Templates laid out on granite

14 years ago

Our kitchen was templated on Wednesday. Today, we drove down to Denver (30 minutes from my office, and additional 30 minutes for DW to drive here from home to pick me up) to the fabricator to see how the templates would be placed on our Russian Sable slabs.

It was a bit of weird experience. We had an appointment, so I would have thought everything would be ready - silly me! First they had the slabs - in bright glarey sunshine - a couple of feet apart like this: \ /. You could barely walk between them much less see to have templates applied.

We asked them to move them out, and they did move one. Fortunately, since this was fairly inconvenient the Russian Sable doesn't have huge movement, but there were some areas we wanted to work around.

Here's the slab when we picked it out a while back at Arizona Tile:

From Kitchen Remodel

And here's the slab with our island templates, the upper template will be for the upper part of the island:

From Kitchen Remodel

I was expecting that they would have both pieces resting on a rack, and tape or somehow have the templates attached to the slabs. We did get to see what we wanted, but all-in-all was kind of strange.

Also, fortunately, DW brought up the sink reveal - we want flush or slightly positive. No one had thought to ask us, and I had forgotten to specify with the templater.

For those interested, I did get one picture of what I assume is a polishing machine - they had several large fabricating machines in use.

From Kitchen Remodel

One last bit of weirdness. Our GC had initially told us that he was going to use one fabricator. Then, just as we were getting the contract settled, he told us that fabricator was going out of business. However, two of the former employees of that business were starting a new company, and he went with them, and that's who came out to template.

When I asked the templater where the fabrication shop was, he had to look up the address to tell me. When we got down there, there was a different company name on the door, and it quickly became apparent that the guys who are selling us the fabrication are middlemen to the actual fabricator. Maybe this was the case all along, but it wasn't what I was led to believe. The good news is that the fabricator looks like they've got a good shop - certainly not cheap by the looks of the equipment, and the woman who was running things seemed to know what she was doing and understood what we wanted.

Hopefully, in a week or so, all of these crazy people will be out of our lives.

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Comments (6)

jsweenc
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I know you'll be holding your breath until it's all in and just the way you want it, but the granite in your picture looks beautiful, as well as I can see it from afar. Sounds like they are going through some transitional difficulties and maybe some things are getting lost in translation. Hope it will all go smoothly for you! Interesting to see the equipment... sort of like a little field trip!
firstmmo
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
This makes me think I should bring my roll of blue masking tape so that I can stick those templates on! Thanks for giving us a heads up that things might not be how you think they will be.
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Thank you circus peanut. The faucet will be centered. Are you saying it is a bad thing to have a cut out for the faucet or other things such as a soap dispenser at the seam? We had to get 2 slabs of our granite to have enough for both runs of perimeter cabinets and will use leftovers in other parts of the house. The granite is called maritaca green (DD who studied Spanish says that is parrot green) and is a fairly deep green with wavelike white swirls and occasional speckles of darker color. Some of the white swirls are very dramatic and by cutting a 4' piece from each slab we can have matching swirls on each side of the sink. I think that by cutting an arm for behind the sink from either of the slabs we would lose the ability to use the remnant piece of that slab for a bathroom. So I guess the fabricator was trying to help us get the most bang for the buck. I never thought to search "granite seam" but I'll do that now.
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here's my .02 cents- Calacutta/Calacotta (you say po-TATE-Oh, I say po-TOT-oh, actually I say "spud") is a MARBLE - with the majority of the stone being CALCIUM... Calcium reacts with ANY form of ACID - lemon,lime,tomatoe/tomatto,grapefruit, and anything else that has acid in it... Are you using this in a kitchen application? if so, I would STRONGLY (in the most professional sense of the word) ADVISE YOU to consider having a "textured" surface - aka: honed, leathered, antiqued..etc I did a podcast at Natural Stone 101.com (actually two on the same subject) that talks about the issue of acid etching of polished marble, textured surfaces, and sealing the stone to help retard the potential of staining... hope that helps y kevin
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Mbarstow- Here's what I'd do NOW... 1. look up ANY documentation that you have that shows WHERE you selected and approved the slab(s) - did you find your slab(s) at a distributor? if so, many provide you with a receipt of the selection and approval - that shows THE SLAB NUMBERS, and BUNDLE NUMBERS - THESE ARE KEY to making sure that "THE" slabs that YOU REALLY WANT - Make it to your home - Their pretty much like serial numbers - remember that no two slabs are identical, and so THIS is why it's SO important for consumers to RECORD these numbers and take full size pictures of the slabs - to document what it is that you want to actually wind up in YOUR HOME!!! Many of these forms are called "OA's" or (Order Authorizations) Arizona Tile here in PHX is like... OBSESSED with making sure that consumers that come to them to select their slabs - get EXACTLY what they have approved. Sure people are human and we ALL make mistakes, but AZT has made quantum leaps in insuring that the slabs selected - are the slabs delivered. I LOVE WORKING WITH ARIZONA TILE, AND HAVE SINCE 1993 2. Presuming that you do have an OA - or some type of documentation that has the Bundle and Slab numbers on it - I'd then call the Fabricator and ask if I could ... "come by to check some shades of color on the slabs that you guys have for me..." If your Fabricator is "Dialed In" / "5x5" / High Speed-Low Drag and "In the Pipe" (these are all adjectives describing someone who has their ACT TOGETHER) They will say something like - sure... when do you want to come over - We'll need a few hours to get your slabs out for you..etc. THEN, I'd have all kinds of warm fuzzies and be thinking happy thoughts the rest of the day..... HOWEVER............................. On the other hand - IF the guy on the other end of the phone says... Uh... Let me "check on that" for you - I'll call you back... (and he never does) - I'd have some concern.. call him back and let him know you are going to be "on him" like white on rice until you get an answer (in a nice way of course) IF he starts hyperventilating when you ask him... (and you hear the phone get muffeled and the guy audibly screaming)........ "Oh My GOD - WHERE are THEIR SLABS... YOU WHAT??? WHEN??? WHO's JOB DID YOU CUT THEM FOR.........." and then they come back to you and say in a very Valium Enhanced voice - Uh... we'll get back to you..." I'd be REALLY concerned.... I'd be P.O.'d !!!! Hopefully - your Fabricator IS dialed in, and your slabs are safe and sound... Get the intel on the slab numbers and bundle numbers and follow up with your Fabricator ASAP - to get this resolved..... For everyone else - PLEAASE DO THIS: when selecting your slabs - take YOUR DIGITAL CAMERA WITH YOU! TAKE close up shots of the numbers on the ends of the slabs, TAKE Wide shots of the WHOLE SLAB - every slab take close ups of interesting areas that you WANT to have installed TAKE close up shots of the features that you'd like your Fabricator to avoid Then...... E-MAIL ALL OF THESE PICS TO YOUR FABRICATOR, AND COPY BACK TO YOURSELF Make sure your Fabricator KNOWS that YOU KNOW - THESE ARE THE SLABS I APPROVED, And these are the slabs I WANT ending up in MY home... Not someone else's...... HTH..... kevin
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loves2read
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
my take was--the woman mentioned was the only person who came across as actually knowing her business...and frankly you are paying for those two guys to act as middlemen--they are not doing the work that they implied they were going to--they are just getting a commission to pass your work along to company that IS doing the fabricating--
frankly that is borderline fraud to me--not that the fabrication company will do a bad job or anything--but that you are paying for something you are not getting...
your builder did not go with them because he wanted a RECOMMENDATION to a fabricator but because he though people with a shop he had past experience with were doing the job...now you find out someone he nor you know anything about is doing the job..
do you see what I mean...

