Speciality Building Systems

I shopped around for countertops for months and Speciality Building Systems was one of the first places I stopped at. Their prices and selection were excellent and I eventually came back after shopping it around town. Lionel, who prepared the template came out to measure and pointed out a few things that he thought would improve the job — which I really appreciated. He and Robert, the owner told me it would be approximately two weeks between the template and installation. It turned out to be one week exactly, which was wonderful because my kitchen had been torn apart for about a month. The installers came out and did an thorough and tidy job of installing the countertop — which is so beautiful. I have one seam, which is about six inches long and is barely noticeable. I couldn’t be more pleased. Meanwhile, back at the shop, Maria and Robert answered all my questions, provided me with samples, kept everything on schedule and notified me when the installers were going to be a touch late. I don’t think it could have gone any smoother or been any easier. I am so happy with my new countertops!

After 13 years, I finally have new counter tops. I love this place! I have been to many places looking at slabs and getting prices over the years. This appeared to be a smaller place so I had not stopped before.
From the moment I stepped into the stone yard, and was greeted by David and soon after joined by the owner himself, Robert, my experience was wonderful. They had a great selection of granite, marble and quartzite, including some very beautiful and unusual ones. I found one I had never seen before and LOVED it!
The prices were great and everything was handled professionally. Each person, Amanda and Maria in the office, Lionel who came to make the templates, and the wonderful installation team lead by Victor, they were all just incredible. The guys who cut and polished the stone and created the edges, just perfectly, I did not get to meet, but they did an awesome job.
Attention to detail, professionalism, kind, clean, and the best customer service ever. They really listened to what I wanted and made sure I was happy.
I have the counter top of my dreams. I simply can’t imagine a better place than Specialty Building Systems. This is the Dream Team!

These guys did a FANTASTIC job for me. I was referred to them by Pental Granite and Marble, I believe Seattle’s leading supply company. They have a huge stable of fabricators, and it seems they consider Specialty Building Systems one of Seattle’s best.
Not only was Specialty’s price smart, but working with them start-​to-​finish was a pleasure. We all know, nobody is perfect — so when we had a slip up, this company went «above and beyond» to make things right.
My contractor also had a great experience with Specialty and will also give them a high praise and a strong recommendation.
Finally (and most important) the quality of their work was tops (they made a black soapstone countertop and a 12′ long fireplace surround).

After speaking with multiple companies whom all told us our bar counter was too long to be completed with one slab, we met with Amanda at their showroom. We were very please that not only do they carry large enough slabs, had in stock the leathered granite we had already fallen in love with but their price was very competitive.
A date was scheduled a week later to have our kitchen counters templated and David showed up ahead of schedule after a call to confirm I was available. He was very quick with his work and left within a couple hours after fully cleaning up his mess.
Our installation was scheduled to meet our availability 3 weeks later with the crew arriving on time. Our house is not easy to access but they dug right in and carried all of the large granite slabs up our 2 flights of stairs to get it installed within 4 hours.
I assured the crew they didn’t need to remove their shoes but they laid down cloths to walk on and also removed their shoes each time they entered the house. They were very careful to clean up any debris caused by the installation process even though I told them not to worry about it.
Our counters are beautiful and we couldn’t possibly be happier. We would absolutely recommend them to any of our friends and will use them in the future for all of our granite needs.

I searched many showrooms in the Seattle area looking for countertops. The prices & turnaround helped with my decision to choose Speciality. They have a huge selection to choose from. Amanda was very helpful & it was a bonus they had my deep sink I was looking for.
The measurement for the template & installation was at the scheduled time. I had no complaints & would recommend them.

After visiting what seemed like every single showroom in the greater Seattle area, we finally found and purchased our unique quartzite counters at SBS. Amanda was our primary sales person and she spent many hours patiently helping me choose the right slab to match my cabinets and paint. We found the pricing to be very fair, with no hidden «surprises.» The installation crew and template measuring person were all very thorough and professional as well, and addressed all my concerns. We are thrilled with the final result. As a general note, depending on the size difference between the old and new counters, there may be new gaps or chiseled out drywall that will need to be filled in after your counters are in place, which is not generally done by countertop installers.

