~ Granite, Quartz & Marble

Granite, Quartz, & Marble

J.R. McDade is Arizona’s Granite & Marble Leader

Six thousand years ago. It sounds like a long time ­because it is. But the simple fact is mankind has been building structures with stone, particularly granite and marble, for millenia, and many of those monuments and structures still stand today. Talk about durability, not to mention beauty, and stone has no equal in the chronicles of construction history.

In more modern times, the early 20th century saw an increased use of marble and limestone in both commerical and public spaces. Following World War II, granite, marble, brownstone and limestone were used for exterior applications in single family homes and townhouses, primarily in the established Eastern Cities, like Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore and New York; hence, the name “brownstone” for coveted properties on Manhattan’s Upper East Side and beyond.

Following a period of glass and steel in the 1960’s and 1970’s, the 1980’s saw granite use experience a heavy resurgence in both commercial and public projects once again.

And since the early 1990’s, stone use has steadily increased in residential applications, especially in kitchen countertop & vanity top use. Since 1992, imports of granite & marble slabs have increased over 150%. Granite, by far, is the leader. It’s now industry standard to see granite countertops in production homes (tract homes), where once seen almost exclusively in custom homes.

Services

Upon moving into our new facility in 2004, we strategically planned each aspect of workflow, safety, production & machinery improvements. With the addition of  two Parks Pro-Edge C-arm automatic edge finishers and numerous hand-held routers, for more complex edges, we have dramatically increased our production capabilities. More production capacity and quality control was added through the latest version of the Parks Yukon computerized bridge saw.  Along with our two Italian (EuroSage) diamond bridge saws we are able to feed the edge finishing machines with an average of 10 cut kitchens per day.

Our research and development and implementation of water-jet and CNC (computer numeric control) technology further enhances quality control to our capabilities. The enhanced capabilities offer:

  1. Increased edge styles and quality of finish at reasonable costs
  2. Speed and consistency
  3. Complex shapes & 3D capabilities
  4. Floor medallions
  5. Backsplash insets
  6. Digitally scanned base cabinet & wall conditions, and download information into CNC software for production.

Accuracy and efficiency are key improvements with these systems. Further, our new state of the art software system greatly improves our estimating, scheduling, job costing & inventory control processes. The system can be accessed remotely and efficiently estimates projects, providing an added benefit to our clients.