Remnant Granite Can Update Your Old Bathroom
Do you have an older home, maybe one with a plastic “marble” counter, maybe with a formed-in, seashell-shaped sink?
Austin has a lot of these, particularly in the north and northwest part of the city because so many of those homes were built in the 1970s and 1980s.
Do you want to replace the old counters but think granite is too expensive?
In the past, natural stone counter top companies wouldn’t sell a you a single counter – they would insist that you buy the whole slab. If all you need is a small piece – a remnant, what are you supposed to do with the rest of it?
Get That New Counter For Less!
Smart companies sell what people want to buy, right? In that last few years, the price of granite has dropped considerably – or at least the price per square foot installed has dropped, even if the wholesale price of slabs hasn’t.
Companies that wouldn’t give you the time of day before will sell you remnant granite now – the chunks left over from bigger jobs. These often take up too much space at their shop – space they have to pay for – and in some case, they have to pay taxes on it, too.
What does that mean for you?
Call Your Local Granite Company and Ask About Remnant Granite
I had a seriously outdated home that I listed for sale for the owner last year that needed several small counter tops to replace one of those old fake-marble bathroom counters in a master bathroom, one in a hall bathroom and another in the laundry room.
What decisions did we make?
- We decided to go with remnant granite, even if the pieces didn’t exactly match.
- We decided this because with the almost-black granite we selected, you’d be hard-pressed to see the subtle variations from counter to counter since they weren’t right next to each other like in a kitchen.
- We got the counters cut, polished and installed by Toluca Granite here in Austin, a small local company that is owned by the seller’s niece.
(I know Lauren Nyc, the owner of Toluca Granite personally, and have had her make me several smaller counters as well as a few huge desks for my office – some from marble remnants and some from whole slabs.)
Before and After: Remnant Granite in a Master Bathroom
Check out the photos below – isn’t that transformation remarkable?
Updates on This Old Bathroom
Want to know what we did to update this old bathroom?
- The main updates were paint and replacing the counters.
- We found the faucets on eBay for under $80 each and the sinks were a real steal for about $45 (long since sold out by that supplier).
- The tile on the floor is inexpensive natural slate and cost about $3 per square foot, including labor and materials.
- The color of the paint on the wall is “Silver Sage” from Restoration Hardware. Benjamin Moore has a similar color called “Grey Wisp”.
- The rest was almost all elbow-grease – good old fashioned cleaning!
How Can You Find Good Deals on Remnant Granite?
Call Lauren at Toluca Granite.
If she can’t help you, then call local Austin stone yards like YoungStone and ask for their list of fabricators - some of these companies don’t have actual store fronts, because they do most of their business for contractors who already know what they want.
Call the fabricators!
- Ask if they sell small pieces, or if you have to buy the whole slab.
- Ask what sizes they typically have – i.e. what is the maximum size you might find. (How big is the counter you need replaced?)
- Ask what the breakdown of charges will be – they might charge you a low price per square foot, then try to make it up with additional fees – for the sink cut out, the faucet holes, edge polishing and installation.
- Ask if they have remnants that will match if they are going to be used within visual distance of each other. Granite is a natural stone so slabs by the same name can have a lot of variations in color.
- Ask if they will remove and haul away your old counter.
- Ask if they can make a back splash to match so you don’t have to cover up the side and back edges with a tile back splash (unless you want to).
- Make sure they let you pick out your own remnant – don’t just go by the name of what you’ve seen elsewhere – it might be very different!
About Alison