The only reason this review isn’t 1 star is because they have a nice selection and very competitive prices. We bought a slab for our kitchen from them and also had them install a new sink and backsplash (we provided the tile). We signed a contract laying out a 3 week schedule for them to template, install, and tile.
They no-​showed the first Saturday when they were supposed to arrive and measure the template. After waiting around for a couple hours I got a hold of them on the phone. Apparently it wasn’t scheduled. That pattern of no-​showed continued over the coming weeks three (3!!!) times we had an appointment scheduled only for them to no show. Voice-​mail and emails trying to confirm appointments were not replied to. One guy there even told me they generally don’t check their company email during the day.
After an incredibly exhausting couple of weeks, they finally got everything installed. To their credit, they didn’t argue when I demanded a discount. Thankfully, the final job looks beautiful. I wouldn’t recommend Specialty Building Systems due to their general lack of responsiveness and failure to show up at agreed upon times.

No issues with the estimate or billing. Installer was great and counters look great. That’s the good part. Unfortunately it took countless phone calls and emails to coordinate them showing up. Finally threaten to cancel if they didn’t show a third time and they came. It was very frustrating from the lack of communication we got and the disregard of our time to be available to a crew that wasn’t showing up.
We also contracted with them to do the tile back splash. After a few confirmation emails from myself asking to confirm that they had ordered tile and would send installer (after another reschedule) the tile guy couldn’t come because the tile had not been ordered. We finally cancelled that part of the order and we will do it ourselves.
They seem to be pretty overwhelmed with work and have a lack of coordination, organization and communication to handle it. They’d be a whole lot less busy if they would just organize their prices and schedule better because I wouldn’t have had to have so much communication to get the counters done.

My wife and I hired SBS (also known as Versailles) to fabricate and install our kitchen granite. The price was very competitive. However, after placing our downpayment, we fell into a black hole that took a very long time to work ourselves out of. Phone calls went unanswered and weeks stretched into months.
The slabs we chose had sat out in the sun and the epoxy filler had yellowed. Robert promised us they could restore the finish and make it look beautiful.
We had coordinated visits to their south Seattle lot several times after templating and after surface restoration. Twice my wife and I got stood up with them not being ready as communicated and we wasted hours in rush-​hour traffic to get there from Woodinville.
Finally, my wife drove down there and confronted Robert. Hell hath no fury as they say. She demanded that the slabs be installed within two weeks time or we’d get $ 1,000 off. Amazingly, Robert agreed to this and my wife even got it in writing!
The afternoon of the two-​week deadline, a frenzied swarm of installers descended upon our house. I had to remind them to install steel reinforcing rods into the kitchen island slab for the 14-​inch overhang, which they did on-​site. They worked into the night and finished up at around 9:30pm.
In the end, they came through for us. The kitchen counters look beautiful… but it came at an emotional and project-​delaying price.

I used Specialty Building to install granite for my kitchen. The work they did do was well done and was the cheapest out of all my bids. HOWEVER,
1) It took forever to schedule an install/​template. Approximately two weeks before I could finally talk to someone.
2) Once it was scheduled for a Tuesday, the person was running about two hours behind. That’s OK. I understand. So Wednesday, the owner comes over but realizes he needs a special template tool. He is supposed to come back Thursday, but forgets to come back Thursday, ran out of the template for Friday which I had to call to confirm if he was still coming, says he will be back on Monday and forgets again! I also learned that while waiting around and calling back to confirm when they would actually be coming, they purposefully would avoid my phone calls.
3) They had to delay my install date because they were running behind again.
4) In order to get everything laid out, I stopped by in person. Amanda wasn’t in, and David did not want me to talk to Emily because she was high, yes high. So everything was done over the phone, and there was a miscommunication about installing a backsplash. Apparently, they thought I wanted it just for my bathroom, but I did want it after all for my kitchen AND bathroom. So needless to say, I just have backsplash for my bathroom and there is my old tile remaining in the kitchen. I called back to try to get this installed, but they did not have enough material to do kitchen backsplash. How convenient. But my invoice says four inch backsplash?
5) Needless to say, I was tired of dealing with this company so I just ended up paying. If you are going to use this company, make sure to get a contract. I never saw anything in writing until I asked for a final invoice. And the invoice was not even itemized so I am not sure what my money was actually paying for! This brought me confusion because for my final payment, Emily told me one amount, Amanda told me another. The granite in the bathroom originally I was told 200 but it ended up being 250. Finally, for the final payment, which they had no problem getting ahold of me when they wanted their money, I received text messages via Amanda’s personal phone for final remaining balance with a snot gram. Can I say unprofessional? And for the record, I called back twice to pay but no one was there and then I get a balance via text message?
I will also be filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.

