Stone Countertops - Natural Stone Restoration Alliance
A stone kitchen countertop suggests a special sort of luxury and lasting quality, but care must be taken to select the right stone, have it properly installed, and respect its natural vulnerabilities.
Stone counters are elegant and durable when installed and cared for properly.
Published by care on March 18th, 2008 | Filed under Uncategorized | Comment now »Columbus Ohio Now Has It’s Own Natural Stone Countertops Specialist
On 3/18/2008 A great service and web site was introduce to the greater Columbus Ohio area, Patrick Stone Restoration Service specializes in the repair of natural stone countertops. Steve Patrick, owner of Patrick Stone Restoration Service realized there was need for detailed countertop repair not offered by stone fabricators and installers in the Ohio area. After exhaustive research Steve found Fred Hueston’s “Stone University” that gave the fundamentals of restoration as well as a background of basic geology and chemistry that is important in working with natural stone. Steve also took an advanced hands on courses offered by the renowned stone restorationist Josveek Huligar of Huligar Stone Restoration. Read the rest of this entry »
Published by care on March 16th, 2008 | Filed under Uncategorized | Comment now »Pick The Best Stone For The Job « Natural Stone Makes The Best Countertops
Pick The Best Stone For The Job
Commercial or construction use of stone
Architects, specifies, designers, clients; choosing and using stone is an experience and one for which we recommend you ask for professional advice. Stone is a naturally occurring material and as such, has to be chosen like no other building material. Stone Federation members are fully trained, experienced and competent professionals who should be consulted as soon as you decide to use natural stone on your project. They can advise you and prevent any costly mistakes being made before it is too late.
Stone Repair Class - Natural Stone Restoration Alliance
Stone Repair Class
The two-day boot camp is packed with skills training that can only be learned through a true hands-on experience. One on one tutoring based on your individual skill level. Each student has the opportunity to perform multiple repairs and polish various types of stones. No seats. No stories. No sales pitch.
The students will learn how to make repairs and seams look and feel like a natural product, remove scratches, factory blending, chip repairs, color blending and matching, seam repairs, honing, and the widely coveted knowledge of top-polishing.
Read the rest of this entry » Published by care on March 12th, 2008 | Filed under Uncategorized | Comment now »
Stained stone - Natural Stone Restoration Alliance
Q:
Stained stone
I had a visit from an old guy the other day who wanted advice about some staining on his stone - so I went to visit him this morning.
He has a lightly colored Juperana Indian Gold granite (very sandy, sedimentary stone) with what looks like typical cooking grease stains at his stove. He was told that the stone was sealed upon install but I have strong doubts about that because even at other areas you can see stains from simple hand oils at the edges and oily marks near eating areas on the island. He tried some poultice he bought at H.D. - it looked to him to have taken care of it. He placed tin foil over the poultice to hold the moisture in. When he applied aquamix sealer to it the oil spots returned.
Read the rest of this entry » Published by care on March 12th, 2008 | Filed under Uncategorized | Comment now »
How To Use Lustro Italiano
Q: How often should I use the Lustro Italiano polish?
A: The polish should be used on a weekly basis to restore the luster to your countertops and protect them against everyday use.
Q: How often should I use the Lustro Italiano cleaner?
A: The cleaner can be used on a daily basis (even several times during the day). It is the product you will use to cleanup everyday spills. It will clean everyday spills and leave a beautiful shine without damaging your counter
Published by care on February 27th, 2008 | Filed under Uncategorized | Comment now »NSRA web site of the Month (SOTM) - Natural Stone Restoration Alliance
The NSRA is now going to be running a “Website of the Month” contest each month where members can submit their boards to have a chance at winning Website of the Month.
Rules:
*Owner must be an active participant of the forum to submit their site
*User must have 10 are more post to submit their site
*Each user can submit only 1 site per month
*The submitter must own are work for the owner of the website
*All site must promote the use of natural stone over all other surfaces
How Will It Work
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What’s Lurking in Your Countertop
When marketing a product, one expects a bit of hype. The idea is to show that the product is the best over the competitor’s line of product. That is the trade of advertisers and the history of marketing. Some tactics used to sell can be humorous or as serious as the competition between manufacturers. Marketing tactics that play on fears of the general public can be a very powerful tool.
In the present day, there’s a very popular angle of “green.” This is prevalent everywhere in the media. So what happens when you mix a scare tactic under the guise of environmental concern?
Buildclean found the answer to that question. The premise seems of the nonprofit organization seems to be admirable but the fact that the “awareness campaign” that Buildclean is currently using seems to be curiously slanted. In fact, the target seems to be the natural stone industry.
When Sara Selber of BuildClean was asked how she got involved in natural stone and radon, she explained how she was approached by the owner of C&C North America, a company that produces two products – granite and a quartz product called Silestone™.
“C&C North America then recruited a quartz company called Cambria, after they learned quartz was an issue, she further explained that the two companies hired her to test quartz, granite and other surfaces for radon emission. Both companies are testing their products through BuildClean, and they contracted two labs – one in New York and one in Israel.We have looked all over the C&C website but cannot find any mention of natural stone.
When ask what granites emit radon, Sara Selber said; “Not all granites emit radon or radiation. There are some that clearly do. There are some that absolutely don’t. We don’t know,” she said.
They’re being set up as a non-profit, and they’re funded with two large donations.
