Stone-Cold Solutions

In January and February – the real heart of winter in the upper Midwest – we, like many people in construction, seldom worked a full week. A good portion of the time on the job was spent cleaning and organizing for the busy spring and summer to come. It was a good deal for the skiers and ice fishers.
The explosion in the housing market changed all that. As demand increased exponentially and houses grew larger and more-complex, we had to come to terms with longer hours, more-difficult installations, and none of the down time that allowed us a break in the coldest months.
In order to keep up, one was forced to install in all but the most impossible of weather conditions. We became proficient at the cold weather install out of necessity, not choice.
The peak of this craziness for me was an install crew that returned to the shop after carrying an entire kitchen’s worth of pieces up a long, steep driveway that was too slippery and snow-covered for the truck. The builder was so busy that he’d fallen behind on this house and was scrambling to get it done for the closing. He demanded they install the job that day or lose his business.
The crew managed to get the kitchen installed without breaking themselves or any stone. But, by doing so, they ignored the first rule of cold weather installing: Don’t press your luck when it comes to winter weather conditions.
Winter weather is a wildcard that needs to be respected and worked around instead of battled through. Anyone who thinks otherwise is asking for trouble.
The first place this applies is in driving to a jobsite. If the forecast calls for slippery roads, they probably are. The cube van we use for installations is great to work out of, but not great to drive in the snow.
We almost wrecked it one time when, in trying to stop at the top of a hill, the truck crested the rise and began to slide down the slope. My helper Mike was picking out places in the ditch for us to crash so that the countertops wouldn’t fall forward on top of us.
Luckily, we were able to creep down with one set of wheels on the shoulder of the road and get to the house. Had a plow truck not come through with sand and salt, we never would have made it back up that hill the same day.
If it’s looking nasty out, we’ll reschedule an install. Have we upset people by doing this? Absolutely; it makes me feel like an airline. Are the people who want me to risk my and my employees’ safety so they can get their countertops the kind I want as return clients or expect as references? Probably not.
People can become especially upset when the install is a fair distance away and the weather conditions at the jobsite are better than they are at our home base. That’s life; apologize and try to get to them the next day.
Even when the winter weather isn’t terrible, it’s a good idea to schedule extra travel time. Winter driving is usually slow and, if someone else had the bad luck to end up in the ditch, it can really make the traffic plod along. Remind your installers to call the jobsite if they’re going to be late. Most people will understand and appreciate the update.
We’ve also rescheduled installations when the weather forecast called for terrible conditions. There’s no sense in trying to rush through an install to beat the weather. Those are the times you end up making a mistake or getting hurt … and still end up driving home in the snow. Or, worse yet, paying for a hotel and meals on a job that didn’t have it in the budget. Look at the weather forecast and plan accordingly.
The second rule to learn when installing in the cold is to keep things warm as long as you can. For a fabrication shop that sends out its own installers, this may seem simple; at the very least, they can load up pieces and supplies the morning of the install, thus only having to deal with the cold they encounter once they leave the shop.
In a best-case scenario, a mid- to large-sized shop has the facilities to keep installation trucks inside overnight, avoiding a cold truck altogether. An independent templater/ installer is going to be in a different situation.
For starters, he’s going to find out in a hurry how expensive it can be to keep an installation truck in a heated place. We did that for two winters and found it was tough on the budget, especially when we were starting out and the winter was slow on business.
If you can find a reasonably priced place to keep a truck warm, grab it and never let it go. If not, be prepared to store a truck outside.
If outside is your only affordable option, you’re going to have to plan ahead to keep things warm. You’ll need to divide your tool kit into those items that can be frozen and those items that can’t. This way, you’ll never be scrambling to warm something up in order to use it.
I created a couple of “warm boxes” to be carried with me in the cab of the truck and brought in the house/office at the end of the day. These hold different kinds of caulk and adhesive, as well as sealer, tape, and safety supplies. Believe me, nothing wakes you up quite like ice-cold earmuffs or respirators.
Having the right caulk and adhesive and enough of it in the box is going to require some planning ahead, but you’ll save a lot of time when you get to work with these things at room temperature from the start. I also carry my extension cords in the cab, so they’ll bend better than undercooked spaghetti at the jobsite.
