How to write a counter top quote request

11 years ago

I am about to send out quote requests for my sink area counter top. I want to be sure I am providing all necessary information to the fabricator. Please, those of you with more experience help me with what I need to ask. What I wrote so far is mostly based on what I've learned by reading what you all say on this forum.

Specifications

23 square feet of counter top (not counting sink)

L shaped counter with under mount sink

One piece to do the corner with no seam (unless you can make a really invisible seam)

Sink to be a 36" Kohler Whitehaven under mount farm sink with a back bar behind for the faucet

Counter depth to be 26.5 inches

Want a positive reveal for the sink (1/8"??)

Will need one hole drilled for faucet

Small roundover edge treatment

Counter top to be fabricated from Zodiaq 3 cm in Wintergreen

Zodiaq slab size is 63 by 120

Fabricator questions

How much experience do you have with Zodiaq fabrication?

Do you come on site and make a template?

Will you need to take the faucet?

I would like to see examples of your seams

I am assuming you do NOT need the sink

Will any drilling or dusty work be done at my house?

Can I see the slab?

I am very concerned about seams and especially about getting the correct amount of positive reveal on my sink. (I like about to get Dusty's reveal).

Thanks!

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Comments (6)

southboundtrain
11 years ago
Well, I see a few problems (I'm in the middle of getting countertop replacement quotes, too).
I'm fairly certain the sink area will be included in your quote. I don't see how an L shape is possible without a seam. Unless you are planning to do it yourself, what about existing countertop removal and haulaway, plumbing disconnect/reconnect (these last two are shockingly expensive in my mind. They will request sink and faucet for templating purposes but probably not have to take away.
Good luck, I'm finding all of this home improvement to be not fun at all. Maybe when it's all over . . .
Donaleen Kohn
Original Author
11 years ago
We have a company that we love for removing stuff, so that is not part of it.

I have seen examples on this forum and on the web where they cut an L shape with no seam. It is my understanding that it is easier with quartz rather than real stone.

I will have the sink and faucet on hand by the time they template.

