Carrara Venato 1×2″ Herringbone Backsplash Installation Blog

Or Herringbone installation collage you click on any picture and it will then take you through their start to finish with our Herringbone.

 

College Hill4They used Carrara Venato 1×2″ Herringbone Honed to create this look $11.45 Sq.Ft. Along with Pencil trim $9.99EA to cap it off.

A bigger picture of the finished installation of Carrara Venato 1×2″ Herringbone Mosaic Honed $11.45 a Sq.Ft. also could have been in Polished for $11.45 a SqFt. (both free shipping until the summer of 2016).

Bloggers like to Blog, we like to blog. We like to blog about bloggers blogging about us. Especially if they just do it and we run across it as a customer mentions “we saw you on a blog” and of course then we have to try and find it, we are on a lot, but it is nice to find them.  Post their pictures and give them the credit.  This was from College Hill renovation blog.

The end of 2015 – Thank you and Happy New Year

The end of an incredible year. Thank you to all our customers, I know it is not easy buying marble or products online. Many have concerns. But we have a great team and can send pictures before we ship.

The savings are great, maybe looks too good, we understand that as well. But it is simple economics and supply chain management (all explained in FAQ#3).

To all the 30,000 customers this year that took the plunge. Thank you! As we did not receive a single negative review and have a A+ BBB rating we did as we promised.  Without our customer the retailers, contractors and home owners we would not be here. We will strive to seek ways to find new products our customers buy and lower the prices by paying cash and improving the supply chain. We will continue to focus on never loosing site of doing more with less. So pictures will still be taken with just an iPhone in 2016.

We are looking forward to improving our website with a new website launch January 2016 and also we have now become a Google Trusted Store, which is what happens I suppose when you never have a bad review 😉

Happy New Year to everyone!

Bianco Carrara 2″ Hexagon Mosaic

Retail ShowroomBianco Carrara 2″ Hexagon Honed $11.25 a Square Foot is used in this NYC retail clothing showroom. But it just really goes to show how durable this product is, used in a retailer on 5th Avenue and many other cities around the USA.

Retailer use our MarbleFrom another angle but again our Bianco Carrara 2″ Hexagon Honed for $11.25 a Square Foot.

This picture is taken just as this NYC retailer opened. Their customers tare seeing incredible clothes on a floor that they believe is worth $50.00 a square foot or more as the average person understands marble to be this cost or higher. Terrible supply chains have made sure of this for over a half a century, until we came along and took it direct from the quarry to the consumer (or in this case major clothing retailer).

Note: Picture taken with an iPhone and it came out well considering this is inside a retail showroom. These were not taken professionally by the retailer.

Venato Wide Basketweave available online for $11.75SF

Carrara Venato wide Basketweave Mosaic TileCarrara Venato wide Basketweave Mosaic Tile with Nero Marquina Black dot available online from the Builder Depot for $11.75 a Sheet. An exclusive collection of over 200 products only available from The Builder Depot.

Pictures from the Italian Factory

6x18%22 polished field TileNew pictures from the factory sent over from our European office on Friday 18th of December as they are closing for Christmas. This will ship out over the weekend of the 19th and 20th of December. Italy closes two weeks for Christmas.

This is 6×18″ Bianco Carrara you can see coming down the production line.  It is then loaded shipped and made available online in 6×18″ Honed and Polished. Also in the same quality is 6×12″ Honed at $8.00 a Square Foot  Honed in Polished.

It was this quality of 6×12″ at just $8.00 a Square Foot from our Bianco Carrara Collection that the DIY Network used. (This is ‘C’ Grade Italian Marble the best Italy has and we select it, cut it up. Ship it direct to our warehouse and then to you).  This is the exact same quarry and quality that was used for an episode in the DIY network in “I hate my Bath“. Back then (2011) they actually paid for the product and we have managed to keep the price point the same and quality the same for over half a decade.

DIY Network like everyone else (actually Magnetic Productions is the company at the time behind the creation of this based in Minnesota at the time, and believe they still are, so they are who you need to get hold of for a renovation, keep an eye on casting calls).

We dealt directly with the executive producer who ordered it online. For a 200SF job they ordered 280SF. They well and truly over order. They have a camera and timeline that cannot be messed up by under ordering that would be a disaster.  The product cost is irrelevant to all the installers and people onsite.

i-hate-my-bath

This is the same factory that produced product shown on “I hate my Bath” we have been selling it since 2003. The episode in question was in 2011. For is the point is; we have been around for a long time selling premium Italian marble. It is simple why we are around, have grown and offer incredible quality that retailers cannot match and just became a Google trusted store as of Friday 18th December (I just put this in this post because I am pleased for the company, for us it is a massive piece of impressive info we join the only 1,314 companies to be awarded this and will do a press release for it in 2015 it is part of a new $100K website launch).

