Everlasting Surfaces Blog

Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

2010-01-25T11:41:00.000-08:00

Every year over 900,000 American's die of a blood cancer and we need to find a cure. I NEED YOUR HELP!! I am doing a 10K marathon for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society on March 14, 2010 at the Vasona Park in Los Gatos. In a couple of days I will be posting a website for all of you, my friends and family to make donations toward this worthy cause.

If you do not feel comfortable putting your credit card online, email me, and I will send you my address. You can make all checks out to: Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

My goal is to raise $2,000 for this worthy cause. I have a cousin who is a survivor of Hodgekins Disease, so this is dear to my heart. I will be blogging about my training efforts and how things are progressing so that all of you can embark on this journey with me.

Thank you in advance for your support.

2010-01-23T11:13:00.001-08:00

Household Tip: Grout takes up to 6 weeks to fully cure. You should seal your grout 6 weeks after installation. If you seal it before 6 weeks, you are locking in the air bubbles and they will crack your grout as the grout cures. If you wait 6 weeks to seal your grout, all the air bubbles have evaporated and you will have little to no cracking of your grout.

2010-01-21T11:51:00.000-08:00

Household Tip: You can conserve energy and your electrical bill by disconnecting appliances that are not in use such as your microwave. You will notice a difference in your monthly bill

2010-01-20T16:14:00.001-08:00

Household Tip: When installing Crackled tile, make sure you seal the tile before grouting. Otherwise the grout will go into the cracks and age the look of your tile.

2010-01-19T19:58:00.001-08:00

Household Tip: Glass Tile should only be installed using White Thin-set. Grey Thin-set will completely alter the color of the glass.

Household Tips

2010-01-18T09:20:00.000-08:00

Household tip: The best way to keep your tile and shower doors clean is to squeegy them after each use. This will prevent Soap Scum and hard water spots from building up.

Household Tip: a great way to keep stainless steele clean is by using Denatured Alcohol. It will keep the water spots off and it will keep your sinks, fridge, and stoves looking new. You can purchase Denatured Alcohol at most hardware stores.

Household Tip: Granite has natural fishers in it. You might think that the fisher is a crack in the stone. Here's how to tell the difference: If you can stick your fingernail in the fisher, it's a crack. If you cannot stick your fingernail in it, it's a fisher.

Household tip: Granite needs to be sealed once a year. Marble, travertine, limestone and slate need to be sealed once every 6 months. Engineered Stone never needs to be sealed. 511 Impregnator and Porus Plus are great sealers!!

Household Tip: Heat Resistance for natural stone (ie: granite) is only 350 Degrees and only 250 Degrees for Engineered Stone (ie: Caesarstone) Please use a towel or trivet when setting hot things on your countertops.

Household Tip: The best way to keep grout clean is using a Steam Cleaner. Chemicals will make your grout more susceptible to staining and make the grout more porus.

Household Tip: Do not use ANY CHEMICALS on Natural Stone!! You should only use a hand held steam cleaner and a steam mop. This will have you time and money and will not strip your sealers.

Household tip: olive oil is a great way to keep your leather couches conditioned. they look new again

2010-01-18T09:18:00.000-08:00

Household Tip: When hiring designers to help you with your home project, make sure they know the proper application of the tile. Too many designers design what is not possible to be installed. Too many times, your tile installers have to tweek your designers design to make the application work.

2010-01-17T10:18:00.001-08:00

Household Tip: If you hire a tile guy to install tile for you and they spot set your tile: meaning, they put 5 globs on thin set on the back of the tile, STOP THEM IMMEDIATELY. This is not proper application. You need to completely trowel the thin set onto the tile for it to adhere properly. Otherwise you will have... hollow spots on your floor and it will be more suseptible to cracking.

Things to consider when shopping for your countertops....

2009-11-28T09:57:00.000-08:00

Many people want the best in their homes. They want to best fridge, range, cooktop, faucets, the best appliances. They take time to choose the best for their homes. As well they should. After all, the appliances are going to store your food, wash your dishes, and heat your meals.

