Beth, I'm not sure how much under construction you are, but I am doing a total kitchen reno. It's messy and dusty. I don't have granite but my soapstone guys fabricated on site. The finish result the so close to perfection, I wouldn't have it any other way. That said, nothing in the kitchen was finished, nothing in the cabs and lots more work that needed to be done. BS tiles done on site, more dust. Make sure you have the templates and faucets on site when he arrives if you decide to go that route.

What's a bunch of dust compared to a well done finished kitchen? Just my .02.

Someone here recently had a problem with her countertops and finally decided to have them "fixed" on site. It was really, really bad. She had stone dust in every single thing in the kitchen, in cupboards or out. There is a lot of water involved and despite plastic sheeting there was water damage. There was stone dust in the rest of the house even with the plastic at the doors. In other words, it was a big mistake.

I looked and don't see that post-it was only a couple of weeks ago. Maybe someone else remembers the subject line and can find it?

uh oh - that's what I thought. We are totally finished construction. This is the last piece of the reno that has been delayed due to a sink/faucet issue. There are carpets in the adjacent room. I am worried that I will never be able to get the dust out of the carpets. My daughter has allergies, and despite duct cleaning, air purifiers, etc, she is still suffering from all of the construction dust.

Thanks for laying it on the line! I am interested to hear of others experience.

Beth

On my last kit they had to make adjustments on site, installed. While one man cut, one man held a hose from industrial shop vac right where he was cutting. It took care of almost all of the dust. I would hold the hose myself if necessary. It really helped.

Because of a problem with the sink that we chose, we had a discussion with our granite vendor about modifying a sink cutout on-site. They said they could, in principle, do it if I insisted. They warned of a *huge* mess, and that they'd make me sign waivers about water damage and the like. In the end, we lucked out and Elkay agreed to send us a sink that should solve the problem. Reading this thread, I'm *really* hoping that it does.

bethcw,

Check with your fabricator and see if he recommends an air cleaner. My friend had to have fabrication done on site and the company brought two very large portable clean air machines and a huge shop vac. They powered up both machines, covered everything they could with plastic, includind doors and windows and one guy held the shop vac as the other cut. The end result was very little dust. However, there was a lot of water to contend with. The remaining dust was fine and still required every surface to be wiped down. HTH

Beth,

It seems like most here warn against the in home cutting. I had my island slab removed because I wanted my staining problem to be fixed while my hardwoods were finished (in other words, to make the most of a week). There wasn't any damage to my island cabinets at all when they removed it. HTH.

Just had my granite installed and the fabricators wanted to cut the hole for my stove on site because the piece was so long that they felt the strength of the piece would be weakened with the big hole and could break in transport.
They cut just the sink hole and there was a very fine dust from it. We covered the contents of the drawers beneath the cooktop but we had to wash everything that was in those drawers. They were covered with dust. Even the lazy suzan cab down the way had dust on everything inside. So yes. There will be dust that gets on a lot of stuff. I'd remove everything you can from the kitchen. Contents of cabinets and entire drawers.

I remember that post suzannes. It was someone whose counter edge wasn't cut right and there was a ridge down the center. I do remember she said she wished she had demanded they take it out and repair everything they messed up.

We had soapstone cuts made on site . . . but they did it outside. No mess in the house : )

My DH has installed all of our tile including the travertine used in much of our first floor . . . and he always set his wet saw up outside for making cuts. Seems like a no brainer.

I met a lady who didn't realize they were going to cut the granite inside her house. She said it was a mess. On the other hand, she recommended their company!

Does it matter how much cutting they are going to do, I wonder? Don't most people need to have their sink holes drilled onsite, as an example?

Beth -

You wrote:
"Anyone out there who has had granite cutting done on-site????
How bad is it???"

Well..... it's bad... no.... it's REAL BAD !!!!

Did the guy that priced this to you also include a total clean down by a restoration company??? because that's what you'll need...