The first is $250,000 from the makers of ‘Silestone.’ They manufacture quartz countertops, which is a direct competitor to granite. Silestone finance records show that they started out in April of 1998 with a an initial investment of $410K, made there first million in 1998, sales in 2002 was over $70M, and sales in 2006 was well over $260M. it is not hard to see that they have the money to invest $250,000 in a new advertising campaign.BuildClean is also getting money from Cambria, another quartz manufacturer.
In fact, Cambria’s marketing director is on BuildClean’s board of directors.When asked about the funding Sara responds: I don’t believe the issue is who our founders are. And I’m not going to have that debate.” That answer seems to be clear enough.
In a recent interview Mrs. Selber mentions teaming up with Al Gerhart who has some interest in the granite \radon scare.
Al Gerhart is a carpenter whohappens to own a website called the Solid Surface Alliance .org. He educated himself, regarding materials he works with that may expose him to harmful elements.”
Upon further review it seems this “personality” is well known for his view of natural stone. All one has to do is look at the website to get the gist of his viewpoint. Coincidentally, there also seems to be a new business venture for Solid Surface Alliance as the website now sells Geiger counters to detect radiation…
His debates have earned him quite a place online in forums discussing the subject.
After a certain debate on a well known residential forum, a renowned geoscientist in the industry concluded:
“Al attempts to hijack debates by choking the system with verbal diarrhea. The problem appears to be that he has a bit of knowledge about some things but not enough sense and understanding of the subjects. In that debate on the Garden Forum he threw in so many fabrications (plain made up lies) that his credibility just plummeted to zero.Anyone who operates this way (by including a number of facts to gain an element of credibility in the eyes of a generally uninformed audience, twisting facts deliberately or because of his lack of understanding, and then throwing in a number of lies) does not deserve extended airtime. Many years ago when doing science psychology I still remember my professor giving the advice to his students that you should never engage a nutter in debate. You can never win an argument with such people. I recognized this early in the forum and that is why I would not engage him in “debate”.
One of his major problems is that he does not know what the numbers mean and how they are derived.”
In response to the buildclean tactics, The Marble Institute of America is in the process of doing their own independent study:
“The Marble Institute of America (MIA) is grateful for the preliminary response from the members to the newly established Truth About Granite Fund. Based on this positive response, it’s clear that their colleagues share their commitment to protect consumers from needless fear mongering by establishing standards for the testing of granite so consumers can safely and comfortably enjoy the beauty, durability and practicality of this natural stone.”
When we asked the MIA why Sara Speer Selber consider The Truth About Granite Fund as a draconian move that is being waged against BuildClean(TM), they simple responded:
“The Truth About Granite Fund was established to help raise funds to develop unbiased, scientific standards for the granite industry, including the testing of granite for radon. No such standards currently exist in the natural stone industry. Previous tests of granite samples have found they are safe. However, the Truth in Granite Fund aims to take advantage of new, advanced scientific instruments that make testing both more practical and more accurate. Our goal is to make sure testing follows consistent protocols, so that future studies are meaningful and based on consistent, approved science – not isolated methodologies or unapproved instruments. Ultimately, our goal is to make sure the granite we sell is safe.”
This latest sales tactic received the attention of an independent group called the Natural Stone Restoration Alliance (NSRA). The NSRA saw Radon testing as an added service that their members could provide to the homeowners along with all their other services for natural stone. Josveek Huligar, one of the lead testers and trainer for the NSRA , invited times Members of the Solid Surface Alliance dot org to discuss and provide proof of this threat to the home owners.
The Solid Surface Alliance dot org agreed to provide an alleged radiation producing granite sample that they claim to have in their possession to do independent testing. After an initial agreement between the two groups it seems the Solid Surface Alliance dot org has reneged on the delivery of the alleged material. Mr Huligar was disappointed of the outcome. The NSRA than requested the name of the company that Mr. Gerhart claimed to just have rejected over 10k worth of radon producing granite. When the information was not provided, Huligar ask if he could purchase the next slab that Mr. Gerhart rejected. But for some reason Mr. Gerhart could no longer find a sample for testing. Mr. Huligar went on to say: “All we care about at this point. As for whether are not Stone adds a measurable amount of “radon” in a home, Mr. Gerhart had agreed to come to NY and pick out a hot slab that I would place in my own home after testing my home for radon. Once the granite was installed I would test my home again as described by the EPA and have it tested by someone approved by the EPA. Not only would we do the short and long term test, we would also video tape the whole event, the selection, the creation, the install, and than setting up cameras for anyone to view the stone and meters on the net. I was looking forward to do this, but at this time it appears that Mr. Gerhart has no plans on doing as he said which is a big disappointment.”
The NSRA plans to push for this simple test, they feel that the consumers only care about one thing; “whether or not adding granite in your home would significantly change the radon levels in a home”. At present, the most prudent consumer should watch the outcome of this debate and make an informed decision, not taken in by a scare tactic by advertisers.
200407076 | What’s Lurking in Your Countertop | News
Published by care on January 24th, 2008 | Filed under Uncategorized | Comment now »Kitchen Granite Countertops Are Available In Dozens Of Rich And Elegant Textures And Colors
Published by care on January 22nd, 2008 | Filed under Uncategorized | Comment now »
Radon In Granite Causes Cancer
In what seems to be a genuine concern of the effects of radon emissions in residential homes. A certain Webster from a non-profit organization out of Houston has made it a point to imply without scientific proof, that natural stone could be a major contributor of radon in a household.
Published by care on January 22nd, 2008 | Filed under Uncategorized | Comment now »
The allusion that seems to be made, that natural stone installed in your home is dangerous to your health is raised repeatedly on the Webster and in a recent local Houston TV news program.
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