the guy who did our remodel does not do granite--and he was very upfront about the fact that he went through someone else who was contractor and had a fabricator ...

so that was the guy I met at the granite warehouse the time I went to pick out final choice...
what I did not initially realize was that I could have gone there without any contractor in tow and picked my slabs...and gotten their recommendations for fabricators to come bid the job...

so there was maybe little miss communication there...
but we got pretty good price anyway and seems like good job so we were happy...
hgluckman
Original Author
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
It's been about a month since I originally posted this, and so much has happened, and we're still not quite done. I was going to post several times, and just couldn't make myself go through all the gory details again.

Here's a quick summary: The work was originally scheduled for March 4, but for several reasons (only some of which we know) it was postponed until March 9. The installers arrived 5 hours later than we expected them.

We were expecting four large pieces - one for the Island Bar top, one for the main Island (cooktop) top, and two for main sink counter - seamed at the sink, and one small piece about 24" square. Instead, they brought six pieces - the sink counter was made into three pieces. Not one of the six pieces was exactly correct.

We're happy enough - now - with the island, and the small piece, but we're gearing up to have the sink counter replaced this week after being on vacation for the last 10 days). The single most egregious problem is the seam (not all that well done anyway) over the dishwasher. We would not accept that, and somehow between all of the parties involved, they agreed to replace that entire countertop. At least we got the sink, disposal (air switch under the counter for now) and the main faucet hooked up, so the kitchen is pretty functional.

Our next concern was matching the granite. Fortunately, they were able to secure the next slab in the block, and we went back to Arizona Tile to inspect it. It looks fine, and the fabricators agreed it should be two pieces seamed at the sink.

The counter gets removed on Wednesday this week, then the new countertop arrives on Thursday (fingers crossed!) and the plumbing gets finished on Friday. The backsplash is scheduled for next week.

If we had it to do over again, we'd have taken more control of the granite process. We trusted the GC on this, and that turned out to be a mistake. Hopefully, it only cost us time and not money or quality.

I'll post pictures when it's all done.
motherof3
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I'm sorry to hear that things didn't go very smoothly, but in the end I'm sure your granite will be lovely and worth the aggravation. With each home renovation project, we learn something new that that makes us smarter for the next project. Thanks for giving me the heads up with fabricators. I just picked out my slab over the weekend.
coloradoroots
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I just came across this. We were the fabricator that completed the job for hgluckman. Im glad everything worked out in the end. We also were not happy with the middle man (Jim & Steve) used in this situation and hope to never work with them again but do appreciate the business. The machinery helps keep our costs down and ensure a precise job. I am glad everything worked out and that the customer is satisfied.

Here is a link that might be useful: fabricator

Templates laid out on granite

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jsweenc

firstmmo

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Templates laid out on granite

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jsweenc

firstmmo

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