We just completed our first kitchen remodel and went with these folks for our white quartz countertops. We had no experience in the realm of countertops and essentially found these folks through Unilocal.As everyone knows (and we quickly learned) countertops are a huge investment and the time it takes from template measuring to actual installation can lag, halting progress. After some serious research (which involved a steep learning curve) we chose this company. Those of you installing an IKEA kitchen — which we did: Specialty beat the IKEA countertop price by a few hundred dollars. More importantly to us, they were able to install a full week prior to the installation date quoted by the IKEA crew (Precision). They met every deadline and executed the work beautifully — and their crew was pleasant. We have two waterfall countertops installed in our kitchen and they are seamless. I would use these guys again.

My experience with Versailles Stone/​Specialty Building Systems was great. After discovering that the stone kitchen counters I was about to have installed from another vendor could not be used, I drove around to all of the stone places in Georgetown and SODO in a bit of a panic. Versailles had exactly what I wanted, and at a price for high quality stone that was competitive with the best prices I had been quoted at other showrooms offering thinner slabs. After seven years of puzzling over what to use for kitchen counters in a major remodel, Versailles offered the ideal solution to my dilemma in the form of gorgeous Brazilian soapstone. Fabrication and installation were professional and speedy. I don’t hesitate to recommend this company, and would go to them for any future stone work.

I’m an Interior Designer and General Contractor and I’ve used Specialty Building Systems for several countertop jobs and they do a great job. One of the reasons is that the edge they do that makes the stone look 2 ½″ thick is done in such a way that it appears to be one solid block of stone. I find them all very helpful on the lot and their fabrication and installation is beautiful. Clients are thrilled to get such a good look at a better price than they were expecting. On one of my jobs we had a seam in an extra long granite countertop with a lot of color variation. They arrived armed with a variety of epoxy colors to fill the seam — to match the various colors along the seam — and we were all impressed. I plan to continue using them on jobs moving forward.

If I could give this company ZERO stars, I would. And I wish that I would have investigated them more thoroughly before doing business with them, as they were an absolute nightmare to work with. Don’t be fooled by Anita F’s 5÷9÷2012 review, and be aware that your experience ismore likely to be like Sue G’s or Montgomery S’s. (And if you don’t believe the negative ratings here, go see their Better Business Review rating — the only «F» I’ve ever seen from the BBB.) Yes they’ve got a nice selection of granite — so do lots of companies; yes, their prices are aggressive and they might be able to save you some money, but it’s going to come with a hidden cost: aggravation and disappointment when they fail to meet their production deadlines, lie to you about the reasons, then refuse to take or return your phone calls. Amanda is very friendly when you talk to her on their lot but as soon as things go sideways — and they will — her pleasant demeanor turns into passive aggressiveness as she refuses to answer her phone and communicates via texts only (if at all), refusing to actually talk to you even when she says she will call. I should have suspected something from the beginning — after visiting their lot in search of a slab for an outdoor fireplace, then taking samples home to decide which one we wanted, I called to discuss placing an order. Amanda was at lunch but was supposed to be back in fifteen minutes, so I called back about an hour later. I was told that Amanda was with a customer, but would call me back in fifteen minutes, so I left a message. Two hours later, I hadn’t heard anything, so I called a third time. My call went to voice mail (they have caller ID, so they know who’s calling), and no one ever returned my call. I found that both annoying and surprising; my initial experience led me to believe that they were enthusiastic about earning my business. Since other places that were willing to work with me were more expensive by $ 100 — $ 200 over what I had been offered by Amanda I decided to pay a visit to see what was going on. Amanda, once informed that I had called several times and had left messages both with Emily and on their company voice mail, acted surprised and apologetic and said that she’d never gotten the messages, or she «definitely would have called (me) back.» When reminded about the project that she’d helped us with when we’d initially come in, she remembered the details and still had the information and drawing from our first visit so I felt somewhat reassured and was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, We found a piece that we really liked, went ahead and placed the order, and paid in full with cash to get their best possible price. Before doing so, I was very clear with her that I needed the piece the next week — this was a Thursday, and she guaranteed me that they would have it by the following Wednesday for me to pick up. This was an important consideration, because I was starting a new job the following Thursday, and knew that I’d be putting in a lot of hours and not be able to come in to pick it up for as much as a couple weeks. Since the granite slab was the last piece of the puzzle, so to speak, on my project, I really wanted to get everything wrapped up before I started back to work and the weather turned for the worse. Like a bad movie, though, I got a text from Amanda — not a phone call — the next Wednesday, explaining that she was sick that day and not going in to work, and that as a result my piece wasn’t going to be ready for pick up after all. This was disappointing and surprising for a couple reasons: first of all, it wasn’t a very big piece, and she had numerous opportunities between the day that we paid for the slab and the day that I was supposed to pick it up to have her guys cut and polish it; second, even if she was sick the day I was supposed to pick it up, had she actually put it on their production schedule when she said she would, it would have been ready whether she was sick or not. Be that as it may, I was understanding — things happen — and although I prefer a phone call to multiple texts, she assured me that it would be available the next day. Since I couldn’t pick it up then, I asked about picking it up on Sunday. She assured me that I could pick it up Sunday any time between 10 and 3. On Sunday morning, I got a text that they were CLOSED that Sunday, and no one would be there. I was furious and asked her to call me. Nothing. No response, not even a text. Monday, she texted me that I could pick it up any time. I responded that I was working and couldn’t pick it up for the foreseeable future, so she offered to deliver it that day. Then she texted me and said it would have to be Wednesday. On Wednesday, she texted me late in the day to let me know it would have to be Friday or Saturday. I finally got it after much aggravation. Good price? Yes. Good service? NOT WORTH THE HASSLE. BUY ANYWHERE ELSE, AT ANY PRICE. YOU WON’T REGRET PAYING A BIT MORE.