ANY kind of cutting in the house (of Granite) generates SILICA DUST which gets into everything. When it's wet down, the dust can be controlled to some degree, but your drawer glides will not be smooth as silk anymore, they'll have a gritty feel to them every time you open or close a drawer......

but as someone else wrote in response to a similar question like yours on another thread -
"It's just dust - it's not fatal"
(well, once you go through this - you'll feel like it might as well have BEEN FATAL !!!! )

hth

kevin

I had to have some granite cut on-site also, twice. The first time was during the initial installation when they cut the holes for the faucets and soap dispenser, then again a few days later to correct an issue with my slide in range. Both times I covered the door and drawer openings with blue painters tape which did a good job of keeping the dust out of the cabinets. One of the installers also sucked up most of the dust with a shop vac while the other was cutting. There was already so much construction dust in my house at that point that the extra from the granite cutting really didn't make much of a difference.

OK - I have been duly scared away from this option! Sounds to me like taking the risk of removing the counter-tops is worth the extra money, in order to save the house from the dust. Actually, then I can get an under-mount sink instead of a drop in, as they will be able to polish the opening off-site - so that would be a benefit.

If we were still in construction phase, I wouldn't be as concerned, but we are totally finished, moved in, unpacked and finally recuperating from all the construction dust.

I know my cabinets can't handle water damage, as they are just cheapo melamine... (Yes - stupid to put granite on top of them, especially considering how much these darn sink holes are going to cost me!

Thank you all so much for the honest responses and feedback!

Beth

This OP is thinking of something that is 100 times longer than polishing a straight edge.

Cutting inside corners will take a lot of time.
Time = water spraying everywhere.

--
about "...have to modify the sink cut-outs in 3 of my counter-tops...." I find this hard to believe.

thanks, David, I am having faucet holes cut out and this was concerning me. I will still blue tape though, good idea.

hole saw to make faucet holes = not what this thread is about.

Anyone else but me ever have stone cut outside on site?????

No, getting a decent fabricator was a splurge for me. I am not an expert, as you can see from the post above. This is what I found out so far:

Many people use the front-yard fabricators, but it's considered less precise of cuts, and there is far more potential for catastrophe. You probably won't get the colormatches and you may have issues with your edges. Go to the larger fab shops in your city, or view their websites and most will show you pix and video of the saws they are using.

However, if you're posting now, it must have worked out for you, and more power to you.

Very timely questions, my installers just left! Not sure if it's harder/softer than granite, but I had Cambria stone installed. My stove cut-out was too shallow, so they had to come back and redo the cut onsite (we installed the range after they'd left the first time). They just finished, and I can say it was a pleasant, clean experience. They covered the area with plastic, and one installer held a heavy duty shop vac while the other used the cutter and grinder. No water involved, no issues at all actually, and they cleaned up with "white glove service!"

I will just tell you my experience and you take it for what it's worth. Since I did not have my actual cooktop or faucets when granite was fabricated, they cut them onsite. The fabricator did the cutting and his helper held a shop vac right up to it. I already some dust from drywall work, so I just cleaned everything at once and it was pretty painless.

I just had my granite installed three hours ago. Although they did the sink cutout at the shop, they still had to cutout the plywood underneath and that was messy. The cooktop was cutout on site in the kitchen as well, big mess. I guess I have to hire a cleaning crew just to get all the dust off everything. ugh. Granite looks beautiful though!

actually they are violating OSHA regulations and they would be fined with that. granite has 50% silica which has the same components as asbestos... if breathed for longer than 8 hours it could be really bad and even deadly. we were left with our silica dust for 3 days and I just found out more about this issue today.... I am going to be taking further action. if anyone knows a lawyer that deals with this

Tannia Leal:

The regulations to which you are referring apply to employees of fabricators only. If the employees do all the cutting wet, they are compliant with OSHA. If the cutting is done dry, but with proper vacuum by the owner, there is no OSHA violation.

It is the constant exposure to silica that leads to silicosis. Get out your vacuum and your dust mask and be done. I'm no lawyer, but trust me, you'll never get one to take this case.