Another part of your home is one that get used on a daily basis. Not only does it get used, but abused. You cut on it, spill things on it, set appliances on it, prepare meals on it, you will use it every day for the rest of your life. We are talking about your countertops. Your countertops take the most abuse in your home. They are used time and time again, day after day.

When you are purchasing your countertops, take into consideration how much you actually use it on a daily basis. How long you want it to last. Large appliances have an experation date. Your countertops do not.

Your countertops should not be the least expensive item in your home. They should come from an experieced fabricator who takes the time to ensure every cut is precise and that your edges are laminated with the proper adhesives and installed with the up most care.

When you are budgeting for your kitchen remodel, keep in mind that your countertops should be at the top of your list.

Things YOU NEED to know about PRE-Fab Slabs

2009-11-28T09:56:00.000-08:00

You are considering doing kitchen countertops. You shop around and see that there are 2 ways you can do your countertops. One way is you select a full slab of granite, you get a custom fabricator to custom cut the slab according to the demensions of your kitchen, shape the edge the way you want it shaped and make the backsplash the height you want it to be.

Another way, which people think is way cheaper, and it is, but we will explain why in a second, is to purchase pre-fab slabs. Pre-fab slabs already come cut down to 8ft lengths, they are usually 30" wide and already have a 1 1/2" Bullnose or a 1 1/2" Ogee Bullnose edge on them.Now considering the cost of the pre-fab slabs, and what an awesome deal you think you are getting, you are really spending money for only 2 - 3 years of usable countertops. Now, your awesome deal, just became your worst nightmare, here is why:

1. Pre-fab slabs are usually commercial grade slabs (not residential grade) that get cut in other countries such as Brazil, Italy, India, etc. These slabs are shipped to China. China, cuts down the slabs to 8ft runs, puts a bullnose edge on the slabs, then ships them to the United States, and sells them for $150 - $350 per slab. Seems like too much work and shipping for such little money right, well keep reading.

2. When a custom fabricator laminates your edges, we use epoxy to laminate the edges of the stone. This ensures a tight seam and that your edges will not pop off after a few years. Pre-fab slabs are laminated using polyesters instead of epoxy. Why is this a problem??

3. A custom fabricator polishes up the edges using 5 - 7 different polishing pads to ensure you get the same polish that was produced in the quarries. Pre-fab slabs are only polished using 1 - 2 polishing pads, then they spray a ton of resin on the slabs to give you the illusion that the slabs are indeed shinnier than the raw slabs a custom fabricator works with. Now why is this a problem??

4. Resin and polyester produce a negative chemical reaction when joined together. Although this chemical reaction does not happen quickly, it takes a couple of years to fully penetrate and literally make your edges on the pre-fab slabs just pop right off and fall apart. Here's something else you don't know

5. The lighting in your home breaks down the resin in your pre-fab slabs. In a couple of months or a year, your edges will start becoming dull because the resin they sprayed on the slab begins breaking down and thus leaving you with a dull countertop surface that no one will be willing to come out to your home and bring back the shine.

6. Let's say you're thinking of installing pre-fab slabs because you are going to sell your home. Well, I don't know about your state, but here in California, people are sue happy, and you will have to disclose to the buyers of your home that you had pre-fab slabs installed in the home. That way when their edges start falling off in 2 - 3 years, they can't come back and sue you for installing an inferior product.

7. Contractors State License Board requires sub contractors to provide you with a one year warranty against craftsmanship and installation. Pre-fab companies are usually changing their company names or going out of business, so when you have a problem, it's no longer their problem.

We hope we gave you something to think about before you purchase your slabs. Remember, Custom fabrication is the best way to go. You know what you are getting, and a good custom fabricator stands behind their work.

Open Black Friday!!

2009-11-25T17:57:00.000-08:00

Both locations will be open on Black Friday from 10:00am to 4:00pm and Saturday from 10:00am to 2:00pm

We would like to wish you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving!!

BUDGET DRIVEN PROGRAM

2009-07-31T13:48:00.000-07:00

BUDGET DRIVEN COUNTERTOPS!!

Want new countertops?? Getting several estimates to find someone to work within your budget?
Getting Frustrated?

Trying to find a fabricator to make countertops within your budget without having to give up quality and craftsmanship can be a hard thing to do.

