, to ease off the process, we paid him," said Francois.

Link:
Contractor finishes kitchen after allegedly walking off job

Beleza Soapstone by Great Mountain Soapstone Countertops
Visit http://www.soapstonecountertops.ca/ to learn more about using soapstone as a countertop or sink material in your home. The most notable producers of soapstone include Brazil, Finland,...

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Beleza Soapstone by Great Mountain Soapstone Countertops - Video

My New Years Resolution: Keep Dem Kitchen Countertops DeCluttered
I wasn #39;t going to make a new year #39;s resolution, but decided I need to challenge myself to keep my kitchen countertops decluttered.

By: Lynn Daniel

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My New Years Resolution: Keep Dem Kitchen Countertops DeCluttered - Video