Absolute

All the people at Absolute were professional, nice and flexible with my schedule. They would meet me after hours when I was available. Their workers really know what they are doing and are efficient with their time on the job site. It was so easy to work with them! I would highly recommend them to anyone.

Working with Absolute was surprisingly easy. I say surprisingly because i have done a fair number of upgrades and remodels in the home setting and finding someone who follows through and goes above and beyond is great. Absolute shows up when they say they are going to. The sales person i dealt with was the owner - Sander - and he was always very professional and attentive. We had a height difference between the old laminate counters and the new granite, which he had warned us might happen. It did require the carpenter to make a special border - which Sander explained to our carpenter. That communication was helpful in getting things to come out right. I had only one tiny complaint. When they took out the old corian counters, it left a scratch on the backboard - but his guys got some matching paint and covered it up. Once again, Sander had warned us that these things sometimes happen with demolition. He does such a great job of communicating. I have recommended Absolute to another friend already and i expect to use them in a commercial office within the next 2 months. I am moving my company to new office space and i told the landlord to skip pricing laminate counters in the Tenant Improvement and that i would arrange for granite countertops thru someone i trust.

We have worked with Absolute several times. The first job was fixing some bad marble tiles in our shower. The second job was replacing tops in a bathroom. The third job was building the stone surround and hearth for our fireplace. The last job was replacing our kitchen counter tops. In the kitchen job, they called as they didn't think we would like the way the granite would lay out. We went to their shop, looked at the taped outline on the slabs and made recommended changes at that time. They were great! They could have easily just did the job the way it was originally approved but they took the extra steps to make sure we would be happy with the results. We love them. We have a job on the books to replace our tops in two more bathrooms this coming July. Great service. Great job. Easy to work with. Highly recommend.

Summary of the experience: It started great, but when there was a problem due to internal communication the experience became undesirable. There was a lot of finger pointing and unwillingness to accept responsibility thus requiring us to needlessly having to advocate for ourselves. While the finished product is superb, the experience was not worth it. The details: The selection process went great. Their salesman was very knowledgeable and helpful. We found a beautiful piece of granite to use on the great room side of the kitchen. With their input we placed more of this granite in another area than our original thoughts. As they advised, we had bought the whole slab, why aren't we using it. Template day: The carpenter arrived and very carefully removed the existing counter-tops without damaging the back-splash's. He had forewarned us that they might be damaged, but he would be as careful a possible. The template crew arrived and diligently made sure the templates were accurate. They discussed with the carpenter what he would need to do in order for the new tops to fit properly. They also communicated with us how they would install the new tops and what to expect in two weeks when they returned. They said the top with the sink cut out would be done at their shop. They said the top for the cooktop would be final cut in our home, they do it all the time and they run a vacuum while they are cutting so their is not much of a mess. Layout day: Only the special piece of granite was available for layout approval. Pre-installation day (First Monday): The carpenter arrives, and out go five of the tops as expected. He shows me the piece Absolute gave him as a guide and does the buildup with it and then shows how nice the fit will be. He stays late in order to have the five lower tops ready for the next day. He says he can remove the last, which is at a different height, in the morning while the other tops are being installed. Installation day (First Tuesday): The carpenter arrives, he starts to take the last top off and runs into a problem, he communicates it to us, and says the lower tops can all be installed and this top can be installed another day. The installation crew arrives, the first issue is discussed and they say they are ready to install the lower five tops but there is another problem. The tops they have are too thick to fit over of the built up cabinet and below the backsplash. The carpenter holds up the piece he worked from and it is not the same thickness. At this point the job starts down the wrong path. The installation crew says they will have to go, they blame the carpenter for the problem, they said if the carpenter get the work redone, they might be back Saturday. The carpenter comes back that afternoon and removes some of his work and determines the new height. He tells us he will be back in the morning. He apologizes more than once for the inconvenience this is causing us. The next day (First Wednesday): The carpenter and the sales person are back. The carpenter has a solution, he will have it done that day. The sales person says they won't be back to install the counter tops until Saturday. We are unhappy about this. I explain to him that this is not an acceptable solution as this problem is not of our making and we are expecting them to be back sometime Thursday to get the lower tops in. The sales person says he will take this back to his company. The carpenter is done and no one has called from Absolute to tell me when they are coming. At 3:00 PM, we call to speak with Sander Coovert about this. He says Saturday is the date. We have to push back and say our expectation is Thursday as we are not prepared to be without a kitchen for a total of a week. He says he will call back. He does and says his crew will be at our home some time Thursday afternoon. First Thursday: Absolute calls and says the installation crew will be out that afternoon. They arrive, the installation starts. The tops are going into place like clockwork. The carpenter stops by and discusses with the installation crew his solution for the raised top and all are in agreement with the solution. The carpenter explains the solution to us and we are in agreement also. Then the crew starts cutting for the cook-top. There is so much dust from the process they set off the smoke alarm in our house. Everything in the kitchen and great room is covered with a very fine grit from the cutting process. When the four tops are done in the kitchen and we are telling them how great they look, we are told the fifth lower top is not going in. We ask why, when on Tuesday they were going to put all lower tops in. The installation crew said they didn't know. We said we were not going to call Absolute anymore about this, but pass back the message that while we were very pleased with the countertops installed, the lack of this fifth piece took that joy away. First Friday: Absolute called and said the installation crew would be out to install the fifth lower top that day. The lower top was installed that afternoon. Second Tuesday: The carpenter came as expected and finished his work. Absolute called and said they would be out noon the next day. Second Wednesday: Absolute came as expected. They did call to say the crew was on schedule. The crew showed up, installed the last top, did a small repair to a top previously installed and presented me with a bill. We paid the balance due per the statement. Second Thursday: The carpenter came as expected and finished the trim work. Third Monday: Sander Coovert called and said he wanted to discuss the "extras". He said for the pieces cut from the remnants there was a bill of $400 for this. We stated this was unexpected, they had submitted a bill for balance due and we had paid. He said this was not included. We asked about change orders and the question was, in our opinion, avoided. We asked how this was approved and he asked someone in his room if we approved them to cut the pieces and he reported that when we said to cut and finish the pieces that was the approval. He then said there was an additional invoice from the carpenter. He did not tell how much and asked if he should tell the carpenter to stuff it. We said to just send us the bills. Third Thursday: We received two bills one from Absolute and one from the carpenter. It was unclear who was going to pay the carpenter so we paid the carpenter directly per his invoice, and Absolute directly per their invoice.

