At Tropical
From the distributor to your door…
At Tropical Stone LLC, you will see one of the most extensive collections of unique and exotic natural stone in the Philadelphia, New Jersey, and Delaware region. As a natural stone wholesale distributor, Tropical Stone LLC offers over 350 colors and patterns of natural stone from all parts of the world in a 60,000 square foot, well-lit, indoor stone “art gallery”.
Designed entirely by Mother Nature, slabs of granite, marble, soapstone, limestone, travertine and onyx in a myriad of high-fashion hues, textures, and finishes, are displayed in the showroom on “A” frames, similar to giant easels. At Tropical Stone LLC, it is very easy to select the most beautiful, high quality natural stone materials for your residential or commercial project.
When a customer calls to set up an appointment to view the stone for a project, our Tropical Stone LLC customer care representatives are there to insure that the client experience is a memorable one. Once stone is selected for a particular project, Tropical Stone LLC delivers the slabs to the designated natural stone fabricator who will template, fabricate and install the finished countertop, backsplash, vanity top, tub or fireplace surround in the customer’s home or place of business.
Tropical Stone LLC welcomes customer calls and will gladly answer all questions regarding the stone selection process.
The most frequently asked questions about Tropical Stone LLC are answered below:
What is Tropical Stone?
Tropical Stone is one of the largest wholesalers of fine stone in the Philadelphia, New Jersey, and Delaware region.
We work with many contractors, designers, retailers, and natural stone fabricators to bring the natural beauty of stone to any size project.
The main Warehouse Showroom is approximately 60,000 square feet, and houses over 350 colors and patterns of granite, marble, soapstone, limestone, travertine and onyx.
Is Tropical Stone "Open to the Public"?
Yes, we are. We prefer appointments so that a member of our customer service staff will be available to assist you with your stone selection.
To schedule, please call us at 610-725-8130 or 1-866-4T-STONE (1-800-487-8663)
What are your hours?
We are open Monday through Friday from 9:00am to 5:00pm, with the last appointment scheduled at 4:00pm. Please use the following link for Hours.
We are also open on Saturdays with hours By Appointment Only.
How do I get to Tropical Stone?
We are located in Malvern, Pennsylvania, which is approximately 45 miles West of Center City Philadelphia.
Please use the following link to print Directions to Tropical Stone LLC.
What are some of the finishes I can expect to find on the stones in your showroom?
Natural stone is processed at the quarry or processing plant before it is shipped to us. The surface of granite and marble is, typically, brought to a high polish. In the case of limestone, the finish will usually be honed, or matte.
Below are a few of the finishes you will, occasionally, see on the various materials in our showroom. However, all of the stone we receive is not available in every finish listed.
Polished
A glossy finish which is highly reflective and smooth to the touch – usually found on granite and marble. This is the least porous of the available finishes.
Honed
A smooth, matte finish which is not reflective and has a soft look and feel – is a standard finish on limestone and travertine which do not take a polish. Honing a polished material opens the pores making it more susceptible to staining. “Honing” will fade the color of the stone which can be noticed more on dark materials than lighter ones. A color enhancing sealer can be applied to restore the color (if desired).
Antiqued
A style of finishes rather than a particular finish – leathered, river washed, and tumbled finishes are all examples of an antiqued finish. Sometimes a leathered finish is called an antiqued finish.
Leathered
Adds texture to the finish, closes the pores, and retains the color better than honing. A leathered finish has a slight sheen, but is not reflective like a polished surface. Leathering starts with a honed surface and adds texture, and is a completely different process than river-washed.
River-Washed
A pre-cursor to the leather finish – a slab must be flamed before it is river-washed. Then it is blasted with various types of materials (instead of sand) creating different effects. The color will fade, “gray out”, even more so than honing. This finish is best for decorative uses.
Flamed
A very rough- textured finish applied to granite only using an extremely hot flame causing the mineral crystals to pop out – flamed finishes are best used for exterior purposes, like walkways.
Bush Hammered
A textured surface, uniform and rougher than leathering, that will fade out the color of the stone to a greater extent than honing – best for exterior use, this finish can be applied to any stone.
Sandblasted
A matte-textured, faded finish with no gloss achieved by a steady pressure wash of sand and water – the finish is very porous and hard to clean making is suitable for decorative use only.
Brushed
A term used to describe either a leather finish or a river-washed finish, although there are very distinct differences between these two finishes.
How do I make the most of my Tropical Stone Experience?
Browsing at Tropical Stone LLC is always encouraged.
We invite you to visit us and view the vast and varied collection of natural stone available for your project while enjoying our well-lit, inviting indoor “art” gallery.
- Please have as much of the following information handy when calling for an appointment to select materials at Tropical Stone:
- Fabricator Name – for pricing and shipment of stone
- Architect, Designer, Dealer, and/or Contractor Names
- Plans or square footage requirements for each project
- Dimensions required for islands, etc. – minimum length and width required
- Samples of cabinetry, flooring, paint, tile or fabric for color match to stone
- Once a stone has “spoken” to you, it is important to know how you will proceed with your final selections:
- Stone is selected by color, by lot number, and by individual slab number.
- Wholesale pricing is sent to the fabricator who quotes the installed price to you or your contractor.
- Slabs are selected in sequence for best color match and, since many lots in inventory are book-matched for design applications, the slab order must not be broken.
- Slabs are moved at the time of final selection only in order to limit damage to materials and to offer our customers the best stone quality possible.
- Reserving Material at Tropical Stone:
- Tropical Stone may charge a non-refundable $250 reservation fee, per project, which holds the selected slabs for up to 30 days, at which time the stone is invoiced, and the fee is transferred by Tropical Stone to the fabricator as a $250 credit on the material cost of the job.
Please note that Tropical Stone does not return this fee to the customer directly – it is up to the fabricator to issue this credit to the client or client’s contractor at time of final billing.
- If the customer does not continue with their project, the stone is returned to inventory and the reservation fee is retained by Tropical Stone to compensate for stone being on reserve for 30 days and unavailable for sale.
- Living with Natural Stone Surfaces:
- Please care for your stone using products designed, specifically, for natural materials. These stone care products may be purchased through your fabricator, retailers, home centers, or from various manufacturers’ websites.
- Stone care product recommendations and additional information related to natural stone surfaces may be found on the Marble Institute of America’s website,
www.marble-institute.com
We thank you for selecting your materials at Tropical Stone LLC and hope you will enjoy the beauty and splendor of your natural stone surfaces for years to come…
