Granite

We were dying to get the cabinets finished up so that the countertops could be installed. We had picked selected our granite slabs several weeks earlier after many trips to multiple slab yards. We were surprised by the way our tastes in stone changed as we saw more and more of it. I think it is important to select a stone that you won't get tired of over time, something that we observed had happened to us with some of our earlier selections. Granite prices vary depending on the material. There are generally three or more pricing levels. A level 1 granite should be available for $30-40 per square foot (installed price). The difference between price levels can be $10-20 per square foot or more. The granite we selected was a level 2 material.

The first step in the process was to have the templating guy come out and glue wood strips together to create a template for each of our counter tops. The photo below shows a stack of completed templates ready to haul back down to the fabrication shop where we would join them the next morning.








At the fabrication shop we lifted each template into its correct placement on the slabs that had been delivered and taped them in place. During this process we discovered that we could not fit all of our templates onto the two slabs that had been delivered and that we would need a third slab. This meant another trip to Raleigh but it would be necessary to get what we wanted. In all we had six pieces fabricated for the kitchen and two additional vanity tops fabricated from remnants.

When the installation crew showed up later in the week I was surprised that there were only two guys since some of these pieces must have weighed well over 200 pounds but the two guys got them all in place quickly. The main island has a prep sink on one end and on the other end there are two six inch wide arms that extend along the sides of the range top. In this photo the installed trims out the piece that connected the two arms during delivery.




Some things to remember about natural stone that the salesman will not tell you:

• The more homogeneous the granite the stronger it generally is.
• Larger crystalline structures are generally more prone to inclusions, cracks, and other natural flaws.

The material we selected has a lot going on: much color variation, lots of movement, and large translucent quartz crystals embedded in it that make it sparkle and allow you to see down into the material in places. We were very happy with the whole process. The salesman was very helpful, the templater was accurate and efficient, and the installer did a great job. Now it is time to install the tile floors!