Tannia and all-

We are currently dealing with this situation. Our builder replaced damaged granite in our home about 6 months after we moved in. They were not to make any cuts inside the home. However, when they put the granite in, they then realized they forgot to cut out our large cooktop. Instead of taking it outside, they dry cut it with zero protection in our home with all of our things. The "dust" was so bad that it set off our fire detector from 45 minutes. There was a complete fog/ haze in the house that lasted several days as the dust tried to settle. They did no clean up. My husband and I aren't stupid people ( I hold a doctoral degree in nursing) however, we had no idea that granite contained silica. Fast forward almost two years later---we have had two tests by environmental services that show silica all over our home and these were done AFTER one remediation. So now, a protocol has been written up for complete mitigation of the silica. Oh and by the way, my physician heard suspicious lung sounds at my last exam and I had a chest CT which showed inflammation and scar tissue---was sent to pulmonologist and the preliminary diagnosis is Silicosis. I will have another CT in a few months and if it is the same or worse, they will biopsy for sure to see how to handle this. We are now out of our TOXIC home and will be for about 4-5 weeks while they properly remove the silica. Our insurance company is now taking care of this because the builder and granite company refused--not smart on their part. We built 4 homes and have never had this happen. So please don't ever do this in your home. I thought it was just dust so I cleaned and cleaned with no mask --NOTHING. They never told us. and now I could have a serious problem. This is not just dust folks--it's silica and its a carcinogen as well.

In my previous home a modification had to be made at range cut out. One man did the cutting while another held the vac hose to collect all the dust.

In my existing kitchen that will be refaced, I want to remove one base cabinet to move refrigerator to the spot and this base cabinet along with it's neighboring base cabinets is under granite countertop installed about 6 years ago. I don't want to throw away the countertop because of that. I was wondering if I can hire a pro to somehow detach cabinet from the countertop, then cut those extra 36 inches of the granit right in the house. We are in the middle of remodeling, floors still yet to be done, cabinets refaced. Is this project doable and if so, how do I search for a pro?

HU-115509248

We are in the middle of a nightmare with silica dust. Had new counters installed and 4 hours of dry sawing later.....we have 700k worth of damage. Interested in what type of protocol they did for you. That is our fight now, no one can agree on the proper way to clean, to assure this is out of our home and safe for my family. We’ve been out of our home since October 2019. If you wouldn’t mind contacting me beachtown2009@gmail.com. Also, for those of you that do not know, there is no protection for home owners and silica dust. OSHA doesn’t give a rats ass about our health and safety!

Hu:

It's a little silica dust. A single exposure isn't going to do anything. It's the repeated unprotected exposure over years that OSHA is fighting. Suck it up and move on. Wear a dust mask. You'll be fine.

A troll. Joy.

That’s a nightmare. our insurance company hired experts who devised a protocol. We ended up being out of our house 6 weeks. It was awful and not just a little dust that causes no harm as the above person stated. they took everything out of the house and threw away all furniture/ pillows/ rugs/ carpet. Anything that they couldn’t effectively clean to get rid if it. All clothing was professionally cleaned. They did all kinds of stuff to the house while we were out to rid the toxic levels of silica. I’m am no expert in that so id have to ask my husband. The problem with silica dust is that it has these “ teeth” and it clings to everything. Which is why it causes lung damage when inhaled. I am a doctor of nursing practice so yep- that much I know.

This is the fight we are in now. Big box company and their experts trying to fight our attorney and our experts protocol. Our air return was 8 ft from sawing. He never had us shut our AC off. Been circulating around our 5000 sq ft home. The levels in our duct work and attic were so high, we were instructed to leave our home immediately by the industrial hygienist. Sub contractor has been paying for us to stay in a hotel since October 23rd. This happened July 3rd of last year. We were breathing it in for 3 months. Bloody noses, coughing, styes in our eyes, rashes.....soon as we got out, all went away. Our insurance company wouldn’t cover it because it was a 3rd party that caused the damage. Big box company's sub contractor had an exclusion on their policy for silica dust. It’s now being discussed do we tear our home down because the pack out and protocol is causing the abatement companies to basically gut our home to assure it’s cleaned properly....and let’s face it, they don’t want to be in the middle of a lawsuit. 30k has been spent on 2 hotel rooms a night. We still have pets in our home, as we have no where for them to go. We are working to have a bill passed to cover homeowners when something like this happens. You wouldn’t believe the horror stories I’ve found. This happens and people think it’s just a bad dust problem, not knowing that living with it day in and out can harm you. I posted a video of the man dry grinding on my FB and people were messaging and flipping out telling me that what was being done was dangerous or we would have thought the same thing....just a dust issue. It is on EVERYTHING in my home. We’ve lost just about everything. Everything in my home was brand new. We just moved in the day this happened. I feel like I’m being punked!

