So this week, I've been banging them up, post haste and she's started to dip a couple bundles to complete the bedroom area. Today I'll finish the S & E sides of the second story part of the house, and will just have the big kahuna gable section left (N side). This is the part of the house that rises 27' above ground level (yikes). The upper shingled part of the gable is 48 ft wide and 13 ft high, so it will take about 350 sq. ft of shingles (about 14 bundles). So, it looks like I might have miscalculated on my original shingle purchase, having bought 80 bundles but only needing about 70. No worries, the little tool shed that we'll build out back in a couple of years will have Hardiboard below and shingles above, so that will eat up 200 sq. ft of shingles (8 bundles). As you might recall, the singles were my first GOOD DEAL, having bought them directly from a mill in Forks, WA, about 100 miles west of us.
Last Tuesday we made another foray into the big city (Seattle) in search of a slab of travertine for the 3 bathroom vanities. This should have been easy, but wasn't. I was keen on getting a banded travertine that had some character, but most slabs were looking like Melba toast to me. Went to Dal Tile, Michelangelo's (were we bought the kitchen slabs), Oregon Marble and Tile, Pental, and finally Meta Granite and Marble. By the time we arrive at Meta, we were pretty worn out and had decided that maybe we'd have to use another rock type. Then bingo, we found just what we wanted and it was the cheapest we'd priced all the day. Some times this stuff just works out, if you're persistent.Our fabricator (Richerts) called in for sizes and prices and actually told me what the rock cost to them! The 2 cm thick (3/4 inch) slabs were $18/sq ft and the 3 cm (1 1/4 inch) slabs were $22/sq ft in polished form. That equates to about $980 for the 3-cm slab, plus the governors tariff (8.4%). The total bill for vanity tops will be about $2400, which breaks down to be $980 for rock, $750 for three sink cutouts, $475 for cutting and polishing 7 edges (21 linear ft), and about $195 in tax. Some where in this breakdown is overhead and a charge for picking up the rock in Seattle. Its a nearly 300 mile round trip that they typically make once a week to pick up a dozen slabs. In terms of fabrication costs, it works out to about $30/sq ft for the slab, whereas the rock is about $22/sq ft. Travertine and marble is soft and easy to work, so these costs may be relatively low compared to "granite" (all igneous and metamorphic rocks).
If you're looking for cheap granite counter tops, you can buy prefabricated ones (25" x 96") that are manufactured in China and India. Home Depot, Lowes, and others sell these, but then you still need to have someone do the cutouts and cut them to size. Nevertheless, this is how you get rectangular granite counter tops for $50/sq ft rather than at the more common installed prices of $100-$150/sq ft.