We used Specialty Building Systems (SBS) for our kitchen counters. Our primary sales associate was Amanda and she helped us find a great piece of stone in our price range. Throughout the process, I needed to slightly modify our counter top size, and she was very good in working with me to adjust the sizing/​price. She was very patient with us, which is a big help when you are planning a kitchen remodel.
As we got closer to the install, we decided we wanted to use our own sink. SBS agreed they would install it for us and was very flexible in making that adjustment.
When it came time to template, the guy who came out was very thorough and friendly. He was very detail oriented, and determined that I had to modify our sink cabinet to adequately hold our sink (which is a large single basin) with the proper amount of granite in front and behind the sink. I did the cabinet install, so he discussed the modifications that were needed in great detail, allowing me to make those changes before the install.
The installation was very good as well. The granite was cut perfectly, and the installers did an excellent job completing the job and installing our sink. The overall project looks amazing.
Overall, their price is extremely competitive. They were able to provide me with slab granite that was just about 20% more than others who deal with the pre-​cut common looking granite. The staff was very nice and professional throughout the entire process. If you visit their granite yard, you will see they have a great selection, and they are constantly cutting granite. I was impressed by this as it showed me that they were very busy, which is a good thing. I would definitely use them again and recommend them to friends.

Excellent work. Beautiful product. Staff and workers were very kind and eager to make things work out in the best possible way. And… at a very good price. I’m very happy with my choice and would encourage others to check out their services. Clearly they’ve made a lot of changes in how they do business since those negative reviews (note the dates — several years ago!)

KUDOS to Versaille Stone! Our experience was much different than the last reviewer. We recently completed a kitchen remodel and had excellent service. Yes, communication can sometimes be challenging, but their work product is stellar. We had 2 granite slabs cut up for our kitchen including a 9 foot by 5 foot island, all one piece. They did a FABULOUS job on the seam around the main sink, can barely see it. They installed on a rainy nasty November evening with a crew of 5 guys and were meticulous about getting the install just perfect, staying until 9:30 on a Friday night just to finish the job. We had a last minute glitch and they bent over backwards to make it work for us. As for communication issue, I recommend getting the cell phone number of one of the employees so that you have direct contact at any given time. I would also drive down to the showroom to discuss matters and always got great customer service once I was there. Last but not least, their pricing was ½ or ²⁄₃ the cost of all the other bids that we received so we think overall it was a fantastic value and we would definitely use them again.

ALSO KNOWN AS VERSAILLES STONE… STAY AWAY FROM THIS BUSINESS !!! Was originally told that the installation would take 2 – 3 days, but ended up taking weeks. They would never answer their phone, and, when they did, lied through their teeth to keep us on the hook. Could never get them out to the house without threatening a lawyer. One excuse after another. When the job was about done, the manager lied to us again and told us that the rest of the job would take about an hour to complete so he could get paid. We make the mistake of paying him and then found out that there was another day, at least, of work to be done…had to BEG them to come back and finish it. Even then we ended up hiring someone from another company to finish the job. Would not recommend them to my worst enemy.