Everlasting has just developed a new Budget Driven Program to help you get the kitchen of your dreams without having to sacrifice quality.

Here’s how the program works:

You fax or email us your drawings with dimensions
Let us know if a tear out of your existing countertops is required or not
Give us your honest budget for your project
We will come up with options to get you the countertops of your dreams while staying within your budget!!
It’s that simple!!

Your options will include material, edge profiles, backsplash, and installation.

There is no negotiating because we are working with the limits of your budget!!

You can have new countertops installed in your home within 5-10 days from template date.

DON’T WAIT!! Fax or email us your drawings TODAY!!

Two Locations to serve you:

Everlasting Surfaces, Inc. Everlasting Design Center, Inc

2245 S. Vasco Road, Ste. A 2249-B Grant Road
Livermore, CA 94550 Los Altos, CA 94024
(925) 960-9777 (650) 386-5722
(925) 960-9778 Fax (650) 469-0273 Fax
everlastingsurfacesinc@yahoo.com everlastingdesigncenterinc@gmail.com
www.everlastingmarble.com

Do you have existing Granite Countertops that are starting to look unpolished??

2008-11-20T21:39:00.000-08:00

We can help!! Please call us to schedule a free in-home estimate. We will come out and analyze the existing condition of your countertops, work up an estimate, and if you agree to the price, we will schedule a polishing and re-sealing date!!! It's that simple!!

There is one exception to our services, if you had pre-fab granite installed in your home, unfortunately, due to the fabrication process in China, there is nothing we can do to bring the shine and natural polish back to your countertops.

Feel free to call us to schedule an appointment!!

Livermore Office: 925-960-9777
Los Altos Office: 650-386-5722

Winter Showroom Hours

2008-11-12T21:53:00.000-08:00

Our Winter Showroom hours are as follows:

Tuesday - Friday 10am - 4pm
Saturday 10am - 2pm
Sunday and Monday - CLOSED

We look forward to seeing you soon!!

A little history on Everlasting Marble & Granite

2006-12-18T16:24:00.000-08:00

You might be wondering, who is Everlasting Marble & Granite?
We are a female owned granite fabricator. Everlasting Marble & Granite was started in the garage of Ali Romero, one job at a time in 2003. After 6 months of working in her garage, Ali moved the shop to a bigger location in Tracy, CA. That location didn't suit Everlasting Marble & Granite's needs for very long, and shortly after, Ali moved the shop to a bigger facility in Livermore, CA.
After only being in business for 2 years, Ali Romero was flown to Washington D.C. where she was given the "Businesswoman of the Year" Award. She got to meet President Bush and the congressional committee. This was a very high honor for Ali, and a very exciting time in her life as a businesswoman. We all know that being a woman in a man's industry is never easy, but Ali keeps proving herself time and time again.
Everlasting Marble & Granite strives to make sure all their clients are satisfied, which brings us to another award presented to the company. The "Diamond Certified" Award. Being Diamond Certified is not an easy award to get. Diamond Certified calls all of your clients randomly each quarter and you must pass with a 87% or higher in Customer Satisfaction, or you do not qualify for the award. Over 85% of contractors fail the Diamond Certified Standards and Everlasting Marble & Granite is now going on their 3rd consecutive year of being Diamond Certified.
You can read more about Diamond Certified at: www.diamondcertified.org
We are hear to help you with any questions regarding granite, marble, limestone, travertine, slate, Zodiaq, Caesarstone, or Hanstone that you may have.
We would love to hear from you!!!

Full Service Showroom

2006-12-17T09:26:00.000-08:00

We have in house designers to assist clients with their projects. We design kitchen backsplashes, bathrooms, entry’s, any place your client would like to have tile. We carry a nice selection of natural stone, porcelain, ceramic tile, glass tile, medallions. Let us help you color coordinate your slab with your tile selections. We also carry sinks in stock (4 styles).
One thing that makes our showroom different is the owner goes out of her way to find rare tiles from across the United States that most local tile stores do not have access to.

This is very important to us because so many tile showrooms have the exact same tile displayed in them. We want to be different. Our focus is introducing new lines to you the client, which you possibly have not seen before.
We also speak Spanish and Portuguese.