Granite Gallery: Tumwater Showroom Offers Variety Of Natural Stone

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Granite Gallery in Tumwater does it all when it comes to stonework in the home – offering everything and the kitchen sink.

You can order granite and a wide variety of natural stone for use in kitchens, bathroom, and floors. Granite Gallery also creates signage and monuments. Plus, they have an in-house design team to help you order kitchen cabinets and pick out sinks, faucets, and other finishing details.

When Granite Gallery owners Tim Wolph and Matthew Koch opened for business in 2006, their first showroom was 2,000 square feet. Brisk business meant a need for more space, and in 2009 the company moved to its current location on Tumwater Boulevard, with 14,000 square feet.

“We’ve expanded every year since being in business,” says Wolph.

Working with granite began as a hobby for Wolph, who was in law enforcement when he first discovered his interest in the industry.

“I helped a friend who did this once in awhile, and then I did some on my own here and there,” Wolph says. He quickly found that he liked the art of working with granite, as well as the outcome. “I love it. It really is art. And each project is unique.”

About 60 to 70 percent of Granite Gallery projects are done is directly with homeowners. About 20 percent of their clients are contractors, and the remaining jobs are in signage and monuments.

An expansive array of natural stone options – including granite, soapstone, limestone, slate, and five different quartz stone products, such as Caesarstone, Chroma, Cosmos Quartz and Silestone – are available on site, to be seen and felt in person.

“We work with the customers and contractors one-on-one to find the stone that fits their needs,” says Wolph.

Though most projects involve ordering a stone, having a space measured and a template made, and then final installation, Granite Gallery also offers pre-made vanity countertops, which can be purchased right off the rack.

A customer walks in and sits down with Wolph or Koch to give the Granite Gallery team an overview of their project.

“And then we discuss what types of stones, what colors, home architecture, things like that,” says Wolph, “to kind of fit the stone into the house.”

“We sit down with them and go over their needs and then help them pick out the stone and the other products that go with it,” Wolph continues.

Granite Gallery’s in-house design staff can be called upon for interior design, but Wolph and Koch are also experts at guiding customers. “Matt and I have done so many jobs that we’re very good at putting things together, as far as color, shape, and size,” says Wolph.

Once all the design decisions are made, a template for the stone is created, the stone fabricated, any needed demolition takes place, and the product is installed.

Granite Gallery takes care of everything, from ordering to installing; they can even help clients with hiring subcontractors to do any structural, electric, or plumbing work. “We can point them in the right direction or we’ll contract with the contractors to do all the work,” says Wolph.

“We just finished a full bathroom where we did the floor and walls and wainscot for tile, and then the total shower was done floor-to-ceiling in granite,” says Wolph. “It’s a white marble floor and a white granite shower enclosure. It’s beautiful.”

The project used a product developed by Granite Gallery, the Realstone shower pan. “It’s a one-piece granite or quartz stone shower pan,” Wolph explains. “We can match your vanity or countertop to your shower pan.”

Coupled with solid slabs of stone for shower walls, the Realstone shower pan means no more grout to clean. “People have been cleaning grout for too long,” Wolph says with a laugh. “So we developed the shower pans and then we do the walls so there is no cleaning anymore – you can simply hose it down.”

Another unique product offered by Granite Gallery is its line of grill stones. “It’s a granite stone that you put on a barbecue,” explains Wolph. “It cooks the food evenly.”

One version includes grooves, so the oil drains away. Another has a flat top on one side and grooves on the other. “So you can actually do vegetables, eggs, whatever on the flat side,” Wolph says.

Finishing between two and four jobs a week, on average, the Granite Gallery team stays busy. They’ve also recently completed signage for a company in Arizona and lettering and signage for a local apartment building.

 

Granite Gallery

711 Tumwater Blvd. SW

Tumwater WA 98501

360.753.3522

info@granitegallery.com

 

Showroom hours:

Monday – Friday: 7:30am – 6pm

Saturday: 9am – 4pm

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