HU:

So telling you what you don't want to hear makes me a "troll"? You've been victimized alright, by these "experts". Tearing a house down from a single silica exposure is insanity.

HU:

Where in the written record here do you get that I think this is okay to do in someone's home?

Speaking of the written record, I have a 4.63 customer satisfaction rating out of a possible 5 based on over 400 customer reviews over 12 years. So lotsa folks disagree with you.

I think you should familiarize yourself with the rules of the boards upon which you post. Name-calling isn't permitted here.

And how does one have 5 air conditioners in a $400,000.00 home?

17 abatement companies? What, are you flying them in? That's preposterous.

HU-115509248

How is your health? You mentioned a possible diagnosis of silicosis, was this the case?

HU doesn't have silicosis. I have no medical training whatsoever, but this I promise.

I am throwing my hat in the ring here because the posts here FREAKED ME THE F OUT. I had this happen to me. I am embarrassed to say that I did this to myself basically. Filled house with toxic dust cloud, dust everywhere ETC. I was only wearing N95. My kids were upstairs in BED!

I also want to inform everyone that I talked to 3 testing companies, 2 Servpro locations, an environmental engineer. And NO ONE told me to pay for professional mitigation, burn my house down, or even get tested for airborne silica. NO ONE. In fact, I was told not even to worry about cleaning out my vents, by this entire cadre of experts I assembled. Just deep clean the house and get up all the dust, and HEPA!

Silicosis takes years to acquire, in very dusty conditions. Or you could literally snort the dust for weeks. In most cases, you can do that, and be fine (although there are several case studies in medical journals about people doing this and having acute, temporary respiratory affects), and of course I am not a doctor, and I advise against any of this. Finally, the dust is just dust, if its not airborne. It has to be RESPIRABLE. So when its all settled, you're good. The environmental engineer's advice was let the dust settle and clean clean clean.

SO if you do this to your home, you will NOT get silicosis. You don't need to burn down your house. You don't need a pro cleaning crew even. You need to (1) get an airscrubber, I rented a pro one from sunbelt rentals, (2) get a HEPA vacuum, and (3) get a bucket and a mop for that Dusty *** Hardwoods you now have. Send the fam out, turn off the HVAC for a few hours, and get to work. HEPA vac everything, even up the walls if possible, work top down. Run your hands along surfaces, you will physically SEE the shiny crystals and fine layers of dust. Once done, HEPA the floor and then mop. Then wipe everything down with a wet cloth. Wipe it down!

Admittedly I paid 3 people to do this with me over several days. And it sucked. But my house is fine. It cost $300 for the cleaning crew, $400 for a 1 day scrubber rental. House looks fine, all dust is gone, life is good. I even developed my own test. If you have dusty air in a room, put a little laundry detergent on the bottom of a glass cup upside-down. If you come back and its filled with dust, clean some more!

As for the poor folks who went further measures: (1) the silica airborne testing is $400-600 - i got two quotes. They test for Respirable Crystalline Silica. Anyone can find some dust in a home and it'll have silica in it. Its gotta be in the air. To hit $5000 you'd need to test every room and have a big awesome house - congrats, you can probably afford some of these mitigations. Neither company wanted my money. I flat out asked one of them to take it and they said, no we don't want it you have to beg harder. (2) Regarding the ducts - the airborne silica is going to circulate ASAP, and then settle if its heavy, or continue getting cycled around if its truly respirable. Once it gets in your ducts, the stuff that's in there ain't moving. Its stuck. Its particles heavy enough to have deposited. Servpro and the testing companies told me not to bother.

After careful conversation with several experts, my only conclusion is that the poor folks who have gone through intense mitigations were taken by the cleanup crews when they found their insurance would pay. The poor woman with silicosis from above...I can't believe it, and I'm not saying I don't believe it, but not a SINGLE person said that was remotely possible from a single exposure. And I have a close friend who is a cardiothoracic surgeon, who does LUNG TRANSPLANTS for a living and he said "you never take a history on a silicosis patient and they say 'oh d*** it was that one time we got granite countertops'".

Calm the F down and clean your house. Learn never to do this again.

DISCLAIMER: I am not a lawyer, doctor, remediation specialist or expert in anyway. By law, I implore you to completely disregard this post.