Hi All,

I just finished fabricating and installing 32 square feet of granite counter tops with under mount sink and I felt the Houzz community might benefit from seeing the progress/results.

We're in the middle of a budget kitchen reno and we were set on granite counter tops but didn't want to pay the $4,000-$6,000 quotes we were getting. I was able to locally purchase two 96"x26" pre-fab slabs for $200 CDN each (pre-fab meaning they had a profiled edge and were polished). I then purchased a full set of 4" diamond pads for my variable speed angle grinder for $25 (from 50 grit through to 6,000 grit), a GFCI extension cord for $15, a diamond blade for my grinder $10 and for my circular saw $20.

**Disclaimer; I don't accept any responsibility if you try this on your own and get injured or damage property. This is simply a post about how we went about installing our own granite for under $500.

If you're VERY good with measuring AND good at tiling (cutting tiles, using diamond blades and power tools), and you have enough help to lift 200 lb+, you CAN tackle this yourself! Also, you should know how to properly carry, transport, and handle granite as it is fragile. ALWAYS transport granite vertically, even when walking with it. When you're ready to work on the granite and you go to lay it down, do NOT allow the granite to be unsupported at ANY time. This means leaning the granite on the corner of a table BEFORE fully laying it down. Support EVERY section when you cut; even use a sacrificial piece of wood under it that you're OK cutting into.

Step 1 was to lay down a 3/4" plywood base for the granite to sit on and cut out the dimensions for a 'drop in sink'. There are several ways to install an under mount sink in granite; 1) drop it into the plywood substrate and sandwich it in between the granite and plywood 2) drill 1/2 way into the granite and epoxy in anchors that your sink clips will screw into 3) support the sink with a wooden frame that is screwed into your cabinet. The choice is yours; we chose to use the plywood to support the sink so that we could get the sink level, square, in the position we wanted, and wouldn't worry about weight in the sink

Step 2 was to then trace the dimensions of the walls onto kraft paper (you could also use cardboard).

Step 3 was to figure out where we wanted our seam and cut the granite slabs to the correct dimensions using the circular saw and diamond blade (use a straight edge clamped onto the granite to provide the circular saw with a 100% straight cut; also have a good amount of water flowing over your diamond wheel; make sure to use a GFCI outlet/power bar so you don't get electrocuted).

Note: ALWAYS WEAR A RESPIRATOR WHEN CUTTING OR GRINDING STONE. You might also need to remove the guard from your circular saw as you need to use the saw BACKWARDS to ensure that the direction of the diamond blade cuts INTO the top of the granite first, NOT from the bottom up.

Step 4 We dry fit everything to ensure proper fitment. Note: the granite seam should be 1/16" or less. It is imperative to match the height of the seam as close as possible by shimming your cabinets OR plywood substrate before fusing the seam. You can also LIGHTLY screw in the tips of construction screws from the underside of your cabinets to SLIGHTLY raise an edge of the granite so that it perfectly matches up with the other section.

Step 5 was to mask out where the sink and faucet holes would go and cut them out with diamond hole saw bits and the diamond grinder wheel (again, using a good supply of water as you cut). I covered the grinder with a plastic bag to help water stay out of the motor. You WILL get soaked when you cut by the way :-)

Be sure NOT to cross the lines that you've made with the angle grinder. If anything, cut 1/2" less than your line and once you have removed the 'sink' granite, you can really get in there and get closer to your line to perfect it. Remember, you can always remove more rock, but you cant really add more....

Step 6 was to polish any exposed edges (for the under mount sink and side sections), using the diamond pads; starting with 50 grit dry, up to 200 grit, then using water for 400 grit and upwards. We were careful to NOT polish the mating seam as this will be done after installation. Also, do not allow your grinder to go over 2,000 RPM with the pads of they will fly off.

* Dry fit again if you'd like

Step 7 was to apply quarter-sized blobs of silicone every ~6" of the plywood where the granite would be placed. We then positioned the granite and set it onto the silicone/plywood. Where the seam was to be, we placed the granite about 1/2" away from where it was supposed to be so that we could expocy the seam. We used Epoxy (JB Weld Clear Epoxy or any brand of crystal clear epoxy that has 3,000 psi strength and lists mason/brick/concrete as its intended use) to fuse the seam together.

Note: If you have a dark colour granite, you might want to use polyester resin (fiberglass resin) instead, and tint it.

Mask off an area 1/4" away from the seam so that your epoxy/resin doesn't go where it shouldn't. If using epoxy, work quickly as you only have ~5 minutes before it sets up. Immediately after applying your epoxy, use a razor blade to check for lippage (simply slide it back and forth across the seam, there should be no height differences. IF, however, there is a minute difference, don't worry about it, you can get rid of it when you polish the seam). At the same time we pushed the granite together and kept pressure while the epoxy set. Remove your masking tape within 5 minutes of applying the epoxy.

Step 8 Once the epoxy had cured (approx. 12 hours later), we used a razor blade to shave off any 'excess' that seeped out of the seam.

Step 9 You can now get your diamond pads and polish the seam to perfection.

Step 10 - final polish with Tin Oxide powder and a felt pad on a polisher (or variable speed grinder)

Step 11 Seal your granite. You can use an off-the-shelf granite sealer OR you can use a penetrating polyester resin (essentially thinned out fiberglass resin). If you use the latter, I will tell you that it is a LOT of elbow grease that's needed and you have to work QUICKLY.... but it will seal your granite for 10+ years.

DONE :-)

*PS, there are other counters in our kitchen that we did,.. but I am limited on the number of pictures I can post :-)