The measuring and installation went okay, but not great. Fabrication is run by someone called J.R., who is the gatekeeper to the fabrication shop; but works limited hours (no appointments after 2PM!!). This was our first hiccup in the process, because Absolute was not the least bit flexible in appointments to lay the templates on our stone and decide where the seams would be. John saved the day by agreeing to meet with us on Saturday, and once again was tremendously helpful. After the install we realized a few things were different than planned. Stone is not easy or cheap to work with, so I knew calling Absolute probably wouldn't result in much resolution to the issues. However, I felt obligated to provide Absolute the opportunity to respond, just in case they had some solutions up their sleeve to help take the sting out of the disappointment. Here is what I communicated directly to J.R.: - The kitchen island was a mirror image of how we wanted the slab cut. It was sad, but we were prepared to live with it. - The cook top would not fit in the space provided. This was frustrating, but it looked like I could file down a small screw and solve the problem. - Both sinks were installed with a rather large overhang (at least 1/4 inch), instead of the "slight reveal" described by the installer when the templates were made - The pneumatic switch for our garbage disposal was placed almost directly under the faucet handle, so the switch frequently fills with water from dripping hands. - We also asked for the scrap pieces of granite, promised by the installer and John. Calling J.R. was a great disappointment. I was surprised how unsympathetic he sounded on the phone. He refused responsibility for the mistakes and tried to blame them on us and John because we did not work directly with the fabrication people. I was shocked how quickly he washed his hands of the issues and turned it all back on the customer for not being available during the "normal (no exceptions) working hours" for his shop. His response was something like this: - The template arrangement should have been directly communicated to him or another fabricator for the island, not his fault - J.R. did offer to send someone out to help with the cook top, if I needed it; but I was pretty sure I could handle it. - The sinks were a non-starter, as was the pneumatic switch that fills with water, they were normal for him - Angrily, J.R. agreed to see whether our scraps had already been discarded, and would save what he could find (since we purchased entire slabs). So overall J.R.'s customer service sucked. Despite the problems, we are mostly content with how the kitchen turned out. I visited Absolute two more times, in hopes of providing my feedback (especially how hurt and offended J.R. made me feel) directly to one of the mangers or owners. Each time I was there, I saw J.R., but was too intimidated to provide any additional feedback to him. Later, I discovered that J.R. owns Absolute, further complicating how I could ever get resolution or closure on my issues. Ultimately, the question is would I ever do business with Absolute again. Surprisingly, we actually gave them a try with buying a remnant for an outdoor bar. We were told the remnants were essentially free except for labor to saw them. I saw it as an opportunity to try and work things out with J.R.; but I think J.R. saw me as just another source of income. Sadly we could not get past the excessive price for a remnant and our bad experiences with Absolute weighed heavy on my heart. I marked "no" above, but might give them a shot if John was still working there. So my bottom line is shop around. Had J.R. handled things differently, then maybe I could write a ringing endorsement. However, I get the impression the owner(s) of Absolute are too busy to deal with customer issues or concerns and more worried about getting the next job. Almost any installer can get almost any granite, the trick is learning the process of browsing the importers to find the right stone for your house (it can be overwhelming). Granite prices are dictated by the cost of the stone (cheaper = less exotic and more common) and the cost of the fabricator. We went to about six different granite places before settling on Absolute, but there dozens of others we never talked with that may not be on Angie's list. The importers we visited included Global, Unique, Cosmos, and at least one other importer to look at new an unique stones for our kitchen beyond the more common color and styles everyone seems to have in stock at their stores.