We buy millions of square feet of just Carrara a year for cash, so no terms, no debt, so no debt factoring by the factory (which adds 4% cost), cash paid by use ensures we get the very best every time.

Most retailers (99%) cannot buy direct from Italy as they cannot afford the 5 containers.  You have to pay in Euros and then where do you put it, so they have to buy from a company like ours or there are 2-3 other options but huge markups as you now have a middleman who knows the poor retailer has no choice.

He will have to go with the lower quality CD grade to compete as there is no choice the middleman creates an extra step to compete on price they have to lower the quality. That is the the only option I can think of for them. Go for the lower grade. In 2016 we will provide that option as well. When a customer emails with a picture of 12×12″ for $6.00 a Square Foot, we can say and that CD grade, we will match it or lower, but this will not be in our “Bianco Carrara” range. Just under clearance.  Our Bianco Carrara will always remain a collection of over 100 Field Tiles, Mosaics and Trims and incredible collection of over one million square feet at premium grade.

We have little interest in this type of business. We want to create beautiful bathrooms, bathrooms people blog about like this or send us pictures for room scenes. People looking for a deals are flippers, or a different type of customer. Some do not understand there is a difference, some are looking to add value to the home. Most we have found are not planning to live or look at this bathroom for 5 or 20 years, they are remodeling to sell. We will offer a solution to them as well.

But it is time to offer clarity, we will create huge layouts of CD grade and C Grade so the customer can really see the difference as not all marble is create equal.

For us we ship it direct to our warehouse and direct to you. No middlemen and huge economies of scale passed onto you. It is like you are yourself buying from Italy and you are as we have offices in Europe. You are just one step removed! We sell our best price, no coupons, no deals. The same price to everyone. Retailer, contractor or consumer and we ship nationwide. We shipped in 2015 with 99.8% accuracy and within 1-2 business days on every order.

6x18%22 Field Tiles

This is Carrara Bianco 8×16″ Marble Tile $9.95SF Polished also available in 12×24″ for $9.95SF Honed and Polished. Large tiles less grout! Less work! Bianco Carrara large format collection.

A large blog, 865 words. We do not have copywriters we have spell check 🙂 so there will be grammatical errors. This is not professionally written just by one of the people here at the company with an iPhone and a laptop. We can add journalist costs, or we can keep our 6×12 Bianco Carrara ‘C’ Grade at the same price it always has been $8.00SF. Never increased in price. As we refuse to add frills, all frills must end up at the product cost. We have asked customers, do you want perfect blogs, excellently written?  Or do you want perfect marble at incredible prices? The answer always seems to be we would rather pay $8.00SF over $9.00SF any day. We’ll look at the pictures and turn a blind eye to some of the grammar 🙂

$17.95 A Square Foot Arabesque Glass Brilliant White

Brilliant WhiteBrilliant White Arabesque Mosaic $17.95 a Square Foot.

Another iPhone warehouse picture: The Brilliant white Arabesque Mosaic Tile and how white this product really is can be seen fully here.  It is an amazing look and backsplash design as this covers a square foot it is effectively half the price of the competition at $17.95 a Sheet which covers a Square Foot.  I am very proud of this product. Every one else makes it smaller, sells it for more. We have tried to cover everything a full square foot (just slightly over), Fused Back and 8mm thick for stability attached to a mesh for ease of installation.

We have checked every box a comparable $50.00 a Square Foot product would cost, go ahead order a sample, take it to the retailer. (then please let him know where he can buy it, as his supplier will not be as good).

  • Exceptional Price (even though it is short term).
  • Incredible Quality, order a sample or zoom in on this image.
  • In stock – hundreds of square feet, average shipping time is 1-2 business days, this is the shipping guide #6 & #8 for https://thebuilderdepot.wordpress.com/faq/
  • No games – sold by the Square foot Sheet covers a square Foot.
  • 8mm Thick for stability.
  • Kiln Infused Backing.
  • Brilliant White with green tint removed.
  • Mesh Mosaic for ease of installation.

New 2016 Video Starter chosen.

New Video Header for 2016

$17.95 a Square Foot Glass Arabesque Mosaic Tile

Brillaiant White Glass Arabesque Mosaic

Brilliant White Arabesque Tile $17.95 a Square Foot thru January 2016.  Most sheets in the market today are far smaller than a square foot. Our objective is always to try and get it to the square foot or higher.  This sheet is a Square Foot.  So it is $17.95 a Square Foot. No Gimmicks or games.

Ocean Gray Arabesque Logo$17.95 a Square Foot Ocean Gray Arabesque Mosaic Tile available online from The Builder Depot no Gimmicks or games premium glass mesh backed mosaic tiles at great prices.

Glass Arabesque Spec Sheet

Each Glass Piece on this Arabesque can be summarized from the drawing above.  This is on a mesh for ease of installation.

