Category: The Installer

By Jason Nottestad

What’s the best size for an install crew? In truth, the answer is complicated.

By Jason Nottestad

As an installer, there are two types of long days. The first is the long day planned in advance. Maybe you’ve got a large kitchen and bathrooms a considerable distance from home. It’s a big job, but doesn’t quite qualify for a stay overnight; you pick an install day, leave early, and stay until the job is done.

By Jason Nottestad

Editor’s note: Last month, Jason Nottestad began his list of the tools he has on hand for transporting pieces and getting them level during an installation. This month, he finishes up with the gear he uses to complete a job.

By Jason Nottestad

Before I bought an electric guitar and left the Boy Scouts for the rock-and-roll lifestyle, I learned the holy grail of scouting lessons: be prepared.

(Editor’s note: This is the second of a three-part series on starting a templating service.)
You’ve established yourself as a templater/installer. You’ve purchased an electronic templating system and learned how to use it. You’ve even got a few fabricators who are willing to give you a job to try out your service.
What’s the next step? What do you need to do to turn a promising start into a profitable and long-term enterprise?

By Jason Nottestad

I first thought up the idea for Midwest Template Services after seeing the ETemplate™ photo-templating system in action at the Coverings show in March of 2003. Photo templating was not new, but it didn’t have much of a presence in Madison, Wis., at the time. I imagined a company using the technology to create more-accurate (and more-profitable) countertops.

By Jason Nottestad Creating beautiful kitchen and bath countertops out of stone that has a definite grain, or flow, is both simple and difficult at the same time. Jason NottestadThe simple part is the...

By Jason Nottestad

Every once in a while, I get a paradoxical question from one of my clients: which do I like better, granite or engineered stone?

By Jason Nottesta

Now that the sink is picked out, the cutout done correctly, and the method of mounting decided, it’s time to put everything together. The final step in the process, adhering and securing the sink to the stone, is a relatively easy and methodical task – most of the time.

By Jason Nottestad

While the wide variety of sinks in the market today can create headaches for the templater, fabricator, and installer, the basics of mounting one to a countertop remain the same. While some new sinks fall outside the norm – making installation a special situation – the vast majority can still be dealt with using time-tested methods of sink mounting.