Lessons Lessons From a Contractor’s Wife – Part 6

In this blog series, I’m going to share what building a custom home looks like from the non-professional’s perspective—the surprises, the lessons learned, and all the little details that no one tells you about until you’re in the thick of it. Come see how the sausage is made!

Part 6: The Faux Stone Fiasco

Our current house looks like a design showroom graveyard. Flooring samples, siding samples, stone samples, decking samples, and tile samples are scattered across our living room and kitchen. Offcuts of barn beams and cedar posts are covered in various stain colors and experimental stain mixtures. Layer on top of that the ongoing renovations we’ve been doing since we bought this place, and you have the perfect recipe for chaos.

When it came time to order stone for our fireplace, I knew I didn’t want to add another sample to the disaster zone that was my living room, so I made an executive decision: I ordered from a highly-reviewed online source without requesting a sample first. My reasoning was solid (or so I thought). Waiting for a sample would add time to our already-delayed timeline. Plus, what could I possibly learn from yet another stone sample that I hadn’t already learned from the dozen I was tripping over daily?

I knew the look I wanted, so I started shopping around online. Remembering advice from a showroom professional earlier in the process, I specifically searched for engineered stone designed for the exterior chimney portion. What good would a zombie apocalypse fortress be with a chimney that wouldn’t hold up to the elements?

A few days later, Lucas called and asked me to swing by the building site. Our stone had arrived! I was thrilled by how quickly it showed up—finally, something was going according to plan. But before I could get too giddy, Lucas asked me a question: “What kind of mood are you in?”

Well. That was ominous.

I arrived to find Lucas single-handedly moving boxes of our stone delivery. He’s a strong guy who routinely moves heavy materials, so I didn’t think much of it until he picked up a box and yelled, “Catch!” as he tossed it to me.

I caught it easily. Way too easily.

I opened the box to find our “stone” facade made from some sort of styrofoam-like material. Lightweight, synthetic, and definitely not what I had pictured when I clicked “add to cart” and paid several thousand dollars.

This wasn’t what I was expecting. I had no idea a product like this even existed and marketed towards fireplaces. Could it even withstand the heat? 

Surely in my haste to order, I’d missed something crucial in the product description, right? I pulled up the website and showed it to Lucas, who read through it. He agreed the description was vague. To its credit, the facade looked realistic so the photos, understandably, looked like real stone. The marketing copy was more flowery than descriptive. But you know what would have made this crystal clear? A sample. A physical, hold-it-in-your-hands, realize-it-weighs-nothing sample.

LESSON: Whenever possible—no matter how tired you are of samples—get a sample.

I don’t care if your house looks like a big box store after Black Friday. I don’t care if you’re convinced you know exactly what you’re ordering. Get. The. Sample. That $20 and a week of waiting could save you hundreds (or thousands) of dollars and weeks of delays when the wrong product shows up.

The good news? It’s returnable. The bad news? I’m out the shipping costs, plus a restocking fee. And of course, we’ve saved no time with my non-sample order.  

LESSON: Always verify the return policy and associated fees before ordering materials.

Make sure you check if the item is returnable at all (some custom or cut-to-order materials aren’t). Ask about restocking fees, return shipping costs, and whether you’ll get a full refund or store credit. Factor these costs into your decision-making, especially for big-ticket items. Sometimes paying a bit more for a local supplier or one with a generous return policy is worth it for the peace of mind.

Hindsight being 20/20, I realize I was so focused on keeping our timeline moving and avoiding more clutter that I skipped a basic step. I let frustration and hubris override common sense. And while Lucas thinks it’s hilarious, it’s still a mistake that’s costing us both time and money.

The silver lining? Our real stone is now on order from a local supplier (sample confirmed first, thank you very much), and I have a cautionary tale to share with anyone who thinks they’re too experienced or too tired to bother with samples. Trust me—you’re not. Order the sample. Every single time.