Lick that beautiful slab!
Awesome!

It's gorgeous! Good luck getting the slab.

My two cents--Taj Mahal quartzite was one of the prettiest things Ive seen for a counter. Wouldn't work for me color-wise but so beautiful!

we love our taj mahal countertop and it's been bullet proof so far. That is a gorgeous slab too!

So pretty! I love ratrem's kitchen, so I think you can't go wrong! I have found that often people put holds on these slabs and are "holding" them even though they aren't ready to pruchase. Keep putting pressure on the slabyard to call all of these holds...I had the same situation happen once and when I handed over my credit card and showed them I was ready to buy, they pulled the hold tags off all the "maybes" that were more than a few weeks old.

Your slab is delicious!!!

Love it! Getting ready to replace our Formica & had quartzite & marble on the list of options. I will hunt for Taj Mahal. It is stunning. Very natural & organic looking, and not too busy/loud.
Good luck getting your slab! If you don't get it this round, at least you know what you want & can hunt for it.

LOVE it! Hope you get it and we can all drool over your beautiful counters. Taj Mahal was my favorite when I looked at quartzite as well. Sadly, it wasn't in our budget so I will live vicariously through you. :)

I didn't ask the guy, but what does putting a hold on it really mean? Do they have to actually put some money down and do they lose the money if they change their mind? The guy did tell me if I got ready for one of the slabs, he would call the people and find out if they really wanted it, so it's good to know I could put a little pressure and possibly get one. Of course, I still have to get a quote, which worries me. The up side is I have a small kitchen.

Usually no money is placed down when a slab is on hold and the "buyers" have a set amount of time to give the deposit to the fabricator and secure the slab. The slab then goes to the fabricator until needed. At least this has been my experience with the large wholesale lots.

All of the Taj Mahal was on "hold" to when I was trying to purchase but a few days later some slabs opened up. I didn't hesitate even though we were a few months away from it being installed. My fabricator was more than happy to store it for me until we were ready.

Thanks, ratrem! Do you remember how much yours was per s.f.?

LOVE!!! We went with madre perla but taj mahal was very similar

I really liked the MP quartzite but wanted more browns and beiges. Taj Mahal works perfect in our kitchen. And like ratrem says, it's bulletproof.

Oh, I thought I had seen all the pictures of Taj Mahal and MP on here, but I haven't seen yours, camphappy. My cabinets are similar to the color of yours, so that helps to see. Although, I really think it would go with any color of cabinet. Do you have a backsplash anywhere in the kitchen? Do you remember how much you paid per s.f. I know it's going to vary by area, but I just want to see how the quote I get compares to others.

Kate618 - I don't think I've seen your MP. Do you have a picture? If I were building a house and starting from scratch, I would go with MP, but since my house is full of warm colors, TM is a much better fit for me.

I'm making a list of what I should ask the guy and I only have two questions so far. Where will the seams be and how will they handle the area behind my stove since it's a really skinny strip. Anything else I should ask?

This post was edited by msrose on Sun, Jan 27, 13 at 10:21

One more question for camphappy and ratrem - Is your edge a standard straight edge or is there a bevel to it? I think I want something very simple.

we did an eased edge. In our area the Taj Mahal is up to $86/sq. ft. before fabrication, 3cm slabs. When we bought it is was $60/ sq. ft. not including fabrication. We lucked out because we found a huge slab that was big enough to do our entire kitchen plus a bath vanity. Any other slab that we were interested that was cheaper per sq/ft we would have needed two slabs.

Beautiful!

Hi rose, our Taj Mahal was $41/sq' non fabricated. (I live in the SF Bay Area). Most granite sold around here is 2 cm which would make the granite less expensive. With 2 cm stones many/most people have the edges laminated to increase the thickness of the edge. Ours is a crescent edge. It has a very slight roundness to it.

Here is some Taj Mahal in the San Fran bay area. I think it's quite pretty and am considering it for our master bath.

SF people can you give stone yard recommendations?

Where did you find that Taj Mahal with a leather finish?

That leather finish is from Da Vinci in San Carlos, CA. They had the best selection when I was looking last summer and it looks like they still do. Pietra Fina in Hayward also had some nice slabs as well as other quartzites.

Thanks!

Oh! I haven't seen it around here in the leather finish.

I just got a price from one quy and he said it's $79.50. I'm waiting to hear from another guy to see if their prices are the same. The granite place gave me three business cards and said they were their top three customers? Is that enough to go on? Just makes me nervous. I know I could ask for references and call them, but you know they're not going to give me the name of an unhappy customer, so what good does that really do me.

Ok, the first guy told me $79.50 s.f for the granite and the 2nd guy told me $124 s.f installed. Assuming he's charging 79.50 like the first guy that means it would be $44.50 s.f. for installation. Does that sound about right?

Well, it's official...I'm getting my Taj Mahal! The original slab that I posted above is still on hold along with the 5 behind it. They got a new shipment in and they went just as fast. Luckily, the granite guy called when he was here and had them put a slab on hold for me. When I went down to look at it three days later they only had one slab available. They said they've never seen any granite sell like this one. The only problem with my slab is it has this awful deep rust colored streak across the top corner. It's a larger than normal slab, so I'm hoping they can work around it.

Msrose, I found your post about selecting the Taj Mahal granite. I love your counters! Thanks for letting me know what they are called.

I found this post! I knew I loved Msrose's counters and now I know what they are called. Isn't this Taj Mahal Quartzite and not Granite? I saw the picture when you chose your new tile floors and I loved your counters that may work with my tile. How are you liking your counters?

Does anyone know of a granite that looks somewhat similar? We love the warm, creamy look of Taj Mahal but oh! the price....