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Fabricator templated my countertops with tape measure

5 years ago

last modified: 5 years ago

I was shocked when I saw this yesterday but I was reassured my project was easy and didn’t require any form of templating beyond a tape measure. Should I be worried? I am thinking of driving over to their office to cancel our deal and get my 50% deposit back.

I have not a clue about stone countertop fabrication, but I did catch what I thought to be a serious red flag: he measured the length and width of my island without measuring the diagonals. I did step out for a few minutes but doubt he did it in that time. He meaured for less than 10 min total. I measured it myself after he left, and while the length and width matched perfectly on each side, the diagonals were 3/4” different, meaning the island is not square.

Anyone who could weigh in on how a fabricator could possibly make up for this?? By my calcs, this comes out to an overhang difference of 1/4” side to side, not exactly what I was paying a premium for. I just don’t get it, he had great references and has a shop with cnc, water jet, etc. What good is all that fancy gear with a lousy template job????

Featured Answer

PRO

Kristin Petro Interiors, Inc.

5 years ago

Just because this is his process does not automatically mean it’s incorrect. I’ve worked with numerous fabricators over the years. Some used lasers, others cardboard templates. Our best fabricator? Uses a tape measure.

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Comments (6)

millworkman
5 years ago
Have you seen his other work, either pictures or other jobs? Have you spoken to previous clients? You will be on hand to approve the layout correct before they cut the stone? The island out of square is not a huge issue in my mind. Why are you paying a premium?
catinthehat thanked millworkman
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Are you planning a 4" granite backsplash? If so, you have a lot of leeway on how the stone fits against the wall - nobody will ever see that edge. I guarantee you that your wall is not straight, so without a good template there will be wavy bits back there. If you're planning a tile backsplash, you'll have the thickness of that specific tile to cover any gaps. Think "oops" of 1/4" or less. If your granite runs right along a wall or cabinet without any tile, you have absolutely no room for less than perfection. We have 2 places like that in our kitchen where any imperfection would jump right out. There are industry standards for how close granite should fit against the wall. I think it's 1/8" plus or minus 1/16", and that means at any given point, not an average of the full length. You can look it up at The Marble Institute of America to be sure. If I were you, I'd have a written agreement on how your counters will fit. My biggest concern about tape measure only would be all those wavy parts of the wall which didn't get measured.
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catinthehat
Original Author
5 years ago
Thanks both of you. I said I was paying a “premium” just because his quote was in line with the upper tier of fabricators I reached out to. There were many fabricators quoting 1.5k less. He has no Yelp reviews so I asked for references. All his references are general contractors, I reached out to several who said they have not received complaints over the years.

Giving how little I know, I agree that there are many details in the templating method chosen I would not know about but still gives great results.

My issue is the island, where I really don’t see how there could be a “trick” I’ve missed in his method. If you don’t measure the diagonal and just the sides, you don’t know if the island is square. All my parallel sides are equal, but all the corners are not 90 degrees. It’s not much, but enough to make the overhang crooked by 1/4”. With a 1/2” overhang I specified on the island corners (there are corner columns that stick out 1” from cab face) I think 1/4” error is going to be noticeable. There is no wiggle room like against a wall backsplash. Am I wrong??
catinthehat
Original Author
5 years ago
Quick update: I called the fabricator and explained my observation to him. He said in his 20+ years experience he has never heard of an island that didn’t have perfect 90 degree angles. He also said if the island was templated to account for the 1/4” crookedness, it would visually look off. I found that hard to believe since I visually can’t see the difference now, but I trust his opinion. He always makes perfect rectangles for islands that are rectangles. His solution was to bump out the overhang another 1/2” to make the difference not noticeable.

Hopefully everything works out...
millworkman
5 years ago
Exactly.
Chessie
5 years ago
" He also said if the island was templated to account for the 1/4” crookedness, it would visually look off."

Of course it would. I can't imagine why you would even want that.
catinthehat thanked Chessie

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