We tested everything we use by letting it deep freeze at -10°F – basically the entire contents of our install truck in a cold snap. After an extended warming period, all of it still performed well. I wouldn’t recommend this on a regular basis (nor would the manufacturers who are likely wincing right now), but it’s nice to know that one cold night isn’t going to ruin your kit.
Keep those warm boxes clean and sealed if you plan on bringing them in your living space at night. I don’t think your spouse/roommate will appreciate having to smell adhesive or silicone, and that stuff isn’t good for kids or pets, either.
Working with warm stone is a fond summer memory for the installer in the middle of winter. Even when stone is stored in a warm place, it can be just a frozen rock by the time you get it to the jobsite. Because of this, you need to take extra precautions when handling material in winter.
First and foremost, make sure your installation path is clean and ice-free. The homeowner should have be informed that this needs to happen, but the reality is that sometimes you have to do it yourself. Carry along a shovel and salt, and use them.
One of the easiest ways to hurt your back is to slip when carrying something heavy. And, walking on surfaces that are slippery tend to make us tense up – a good way to strain a muscle if it undergoes the stress of a heavy lift or unexpected movement.
For winter installs, it’s especially important to get the delivery truck as close as possible to the entrance of the house. Winter tends to be a messier season for tracking junk inside on the bottom of your boots. Protect the floors where you’ll be walking and, once you’re done moving pieces into place, you may want to change into clean work boots.
Clean up any floor mess you make as soon as possible. Salty water on the bottom of your boots will dry and leave a nice haze, so cleaning it up is essential in having a happy homeowner.
Keep yourself warm and protected. Have a good set of work gloves. You’re not going to get your best grip with a bare hand on frozen stone; and, it just plain hurts.
Have an insulated work jacket that can take some abuse. The ski jacket with your company’s logo on it may look nice, but if you take it off because you don’t want to ruin it during a job, you’re defeating the purpose.
Keeping your core muscles warm makes them less likely to be strained. If your feet tend to get cold, buy an insulated pair of steel-toed boots. The guy who hurts his foot because he was installing in his snow boots is not going to get my sympathy.
You’re going to need to take extra precautions using moving handles as well. Cold stone tends to get a layer of ice on it when it’s exposed to a warmer temperature. I’ve seen the pressure of the lifting handles on the end of the stone cause this effect in cold but humid conditions, and it makes the stone face very slippery.
Always check to make sure the stone remains dry as you move it with the handles. In a worst-case scenario, you may need to bring your heat gun out to the install truck to warm and dry the two areas where the install handles will grab the stone. I’ve only done this on a few occasions, but it was well worth the effort.
Once you have cold stone inside, take care sliding it into place. I have seen countertop pieces develop a thin layer of ice on the bottom and slide much easier than expected. You can imagine the potential for damage to a seam, cabinet wall or finger in that scenario.
When we have the countertop pieces in place we go right for the heat gun. I use one designed for paint stripping with two temperature settings; it works great to warm up the stone for seams and adhesives, as well as removing the water/ice layer that forms on their top.
If you tape off and caulk in-between base and backsplash pieces (as we do), you may want to apply the heat gun to the backsplash, even if it’s not cut to length. You can warm and dry the splashes and do the cutting layout inside; then, it’s simply a matter of taking them out to cut for length. They’ll still be warm and dry enough to tape off and caulk right away.
You can use a propane torch to warm up granite (just ask Mark Lauzon), but using a torch on quartz surfacing could scortch the face. Because of this, I only carry the heat gun. That way none of my guys can ruin a quartz piece by grabbing the wrong tool to heat it up.
The last thing to deal with during a winter install is pretty obvious: the lack of daylight hours. You may need to adjust your normal work sequence if you know you’ll need some daylight for cutting outlets in full-height backsplash, or otherwise adapting pieces. As I’ve noted in previous columns, carry a flashlight or two, and know where they are. If you need a little extra light for a final cut, a flashlight is a godsend. It may also come in handy putting away tools in the dark.
Last but not least, bring along that thermos of something warm; a hot drink can really lift your spirits. It doesn’t make spring any closer, but it might just make a winter job a little more bearable.
Jason Nottestad, a 14-year stone-industry veteran, is co-owner of Wisconsin-based Midwest Template Services.