They were amazing. Everyone was great to work with and professional. We came in because of the great reviews from Angie's List. Sander was great and we worked together to fit our price range and what worked best for us. Once we chose the granite the guys came out to template and they were all great. Very professional and had great communication. Once the template was done we went back to fit the templates on our granite. Try came out in 10 days all ready to install. They did an amazing job and I would highly recommend them to anyone.

We got three estimates for our project; Absolute's was the lowest, and the final cost was right on the estimate. From selecting the stone to templating to installation, the people I worked with were very friendly, informative and helpful. The men who made the template and did the installation worked carefully, efficiently and did a great job.

Fantastic! From price in a out stone at stone. His installation when i was out of town, every thing went perfect.

They started off with good customer service and were very friendly. The guy that I was dealing with became rude and unprofessional when I advised him I might be leaning towards another company. He then told me I was wasting his time and that made my decisions easy for me to not hire them.

Absolute provided fantastic service throughout, and quality work. It was a pleasure to work with Mike (sales/service) and John (installation.)

We got four bids for the project. Absolute's was definitely the best, and I appreciated that their bid included all the work. Some of the other bids looked good upfront, but then nickel-and-dimed for the whole project (i.e., extra charges for removal of old material, disconnect, sink, etc). We also had an excellent experience with the sales rep, in our case it was Clark Eisel. He went out of his way to find us stone that fit our kitchen's look/style, and even dropped samples off at our house when they didn't have them in the showroom. Install went well. The only issue was that the reconnect ran into numerous snags, including a leak in the water line to the faucet, a leak in the gas line to the stove, and problems with our dishwasher after it was reconnected. It took about ten days total to resolve all those issues, but they were responsive and resolved everything to our satisfaction. I did have to make an extra call to our appliance repairman to get the dishwasher back up to snuff. In the end, we love the new countertop and it has really taken the look of our kitchen to the next level.

They did a great job. Fantastic work.

I called Absolute after I was sick of snagging all my shirts on the counter chips. They offered to come the next day or one day the following week. Employee was prompt, professional and did a great job. He was here 2-3 hours and the job looks great.

We had a new granite countertop installed a couple of days ago and we are very pleased with the results. Absolute Tile and Stone has great customer service and a professional installation team. On top of the great service and installation their price was the lowest of the 3 bids that we received. We didn't have 1 issue from the start to the finish - outstanding!

Ordered the countertop on Monday, paid on Tuesday, and it was delivered on Wednesday. After shopping many of the granite suppliers along Page Avenue, we found that Absolute had the best price, best product, and best service.

We purchased a counter top for our kitchen. Jeff was great in showing us several different options and even delivered several to our home after hours for us to look at prior to leaving town. Everything from the person measuring to the installers were extremely courteous, proficient and a true craftsman. We would highly recommend Absolute Tile to anyone putting in a new kitchen counter top.

We were very pleased with the whole experience. The salesman Clark came to our house and based on the while cabinets and appliances he recommended a particular white granite they jsut got in with a variety of colors running through. When we went to the showroom and saw the granite it was indeed a perfect match for our kitchen and is a beautiful color. When they came to the house do the templating, they discussed it with me so I was able to make some informed decisions. Clark also invited us to see how they were templating the granite slabs. We asked to have the island piece cut such that many of the colors were running through it so he had them change the location to honor our request. The contractor, John, whom they use to tear out the old counters and sink was also very helpful with suggestions regarding the backsplash and recommendations for the new faucet. I did not want the stainless steel double sink that they offer and instead got a large single bowl composite granite sink. The only problem we ran into was when they came to install the new counters, the sink was not exactly right. They installed the island piece and left one counter piece in place but we had to wait an extra week for the correct sink. So we were without our sink, dishwasher and cooktop for an extra week instead of two or three days. However I don't feel it was their fault that we got the wrong sink. They did an excellent job on the installation taking great care that the counters were level and that the seams lined up nicely. The granite piece where the cooktop is required cutting and they did that outside to avoid getting the dust in the house. John did an excellent job reinstalling the plumbing and cooktop. It looks beautiful.

