Mountain Views News          Saturday, January 22, 2011

HOMES AND PROPERTY

13

 Mountain Views-News Saturday, January 22, 2011 

One Of A Kind: Featuring unique homes and gardens and the people whoe create them Story By Chris Bertrand 


Monrovia’s CV Tile: A Family Stone and Tile Business…

From Design and Showroom to Custom Mosaics and Fabrication


If you’ve driven eastbound on the 210 
just past Myrtle Avenue, you’ll probably 
spotted the expansive grey and black, CV 
Tile & Stone complex on the South side of 
the freeway in Monrovia.

Owner, Craig Reiber, and his mother 
started the business back in 1987 as Crescenta 
Valley Tile. A short time later they moved to the current Monrovia 
location. Now three decades in business, Reiber, President, and 
son, Shawn Robb, COO, now run this large Monrovia company as 
CV Tile, a “one-stop” tile and stone shop. “Seeing our operation from 
the street, most people don’t realize our operation is so big.”

Carrying over 100 lines from companies all over the world, CV 
offers a 10,000 square foot stone, tile and cabinetry showroom, 8,000 
square foot warehouse, an 18,000 square foot slab yard with exotic 
and mainstream marble and granite, in house stone and tile designers 
to work with consumers and contractors plus an in house fabricator 
and installation arm.

Concept boards with thousands of different combinations are 
available to inspire and whet your design appetite. If you don’t find 
just the right stone or tile combination size or finish, CV can probably 
make it for you.

Over the years, CV has developed a reputation as the “go to” company 
for intricate custom tile products. “In these economic times, 
most manufacturers maintain minimal inventory instead of stocking 
six to eight sizes of a particular stone tile. We can fill in the gap, either 
for the manufacturer or the consumer. By using our onsite water jet, 
multi-bladed saw and stone tumbling equipment, we can custom size 
an 18”x18” tile into long narrow 6” tiles for a backsplash, inset or 
mosaic, or tumble stone tiles to a shape or finish not currently available 
in manufacturer stock. And it’s all done in house,” reflects Robb.

Over the years, CV’s growing reputation as a company that can 
handle the hard and intricate projects has led them to produce the 
custom mosaics for installations at nearly every upscale casino in Las 
Vegas including the Bellagio and Caesar’s Palace (a huge wall mosaic 
of a Roman soldier in a high roller’s suite), nearly twenty Brighton 
handbag stores, a 200’ long “serpent” in a San Diego college administration 
building, tile manufacturers like the huge Dal-Tile company, 
dozens of Wolfgang Puck’s restaurants as well as residential applications 
across the country in baths, fountains, kitchens, pools, etc.

We start with a concept, a logo or a drawing, and then transfer it to 
our CAD, computer aided design system. Next we set our computer 
guided, computerized water jet saw to cut the design out of the stone, 
color by color. When the water jet cut pieces are completed, our mosaic 
designer hand cuts the small infill pieces 
to complete the design. It’s an exacting art, to 
make the sizes fit to allow the design to flow as 
if it were a picture.

Glass tile is a hot design element right 
now. CV does some amazing things combining 
glass tile and granite these days. The new 
kitchen showroom features a stunning full 
backsplash of water jet cut vines using green 
metallic glass tile leaves, winding through a 
neutral Crema Marfil marble background. In 
a nearby Bradbury estate, they cut intricate 
mosaics of sea life for one bath and recreated 
Hollywood landmarks including the signature 
hillside sign, street signs and even the “star” 
walk, all out of water jet cut stone mosaics.

Out in the slab stone yard, stunning marble 
and granite slabs with exotic names like 
Verde Fire, Jurassic and Rain Forest provide 
the foundation upon which clients can bring 
out tile concept boards of tile combinations to 
feel out complementary stone and tile choices 
in natural light for a true color assessment. 
Jurassic is my favorite right now,” says Robb. 
“Nature created this granite at the bottom of 
a river bed, embedded with fist sized, granite 
river rock in various colors and textures. There 
really is nothing else like it I’ve seen.

Last fall, CV expanded into domestic and 
imported cabinetry for bath vanities and 
kitchens. Vanities can now be purchased with 
the granite, marble or CaesarStone countertop 
and sink already installed. “These 24”-72” 
single and double vanities are popular with clients who want an easy, 
quick bath remodel,” comments Reiber.

