whether you need to be there really depends.

are you doing any bump outs or curves? non-standard or interesting cut-outs? have you discussed what reveal you want for your sink?

i had a few issues that i wanted to make sure were well communicated, so i delayed the templating a couple days so i could be there for it.

glad i did.

Yes, you definitely should attend if they allow it. You can have input as to placement of seams and where each section will go. For example you might want a certain part of the slab for your breakfast bar or work area, etc. If they know that then they can cut it accordingly.
We went and were there for 2 hrs trying to get the seams correct. It was well worth the time since everything turned out to our liking.

I know Golden Queen. Lots of movement, strong color and dramatic. You DEFINITELY should talk to the granite fabricator. When you work with a granite that has that much movement and color change you need to know where the seams are and how does the fabricator plan to match up color and movement so the seams barely show.
Additionally, you need to see the two different granites, near each other to see if you like what your overall kitchen is going to look like. What scares me about your choices are the movement. If both granites have lots of movement then you need to really see them before they get cut.
I have my clients meet with the fabricator before he cuts the granite and I have the fabrictor use some tape and tape the template pieces up onto the slabs so the client can see where the granite will be cut and seamed.
Get involved. There is nothing worse than having the client say, "I didn't know it was going to look like that!".
Also...you've spent a considerable amount of time and money on your project and now you want to "roll the dice" and hope it looks good?
Get involved as much as you can and ask lots and lots of questions.

There are two steps - making the template and laying the template out on the granite slab. Making the template is done at your house. Laying out the template is done at the fabricators and yes, if you have any concerns, you should be there when they lay out the template on the granite. In my case there was one corner of the slab I didn't want them to use and although they assured me they wouldn't, I felt better being there to make sure. Why will your being present delay the counter - can't you arrange your schedule to be at the fabricators when they need you to be there?

Do yourself a favor and definitely plan on being there for templating...and take pictures of the final layout! Both so you can show us :-) and in case something goes "wrong"....see Mustbnuts' current thread (Granite is not what I templated).

As you said, what's a few more days? (I know how you feel, btw!)

As a Fabricator, I am always open to having clients
present on the day of templating. This is good for both
of us for a number of reasons - Like your project, IF there
are more than one stone being used, which one goes where?
Preference of overhang dimensions, radiused edges, pop outs
(or bump outs - whatever you want to call them), etc.

As far as the stone color goes - if there are areas of interest
to the customer that they either DO or DO NOT want in areas
of prominence - THAT is WAAAAAYYY good to know = BEFORE
we cut the slabs up..... :0

When it comes to seams, I decide where they will go, and
my customer accepts my decision. They look to me to advise
where the semas should go, primarily because I have been
doing this for 23 years now.......
We also do things pretty "visually" to show our customers where
the seams will be (with a layout drawing showing where the
seams will be, as well as overhang dimensions, etc).

We are also working on using a slab optimization program
where we can shoot a digital picture of the slab (to scale)
and then overlay WHERE the individual pieces that will
make up the kitchen (or whatever the project is) will
lay out on the slab. THIS is pretty critical in showing
a customer that may not ever have had Granite before -
what their vein matchup - or lack thereof - will actually
look like BEFORE the slabs are even put on our water jet.

Here's an example of what I like to call "Perpindicular
Vein Match" - two pieces of Santo Cecillia that made up
a 90 degree inside corner - we could not do a 45 degree
mitered corner. The customer was cool with this, and we proceeded.....
no problemo - happy customer!!!

Bottomline as far as I am concerned is this - Should you
be there on the day of Template? ABSOLUTELY

Should you have the opportunity to have a say in what
pieces get cut of where on each slabs? ABSOLUTELY

Should you be cool with where the seams are going to go? ABSOLUTELY

I have this saying:

"If a customer KNOWS exactly what they are getting,
(in your case - your Granite countertops)
they won't be SHOCKED when they get it....
(once it's installed in YOUR home and you are loving it)"

the more you know about the product that you are investing in
before you make the investment - the more happy you'll be with
your decision

Hope that helps ya

kevin

Thanks for the advice. We'll definitely go.

As for the two granites, I'm nervous too. My KD found the darker granite, and pushed pretty hard for us to use it as a second granite, telling us he was absolutely confident that they will look good in the kitchen together. There was not enough of the Golden Queen that we picked out to do the whole kitchen, and he loved this other granite, thought the colors worked well with our Golden Queen.

I would like to see the slabs next to each other.

When I told my fabricator that I wanted to be there for the templating and he said no problem, I'll come to your house to make the template then you can follow me back to the shop to template. He was very open to having me there.

As it turned out, he was delayed in picking up the granite slabs from the granite yard (they lost/transferred them to another yard). So he picked them up the morning of the appointment and brought them to my house. After making the templates, we were out in the driveway on his truck laying out the templates! He was great!

I'm glad I was able to be a part of the template process. What is beautiful to one person may not be to another person. But if you are included you can help decide. Good Luck!

To ensure your own satisfaction try to observe (supervise) these three steps
1. Templating (about 2 hours)
2. Placement of templates on your slabs (about 1 hr)
3. Installation (4 - 6 hours)

Time spent on these steps will prevent hours of hassle afterward (not to mention the endless rants on this forum, nothing wrong with that, just a headache for you) :)

Wow pharoah - I suppose it depends on the size of your counters and your fabricator but my recollection was that templating took about 1/2 hour, placement of templates on the slab (I only had 1 slab) took about 15 minutes, and the installation was maybe 1 or 1 1/2 hours - it probably would have been less but they needed to take one counter out to my garage to trim one edge slightly - also in my case all the cutouts including the faucet holes were done at the fabricators.

weisman -

I think pharoah is alloting for time that may or may not
be used - just like when I go to the Doctor's office for
a 10am appointment... I don't actually get SEEN (for the few
NANNO-SECONDS that I MIGHT even see an MD) until alomst NOON?????...
sensing my sarcasm towards my dotor's office practice???? HA! :0
Gee, I wish THEY git it EVERYONE'S time is Valuable - not just theirs....

But I Digress..... back to the subject at hand.....

Anyways - all I think pharoah was doing in the time allotments
was putting in "this should not take longer than" amounts...

I agree with you that a small kitchen that's pretty straight
forward
template wise - should be "wham bam / zip-zip / beaucoup slicky fast".......

BUT... you can't fault a guy for going slow and being safe
and sure about doing the job one time...instead of twice ;)

just my .02 cents worth

kevin

Definitely be there t=for the templating. I'd recommend being there for the actual cutting if possible as well. The reason I say this is that sometimes, when they get the slabs horizontal for the cutting things can change and/or they may have to shift the templates. That happened in our case and we wound up getting a part of the slab we really didn't want. If we had been there we could have stopped them and moved that template elsewhere. (It's for a little 12"x24" counter.)