Thanks for the response and good luck to both of us!
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No can do on the "doing it correctly from the beginning" thing, unless there's a time machine that will transport me back 36 years. I think the compounding solution is a little beyond my expertise, but thanks nonetheless. I think the quarter round suggestion is more my speed. I may even cut it down to as small a piece that will work, attach it with some adhesive, then caulk and paint. Thanks.
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I've been wondering about this as well. I have two parts to this post. An experiment and a question. Pardon my ignorance, but I'm still learning a lot of this stuff. Nothing in my current kitchen is even close to what I'm slowly learning is considered standard. Experiment: I've owned and lived with my current kitchen for 20 years. Reading the above post and considering my renovation, I had to go and check my current kitchen and test the things stated above. I have 22 inch countertop depth (yes, that is correct). The tile border extends 1/2 inch beyond the base cabinets, and the drawers are 1/2 inch as well so they are flush give or take a 1/32. The pulls on the drawers stick out 1 1/4 inch. I have had issues with spills that drip into the lip of the drawer and occasionally I have to wipe the sides down, but nothing that is hard to cleanup, and they are white painted drawers. After reading this post I leaned into my countertop/cabinet to test out the theory that you will feel the pulls if you lean into it. If I purposely lean into the cabinet, I do feel the pulls on my legs. But I have to make a real effort to do that and in 20 years this has never ever even occurred to me as an issue. Maybe I'm just not the type that hugs up close to my countertop. So I doubt this will be an issue I obsess about. There are too many others... I found this a fascinating experiment. My question: So what is considered a standard countertop depth? It seems like the 24 inch cabinets are the base cabinets. A 3/4 in door makes the total cabinet depth without the handle 24 3/4. So what is considered standard? 26? 27?
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I bet the cabinets are built in place. Moving/removing might destroy them. You may end up saving the doors and having new boxes made. Then they can be any height you want. The sink will be a problem if you don't replace/raise the window, too. You need that sink for the feel of the kitchen if you want to keep the look of the cabs. It will probably cost the same to just buy new cabinets. But that doesn't solve the sink problem in the same foot print. And if you change the foot print then you've opened a new can of worms. Changing the window size would probably be the best thing to do.
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Most pop up receptacles will not meet code for the required receptacle for several reasons. Most are only listed for temporary use. The only one I have found that is listed for such use is not in production the last I heard. In any case, ANY receptacle device installed IN countertops MUST be "LISTED for the application" That means that an independent government approved testing laboratory has tested the device to ensure certain standards have been met for outlets designed to go IN countertops, and that the installation instructions show the proper requirements for installing it in the countertop to meet the standards. This includes that the device's 'faceplate' seals well enough when closed to keep water out of the junction box, not a characteristic that a "wall" receptacle would normally poses. 210.52(C) (5) Receptacle Outlet Location. Receptacle outlets shall be located ON or ABOVE, but not more than 500 mm (20 in.) above, the countertop. Receptacle outlet assemblies LISTED for the application shall be permitted to be installed IN countertops. Receptacle outlets rendered not readily accessible by appliances fastened in place, appliance garages, sinks, or rangetops as covered in 210.52(C)(1), Exception, or appliances occupying dedicated space shall not be considered as these required outlets. Informational Note: See 406.5(E) for requirements for installation of receptacles in countertops. 406.5 (E) Receptacles in Countertops and Similar Work Surfaces in Dwelling Units. Receptacles shall not be installed in a face-up position in countertops or similar work surfaces.
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User
11 years ago
You will not be able to shop this quote around. Dupont only sells Zodiaq to authorized fabricators that it trains and certifies. Therefore, there will be an extremely limited pool who could even supply and fabricate your desired top. You will need to find out who those fabricators are and merely supply them with a diagram of the desired counter with the depths indicated as well as the edging, appliance locations, and the sink used with the reveal you want. Standard counter depth is 25.5 not 26.5, so if that is what you want, you need to emphasise the fact that it's NOT a mis-print. Your square footage is also drastically off if you want this as a single piece. You'll need to calculate the entire piece as a giant rectangle, which means the square footage that needs to be cut from the slab is 53 square feet, or roughly double what you are indicating.

Also, to do what you want with the farm sink and corer in one piece, every fabricator that I have ever dealt with would require a signed waiver stating that they will not be responsible if the counter breaks in transport and that you will pay for an entire new slab to be fabricated should that occur. Instead, I'd opt for a seam to either side at the rear of the farm sink so that small skinny piece wouldn't break, as well as a seam at the L. Seams in quartz are extremely inconspicuous and will not pose the same "matching" issue that you can have with granite.

Here's an example of a one page document that is clear about what you want and expect. No use in discussing the visibility of seams on a quote request. That's an in person judgement call for you to make after you view their work.
Donaleen Kohn
Original Author
11 years ago
Wow, thanks for that detail. I am fine with seams behind the sink, even two seams is fine. Not so crazy about a seam in the L, unless it is pretty inconspicuous. I guess my request was very unclear about that.

That's interesting about who can do it. The DuPont site seems to be a bit wrong in who they list for Portland. One guy I called from their list is a GC.

I am not looking for the cheapest. I do care very much about the quality. DuPont has an estimator program. Maybe I didn't put in the right amount of square footage. The one quote I got was for around $3000 and their site said I should expect something more like $2200.

Thanks so much.
Donaleen Kohn
Original Author
11 years ago
And I DID mean it about the depth. We are thinking of a deeper base than is normal.
Donaleen Kohn
Original Author
11 years ago
hollysprings... I went to the Dupont site page where you put in your zipcode and get a list of Zodiaq retailers. I got a response back from one who says they will contact their fabricator. So what does that say? DuPont certified the store front and what about the fabricator? I thought they would be the certified ones. Isn't that what I care about? The fabrication and installation? What good does it do me if the retailer is certified?

This makes me think of what it means (at least here) to be licensed as a contractor... it doesn't mean that you know how to do the work it just means that you know about being bonded and a bunch of other business related stuff.

How to write a counter top quote request

Comments (6)

southboundtrain

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How to write a counter top quote request

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southboundtrain

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