Contractors and do it yourselfers have an installation materials 
and tools department right in the complex, too, with knowledgeable 
staff on hand to advise. One can literally drive away with everything 
needed for the project, including the ceramic soap dishes, grout, 
“thin set” and specialized tools.

We’re a family business and we know most of the great contractors 
in the area, and they know they can count on us. We always focus 
heavily on the personal service component in our business. We offer 
competitive pricing with many many more options and choices than 
a big box store, but it’s our service PLUS the selection that makes us 
stand out,” reflects Reiber.

The CV Tile and Stone showroom, located at 520 E. Evergreen in 
Monrovia, is open Monday-Friday 8:30 5:30 and Saturday, from 9-5. 
For an appointment with a tile and stone designer, call the showroom 
at 626-303 0336. Same day appointments are sometimes available.

For oodles of inspiration for your floor, bath, kitchen, fireplace, 
fountain, pool and other tile or stone project before you begin; visit 
the CV website at www.CVTile.com.


Roman Warrior Mosaic in the high roller suite at Caesar’s Palace in 
Las Vegas.


(NAPS)—Using water wisely can save homeowners 
money, reduce energy costs and 
help protect the planet. 

Here are a few easy conservation steps you 
can take:

1. Check for leaks. Even the smallest 
leak from a worn faucet washer can waste 
gallons of water every day. You can also use 
your water meter to check for hidden leaks. 
Just read the water meter before and after 
a time when no water is being used. If the 
meter shows water has been used, there is a 
leak. Talk to your plumber.

2. Only use your dishwasher and clothes 
washer when you have a full load. Washing 
smaller loads of laundry can use twice as 
much water per pound of laundry.

3. When you wash dishes, don’t let the 
water run to rinse them. Fill a second sink 
with clear water for rinsing. Don’t rinse dishes 
before loading in the dishwasher.

4. Install water-saving showerheads. A 
four-minute shower can use up to 40 gallons 
of water, and while you can take shorter 
showers, you can also save water with a low-
flow showerhead. 

 Speakman has engineered several low-flow 
showerheads to meet LEED and WaterSense 
standards. The company’s eco showerheads 
are designed to conserve water while still 
providing a full, satisfying spray to the user. 

With the company’s low-flow showerheads, 
you can save more than 2,300 gallons per 
year. Since this also reduces demands on water 
heaters, households will also save energy. 

All products that bear the WaterSense label 
are tested and certified by an approved 
third- party laboratory to ensure they meet 
EPA criteria. For example, showerheads that 
earn the WaterSense label must use no more 
than 2.0 gallons per minute. 

There are seven models of eco showerheads, 
including handheld styles, which all range 
from 1.5 to 2.0 gallons per minute. As well 
as being efficient, the showerheads also offer 
full-body sprays and therapeutic pulsating 
massage jets. 

5. Turn off the tap after wetting your 
toothbrush. In general, any time water is 
running, you are wasting it. That includes 
shaving and cooling water to drink.

Following these few simple tips can help you 
save on your water bill. 

For More Information

For more information, visit www.speakmancompany.
com.

Easy Ways To Save Water At Home

PRICING UNDER 
PRESSURE


Deciding on an asking price for your home is challenging enough these days, but you need 
specific pricing strategies for particular scenarios, especially if you're under pressure to 
move quickly or your home isn’t selling after being on the market for several months. Here 
are suggestions for both situations.

If you're facing a deadline due to job relocation or other reasons, then you need to price 
competitively, even more competitively than expected in today's market. You'll need to list 
at significantly less than your competition. Think 15% less. That may seem tough to stomach, 
but it’s better than continuing your monthly loan payments or the hassle of trying to 
find tenants to rent your home.

If your home has been listed for some time, but not generating interest, you'll need to lower 
your price. Of the three elements that sell a home - price, location, and condition - price is 
the one you'll have the most control over.

If home values have declined in your neighborhood, the price you originally listed at a few 
months ago may now be too high and out of line with comparable listings. Now would be 
the time to have your real estate agent prepare a new Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) 
and reevaluate your pricing strategy. If you've got to sell, and sell now, price it like you mean 
it.

Installing a water-saving showerhead 
could save you thousands of gallons 
of water every year.