The service was great and the employees were the best. Everything was good, so I paid my bill. I later looked closer at the bill and discovered I was charged $75.00 for a cutting board made from my granite. They had asked me if I wanted one but didn't tell me it would cost $75.00. I called numerous times before my salesman answered my call. I had also asked him about the granite that was left from my slab. I had told him I wanted what was left from my counter tops. Nothing was ever settled. After I paid the bill, I was ignored. So, a very good experience went sour. December 7 update. The company reviewed my problem and refunded my $75.00. There is nothing more I could ask for. Thank you!

The marble is beautiful and they did a great job. When they brought the top out there was a slight issue where the top needed to be cut a bit on one corner to make is just right due to a slight issue with the wall in my house. They took the top back, had that one corner corrected and were back the next business day at 8 am. I am very pleased with the work and the professionalism of the installers.

It was a pleasure to deal with Absolute Tile and Stone. They were very professional came out and gave us a price quote within a day of our request. described all the options we had for the granite as well as saved us several hundred dollars over the next lowest bid. They got the job done quickly and were very detail oriented. I cant say enough good about this company!

Very good - professional, delivered as promise. Great sales person - Jeff.

I was trying to sell my late inlaws house. No luck, everyone was complaining about the "sixties" kitchen. Absolute Tile and Stone was recommended by a friend. Absolute Tile and Stone looked at the house and offered a very economic solution to updating the kitchen. They replaced the old counter tops with a gorgeous granite, and replaced the old backsplash with a beautifully laid coordinated tile. A few other items like light fixtures and cabinet knobs and we are getting nothing but compliments on our "NEW" kitchen. The transformation is amazing. They measured perfect, scheduled the work two weeks out and were there precisely on schedule. My wife was so happy when she saw the new kitchen she teared up. The only problem I have now is explaining to my wife why I didn't do it 15 years ago. A fabulous job by genuine people.

We were very please with this company's services from start to finish. Sander helped us select granite based upon samples of other materials we brought with us for use in both areas. We were not rushed and were able to see many possible samples of remants for our two small projects. Absolute held our granite for three months when the project ran into unexpected delays. When the project finally neared completion, it was very close to the time we expected company to arrive. When I called to say we were ready for templating, the appointment was scheduled very promptly, and Sander arranged to expedite the time from templating to installation by cutting the usual wait time in half so we could use this bathroom when company arrived. Sander's help with this timing issue made a very stressful project completion go much more smoothly. Upon completion of the granite installation our plumber installed the vanity faucet and we found that the angled rod that extends to close the drain could not be extended fully because it ran into the granite backsplash. We first called American Standard to find a solution for this problem. We found this faucet was not designed for use with a backsplash, but that fact was not advertised by American Standard. American Standard could not offer any solution other than replacing the faucet. The faucet hole could not have been drilled any farther from the backsplash due to the undermount sink. I contacted Sander for assistance in solving this problem. He offered several possible solutions involving reconfiguring the backsplash (reducing it's height or depth) and said Absolute could remove and replace the backsplash when we determined how to solve the problem with the best possible outcome. Two Absolute employees came out to help determine the best solution, and with their suggestion we determined that slightly rotating the fixture (single handle, side handle, swivel faucet model) would be the best solution. This would avoid making changes to the backsplash that would either decrease its height or depth and avoid damage to the drywall that would require further repairs and repainting. Because of the faucet's swivel feature, we were able to have our plumber make this 40 degree adjustment without changing the appearance of our backsplash. Absolute's customer service was outstanding throughout this process! Sander and all other employees we dealt with were great! We would certainly use them again.

They didn’t seem to work with me on a degree as I didn’t want the countertops and wanted the faucets installed before they install the vanity. They more or less are not plumbers so I could understand. They completed the work and I got a granite countertop with them. I don’t have problems working with them.

They were the most reasonably priced, and the actual cost matched the estimate. They were extremely professional and the selection of granite was great. They were able to cut the pieces so there were no seams. They showed up at 8:30 am, on time and ready to go. The counters are perfect. I couldn't be happier with the experience. I highly recommend them!