Countertop installation with Jason Nottestad.
In January 2006, I began this column with the words, “For the installer, the whole world is a stage.” 81,000 words and five years later, the countertop industry, and the world, looks dramatically different.
While fabrication is the focus of most stone shops, there’s a profitable – and challenging – sideline with installing tops as a subcontractor.
When I look back at the stone industry 15 years ago, it’s like viewing another industry altogether. And I still feel the same about 15 years hence.
Residential installations, by their very nature, can be a technical challenge. Work in stone countertops long enough, and you’ll run into a house that tests your ability to template and install – and your patience with the owner.
One of the ongoing challenges facing the owner of a small template/install business is finding the perfect install helper, because that support – in more ways than one – is crucial to the success of your company.
If you work on enough countertop projects, it’s inevitable that a faucet situation will pop up at the end of a job and ruin your day.
By Jason Nottestad
Editor’s Note: Last month, Jason Nottestad offered the first half of his Ten Best Practices for countertop installation. Now, he’s punching the rest of the list.
Training new employees in all aspects of stone-countertop installation, or creating a continuing-education program for existing employees, might seem a bit daunting … and alien. Most of the great installers I know learned one way: on the job.
The definition of a well-measured job, and what a “good measurement” is worth, is going to vary from templater to templater and company to company.
We’ve all had one of those infomercial moments leafing through a new tool catalog or walking the aisles at a trade show. We spot a new template or install gadget, or a new version of an existing tool, and we kind of lose it for a minute.