During training you will learn how to manufacture Cultured Marble - Onyx - Granite - Spray Granite - Solid Surface - Decorative Art Inlays - Tortoise Shell - Textured Flooring - Two Tone Effect - Lightweight Marble - Solid Colors - Decorative Countertop Edges - Granite Over Wood- Extra Thick Edges - Flexible Marble.

You can use any formula or technique on any mold, whether you’re making a sink, bathtub, shower pan, shower surround, pedestal sink, kitchen counter, window sill or soap dishes, but all of the formulas can be used on all of the molds. Every factory will find their niche market maybe using only three or four formula, but many of you will find yourself offering products using all formulas. Regardless, every factory will be trained on each formula and technique.

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		Colors: Colors are important in any interior design work so learning how to blend colors in your cultured marble factory will be important. When manufacturing the formulas below, you could find yourself working with well over a hundred different colors.

		Cultured Marble: I used to say that cultured marble would be your most commonly used formula, but with so many formulas made available, it may or may not be your biggest seller. By mixing some other fillers in with your limestone / calcium carbonate, you can get some pretty incredible marble effects. You can manufacture any color imaginable in either veined marble or in solid colors.

		Cultured Onyx: Cultured Onyx is a semi-transparent product which shows a lot of depth in the stone. It allows you to see some of the veining down inside the product, rather than simply seeing veining on the surface, and since it is transparent, it can be back-lit for some nice effects.

		Cultured Granite: Cultured Granite is becoming more and more popular and some marble shops are doing more granite than cultured marble. You can’t open a Bath and Kitchen magazine without seeing granite in some form. There are some granite formulas that make cultured granite very affordable for all housing markets, but domestically and overseas.

		Spray Granite: Spray Granite is specially great for overseas factories who may not have access to granite fillers and may not otherwise be able to produce a cultured granite material. Granite is sprayed over the molds about 1/16th of an inch thin, and back filled with cultured marble.

		Solid Surface: Solid surface is mainly used for kitchen coutertops, but has become a standard in the hotel industry and has become very popular in commercial installations. Basically, you can produce the same kind of product as Corian. The beauty of solid surface is that you can simply sand the surface to get a like-new look again if it starts to show any wear. It is quite stain resistant, and can be cut, glued, seamed, and routed to fabricate many creative installations.

		Decorative Art Inlays: There are some nice picture designs available that you can fabricate into your cultured products. There is a theme for everybody, whether it’s ducks, fish, flowers or butterflies you’re looking for. More custom the work, the more dollar you can demand.

		Tortoise Shell: I show this technique mainly to show an important principle in manufacturing cultured marble type products. I also train using bold colors to dramatize the effect, but it actually looks quite elegant in some very light or white colors.

		Textured Flooring: If you manufacture flooring, you’ll want the flooring to have a textured non-skid finish. You can make textured flooring material using any of the formulas; cultured marble, onyx, granite, etc., to match the other items you produced for the bathroom.

		Two Tone Effect: There are several reasons why Two Tone vanity tops or bathtubs are great. The first being more custom = more dollars, but... have you ever seen a two tone Anything in a Kohler, American Standard, or other plumbing supply store? Imagine that... you can do what they can’t.

		Lightweight Marble: When you get tired of carrying marble bathtubs upstairs to the second floor, you can start using some lightweight fillers to reduce the weight of your products by 30 and 50%. Sell tons and tons of tubs (say that 10 times real fast) but just make each tup a little lighter.

		Solid Colors: Not every customer wants ‘veined’ cultured marble. Solid colors are very popular in some places, as you can see on the Photo page.

		Decorative Countertop Edges: Most countertops, whether in the kitchen or bathroom, are manufactured on molds with various style front edges. There are several ways to achieve this look, but adds value to each countertop that you manufacture on your molds.

		Granite over Wood: This is a cost saving way to produce a granite effect. It’s similar to spraying the granite on the mold as described in the spray granite above, but in this case, it is reverse. Instead of spraying on the mold and back filling with cultured marble, the spray granite is applied over the top of your product, whether is for a countertop or furniture.

		Extra Thick: You will find many instances where you don’t want to simply throw down a slab of marble. By making it look extra thick, you can turn a ‘slab’ into a classy installation. More custom = more dollars.

		Flexible Marble, Onyx, Granite: You can make flexible marble, onyx, granite, spray granite, and tortoise shell. Very custom and very lucrative. It’s not an off-the-shelf kind of item that can be found in any plumbing or building material supply store.