Tim Connolly’s clients say he has the eye of a stylist and the skills of a builder. This works well for him and his business partner, Matt Greenlee, who recently opened Artisan Stone Surfaces in Prescott.
The business offers marble for all surfaces, from floors to countertops to even walls. Since opening, Connolly has the opportunity to spread his wings and do a couple of big jobs in very small places, which thrilled the clients.
Joe and Kay Lyons had a very small bathroom that was dated and in need of help. Connolly surrounded the tub and shower with cultured marble.
“I really did love the way he worked with us,” said Joe Lyons. “We had ideas and he would look at us and say, ‘I don’t think that is going to work,’ but he did it nicely.”
Still Connolly made sure his clients got what they wanted.
“He had a lot of great suggestions and he gave us ways to make it more affordable,” Joe said.
Connolly says he can walk into a small space and think about how things can be arranged with minimal work. “That is the key, keeping things down to a minimum,” he said.
“His work was really good,” Joe said. “His eye for color and matching things was just excellent.”
Connolly said he does not know where the “eye” came from. “[Since] I was a kid, I’ve always drawn,” he said.
The couple liked his work so much that they let Connolly do whatever he wanted in the master bathroom and it turned out “beautifully.”
The Lyons are not the only ones to turn to remodeling their existing home and decide against a new home. The business of remodeling homes rose six percent last year, while the building of new single family homes did not rise during that time period after falling four percent in 2012, according to CareerBuilder, which keeps an eye on the labor market.
Residential remodeling jobs are projected to rise above seven percent this year.
Homeowners spent $130 billion on remodels in 2013 and that amount was expected to rise more than eight percent last year, according to the National Association of Home Builders.
Connolly says he loves working with customers who “kind of” know what they want.
“That makes my job easier and every customer can go to the showroom to look at samples or we can bring samples to them.”
And, he said, prospective clients can feel confident that the company knows what they are doing. “We already have a great reputation because we been in town a long time. I used to manage Matt’s fabrication shop years ago,” he said.
Then when the economy crashed, Connolly returned to his handyman business.
“When things started picking up,” said Greenlee, “we needed to open up a granite shop, so we partnered up.”
At the moment, the company is dong a very large job in Telluride, so business is good. QCBN
The showroom is in the Prescott design center, 1640 Intercal Way in Prescott.
For more information, call 928-717-1814.
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