Industry leaders share their views on 2023 — and the most-valuable thing learned in 2022. Also, OSHA’s main complaints with fabricators in fiscal 2023, and the Stone Fabricators Association takes a look at smudging on black quartz surfaces.
Issues
November-December 2022
Silicosis continues to be a hot topic in fabrication workplace safety, with a focus on shops handling quartz surfaces. Also, the best hardscape projects get their due, with natural-stone jobs judged by the of the Natural Stone Institute.
September-October 2022
If inflation’s eating your earnings and the job backlog is getting softer, take a look at how a few fabricators are forming up slowdown strategies. Also, the Tucker Design Awards are on full display, as well as this year’s Coverings Installation and Design winners.
July-August 2022
Cook right from the countertop with undermount induction elements? Yes, but not all surfaces are equal in performance. Also, the 2022 NKBA Design Awards show how designers are using hard surfaces — and what they’re paying.
May-June 2022
Skyrocketing natural-gas prices and the Russia-Ukraine war are causing problems in European tile manufacturing, including porcelain slab. Energy costs should a concern much closer to home, too.
March-April 2022
The best of natural stone is celebrated with the 2021 Pinnacle Awards. Also, U.S. hard surfaces imports recorded a banner year in 2021, and standards are still vague on thicker porcelain-slab installations.
January-February 2022
Can machines fill today’s labor gap in fabricator backshops? Also, dealing with a small town’s Zoomtown boom times, and more on the Natural Stone Foundation.
November-December 2021
What’s the future of granite? We asked several designers, distributors and quarriers. Also, a Toronto coffee shop goes all in with travertine.
September-October 2021
Deciding what to throw and what to keep in the collection of remnants out back. Also, a look at U.S. hard-surface imports mid-year.
July-August 2021
Fighting a mysterious substance on a marble monument with lasers.; also, Coverings notes some of the best work worldwide in stone and tile.