-
Posts
-
DuPont has announced the new increased width of Zodiaq slabs. They will be increased to 63″.
They claim that there will be less waste and a less expensive installation. I disagree.
Does anyone have any thoughts on the matter?
The 55″ sheets were designed for the European Market, where kitchen cabinets are shallower than in the US. The 63″ sheet (stilestone has offered them for a awhile now) does, in many cases allow you to get two ctr cuts and still get two splashes from one slab. The Zodiaq plant in Canada ( old Granrex sp? factory) was built as a tile factory, with a 48″ line. Later it was increased to 52″. Zodiaq, besides mfg at their own plant in Canada, out sources to Okite, and other mfg.
I don’t know this, but I would bet that the Viatera plant will be a larger slab size also, it makes sense for the US Market.
On a similar subject, when I installed the first Almilmo sp? Cabinets back in the mid 70’s we had to put a 2 X 4 behind all the base cabinets to “shim” them out to 24″ depth, they were all 22 1/2″ deep.
I can tell you Tom, that often were into a second slab (55 X 120) for just a splash. Also, interestingly, Aristech made 54 ” wide SSV for WilsonArt for the European Market.
Wags,
Thanks for the reply. Are you looking at the new sizes and thinking of lowering your prices as a result?We use silestone and yes, the prices are lower when you can get it out of one slab, rather than needing two slabs.
On another note, I wonder who Zodiaq is getting these slabs from. I know they didn’t add an additional line in Canada, which is why Hanstone was allowed to build a Breton plant. Perhaps they worked a deal with Silestone, I think Hanstone new factory has a 65″ slab not 63″.
Let me know what you hear Tom.
Isn’t Starons new radianz quartz, oversize sheets too? Thay have some kick-ass colors…. and I really like the sheen.
On another note… have you seen the new Viatera color “Monet”? It is awesome, one of the best sellers in years.
Yes, in some cases your material cost will be higher on small jobs. I think in the long run it will end up costing us less and there will be less waste. I know that there has been a number of times where we’ve had to bring in a slab just for splash. If you’re just doing one straight top and a splash you’ll also be more likely to use the leftover material because there will be a +30″ piece left.
We’ve personally been selling a lot of HanStone here. Odyssey and Victorian Sands are big sellers. The polish on their slabs is great too. Zodiaq has improved some over the last year or so but I still don’t think it’s the best.
I just had the Zodiaq distributor in here and they told me that Dupont invested in a new 25 million dollar line from Breton to allow them to make the larger slabs. This will also allow them to not have to outsource anything besides the Okite.
Zodiaq 120 x 63 (I think)
Silestone 128 x 62
Hanstone 130 x 65
Staron – 122 x 60
Viatera – haven’t heard of larger yet
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.