Architecture Stones - Veria Marble, Granite & Quartz Countertops — Local services in Rockville

I purchased a kitchen countertop from Architecture Stones. The sales process went smoothly. However the installation job was a disaster. The 3 person crew barged in like a bulldozer and I had to keep insisting they cover the flooring. It appears they were understaffed and needed a 4 person crew to do the job. When they finished, I noticed the countertop was not leveled at the ends, such that it was sloping upwards and there was a big noticeable 1/2 inch gap between the countertop and the kitchen cabinet. The workman explained the cabinets were not leveled. I took it at face value but after they left I checked with my leveler, and it turns out it is the countertop that was not leveled and cabinets were perfectly leveled. The company sent back a technician next day to resolve the issue. The installers had put shims between the countertop and the cabinets, which sloped the countertop upwards at the ends. The technician explained when such issues arise the installers are supposed to call the office to discuss what to do before proceeding with installation but they did not. I later also discovered there was a 6 inch section that was not smoothed out on the edge, and remained sharp as a knife. The company sent the same technician to look at that issue. The repair technician noticed that it was a section that was supposed to be flush with the wall, and the installers had incorrectly installed the countertop (it was supposed to be rotated 180 degrees to fit correctly but it was no longer possible to switch it around). I flagged to the same technician the sloping countertop on the second visit. He removed some of the shims but he said he did not understand why it was like that and he did not understand how the install crew did such a bad job. Part of the reason may be two pieces of countertop did not fit at the seam, and the installers had to take it back outside to cut excess stone to make it fit. Needless to say the whole experience has been a disaster, after having spent so much money on the quartzite countertop. I picked the company as they had good reviews here on google which is not aligned with my poor experience and after rechecking the reviews, I see now some customers had similar bad experience in past year which I had missed seeing first time around, otherwise I would have avoided them. I never had such issues with previous countertop installations by other companies in previous homes. Buyer beware/...

went to select a stone and found a beautiful piece. purchased the stone and were set for installation. Upon installation, I questioned why the stone seemed to be dull in many spots. I was told that is the nature of granite some times. I was unsure but have never had granite installed before so kept quiet. Within one week of installation, noticed many spots, dull spots and water rings. I called in alarm and found the sales person was gone. after much, much prodding, coaxing, begging and hostile demanding, someone came out to "polish" the stone more. The tech did some spot polishing with a hand-held grinder and then left. The stone continued to deteriorate showing spots and rings no matter what I did to clean it. After a year of this, we called in a granite specialist who tried to hand polish and determined the stone was permanently damaged. The reason. THESE FOLKS NEVER SEALED THE GRANITE INITIALLY. That was granite 101 according to this expert. He says if it it had been sealed upon installation, we would not have this issue. He walked me through cleaning and sealing - which is simple to do. He said if we kept cleaning and sealing frequently, we could improve the look of the stone but never get it to "like new" condition. I have been doing as suggested and there is a marked improvement but it the damage is done. The upshot is, this was shoddy work and so unnecessary in not sealing initially. We are heartbroken having waited 15 years to re-do our kitchen. This was our dream kitchen and it breaks my heart whenever we walk into it. Terrible experience. After this review, the company responded by sending out a tech to look at the counter top. He put a sealant on it which made the stone look terrific for 3 hours. Then, back to the same condition. I sent another note to the owner regarding the dissatisfaction with the quick fix but not response. I stand by my 1 star review...

They are friendly and price is reasonable, but the installation people came late and didn't bring enough man, I wait for one day more for extra helpers, but they brought 2 kids!!! And they didn't really help, and during they moved stone, they scratched and made some holes on my wall, and hard wood floor. I ask architecture stone to take responsibility for the damage. But they said I didn't tell them my kitchen is on second floor, it's my fault so I need to pay extra 400 dollars for second floor installation. They send their "professional technician" to measure the size before we finalize the price. I don't believe they don't realize my kitchen is on second floor. And architecture stone also claims that my stairs is too narrow, so I should use seam countertop, but because I ask for no seam so they did it in one slab. But if they are " professional technician," when they measured, they would realize the problem. And should discuss with their customers. However, the truth is they damage my new walls and paints but they tried to push the fault on me. And they won't pay enough installation people to carry the stone.

So if you want to buy your counter top from them, it's better to tell them your kitchen is on second floor or first floor, because they don't ask, and after they damage your house, they use this to negotiate with you. And if you had stairs or corners in your house, its better to tell them how wide they are. Because their "professional technician" can't see that and even he see that they don't tell the shop and once any damage happened it's customer`s fault.

I like the countertop, but how they handle the mistake...