162.2mm in Height = 6.4 Inches in Height

137.3mm in Width = 5.4 Inches in Width

So lets review some of the competition and then be shocked 🙂

Glass Tile Tricks

This is so confusing someone check my math! It is in my opinion advertised at one price but actually sold at another?  This is probably just a big company. They trusted the 3rd party who uploaded it*. It could be the people in charge are so far detached from the front line they cannot see any mistakes.

*I have to guess because I am just sent a screen shot of the product, all the company information is removed.  This is done so I make unbiased views and not upset anyone.

So why is this happening? The Mistake is just a mistake in my opinion. But why are companies higher than us if this is $33.99? Different business model. Because the leaders are too far away from the front line?  Have already done an IPO? Now less involved? Taken the cash windfall  and just quit to a desert island.  There are endless possibilities without knowing the business

Most likely there are too many lines who can know them all? I do not know, I am guessing, (I was just passed this picture with all company information removed, as I ask for this to be done, so I can make a blog about the product screenshot without any bias). I am not this company and would never presume to judge. One thing is fair, once you have millions of products, let’s just assume they do the site looks to be on a platform that would cost a few hundred thousand, there is no way to be 100% accurate on all of them. We can struggle with just 2,000 products and customers occasionally point out where we have put honed instead of polished.  So I am definitely not throwing stones in glass houses.

My point is not the price error but either price is this is either $24.15 or $33.99 a Square Foot, we are a lot lower at $17.95 a Square Foot and Free Shipping.

You may be thinking….”Our Glass Arabesque is not one of those if it is too good to be true”.  It really is the correct price and quality.  Glass kiln fused back and 8mm thick. We simply earn a whole lot less and do more with less people.

If my math is correct and the competition is selling a very similar product for $33.99 a Square Foot. To get to their high price point…. someone is buying from someone who is buying from someone, who has no idea of costs (most likely this). Or a multi-distribution chain with loads of middlemen or the seller sees this as an opportunity to make a significant margin off a new product that has only entered the market in summer 2015.  Or we are just priced extremely low 🙂

$17.95SF Arabesque Glass Tile Arrives

Ocean Gray and Brilliant WhiteIt has finally arrived just a quick picture as it is a very busy day. These are the only two colors we will stock for 2015 and just $17.95 a Square Foot thru the end of March 2015 or while stocks last 🙂

We currently offer in 2 colors Ocean Gray and Brilliant White. The price is a short term promotion (prices valid thru March 2015). This is a mesh backed mosaic for ease of installation.

Brilliant White ArabesqueBuy White Glass Tile Arabesque here: $17.95 a Square Foot Shop Now

Glass Arabesque Spec Sheet

Specification sheet for Glass Tile Arabesque Mesh Mosaic

Or view entire collection here of Brilliant Glass Tiles, with trims and field tiles all designed to match and FREE SHIPPING!

While the promotion is short term the quality is excellent, we just want our customers to try it get it into the market and for that we are prepared to make very little margin. If you buy at this price then you have made a great deal as this is 8mm premium glass tile the thickest of the glass tile with a kiln fused back like all our other glass tiles. It will be your Instagram pictures, your word-of-mouth and referrals that grow our business we are 50-60% referral based growth.

How can we do this. Well this is two areas marketing and of course our always strategy of “No Frills Marketing” this is not going to be in a magazine. The image above is an iPhone in our warehouse, costs. No marketing experts here (not even a proof reader so again I apologize for the grammar in the blog).

You will not read about it in Home and Garden on one of our ads (they are welcome to write about it).  All our strategy is on price, quality and people which translates into service.  Do more with less and hard work, a novel concept I know 🙂

glass-tiles1Just to help with how the Ocean Gray and Brilliant white look together here they are as tiles ($9.95SF). Part of the Glass Tile collection.

 

Carrara Pietra 3″ Octagon Mosaic arrives and 6×12″ Tile

Pietra Carrara Hexagon Arrives

It finally arrives, but only 720 Square Feet…. Yikes.

This is 3″ Octagon Mosaic with a Bardiglio Gray dot. This is not the best position for the picture there are 4 crates in front on me and it is throwing it down with rain this Monday morning (the commute of 400 would be a nightmare).  It was 2003 when I last saw this product, however it had a Black Dot, which was okay, but I was never 100% happy with it.  That is 13 years ago. So of course I am a little excited. I know this can come over as a little odd for non-stone marble people.

Pietra Carrara 3%22 Octagon with Bardiglio Dot

I opened the box. Wow! $10.95 a Square Foot for 3″ Octagon Mosaic with the Bardiglio Gray dot was a perfect choice.

What a great choice. This time I dropped the black dot. I always like the subtlety of the Bardiglio dot. The 3×3″ format means a less busy look. Over the 2″ Mosaic.  Priced at $10.95 a Square Foot and Free Shipping until the end of December 20

Pietra Carrara available in 3×6″, 6×12″ and 12×24″. The veining is more pronounced.