Fabrication and Installation

OK - so after the granite is cut, the pieces are carefully moved over to tables to fabricate!  Perry and Charles start by sanding the edges which is a long process, using different gauged sanding pads to get the required finish on the edges.

 

Because our edge was more detailed than the normal, this again took a longer time to do. Just as a sidenote, running water is used both for the cutting and the polishing of the granite!  This helps immensely with the flying dust problem but believe me, there is ALWAYS granite dust everywhere!  I could dust the showroom every day............

After all the sides are polished and edged, the sink hole must be cut out and then polished - most sinks that are put in are under mount sinks which means the edges of the sink cut out must be smooth.  If the sink is a drop in, the edges don't have to be polished.

Backsplash must also be cut and polished if you are using it - most people these days do tile backdrops but since we already had tile up, we knew we would be using backsplash once again - and yes, the color of our stone HAD to match the tile that we had!

Then it's time to load up the granite, properly secure it (as hard a stone as what granite is, you would be surprised how delicate it is until it is properly installed) and head to the homeowners home!

I wasn't able to be there when the guys installed the granite but took a few pictures that night when I got home as there was still quite a bit to do.

Cabinets must be very level in order for the granite to sit properly, otherwise shims are used underneath.  Once the sink piece is in, holes are drilled for the faucet and the sink must be glued to the granite.

Caulking is used to fill any open spaces and to "bead" around the sink and backsplash.

So the backsplash is yet to be installed and the faucet can't be properly installed until the shelf piece for the window sill is put in - I'm really hoping this project can be finished this weekend so I can post pictures by next week - but in the meantime, I'm already LOVING our new countertops!