Define the Details
Jason Nottestad The caulk between the backsplash and base is a large, gnarly bead, hastily applied and finger-smoothed. The caulk between the top of the splash and the wallpaper is even worse, with a nice big smear and separation gaps between the splash and the wall. The adhesive between the sink and the countertop is equally messy, with chunks of dried silicone still sticking to the bowl cutout, and the top third of the sink itself covered in a silicone film.
On your way home, you check out the vanity in the airport bathroom and discover more of the same – with some additional seam adhesive that wasn’t cleaned off all the way, and gaps between the backsplash base due to stone that was cut or set with a bow.
Man, you think, solid surface would have looked better. Then you quickly wash your face with ice-cold water and head to the airport bar to rid your mind of such blasphemous thoughts.
Click photo to enlarge
Expecting commercial installations to be perfect may be a stretch, but the lack of attention to detail commonly found in them illustrates a point. The stone may have been fabricated perfectly; what caught your eye was the poor quality of the installation. The same is true in residential installations, which is why your installers need to follow well-established systems to produce quality detail work.
Systems for detail work are all about efficient and repeatable actions that produce good results. If your installers fail to use those systems, you have no way of knowing that their work will be consistent and problem-free.
Take cast-iron kitchen sinks as an example. The top of a typical cast sink is going to be quite irregular. Even when well-set, it’s difficult for an installer to get a caulk bead to fill entirely between the stone and the sink on the first try.
Calling a single silicone application good enough means there’ll be gaps and depth inconsistency where the silicone meets the bottom of the stone. Mrs. Jones is going to be worried about the gallons of water she’s sure will leak into her cabinets through those gaps. And, once again, the gaps catch her eye first instead of her costly sink and countertops.
Click photo to enlarge How will your installers deal with this situation? Will one of them cut a nice angle on the tip of the caulk gun and hastily fill the voids with silicone? Will your next installer fill with a ‘water cleanup’ caulk and sponge off the excess, leaving an impermanent bead that will discolor and separate in the first year? Will a third installer do things the right way, and tape off the surface of the sink and stone, creating a clean and consistent silicone bead?
Having a system in place means all three will use the correct material and work method for this situation. You can tell a contractor or client what to expect; and you can also get a good idea the time it will take your installer, and what it will cost you. This will help you track your installation time, and cost/quote accordingly.
Do your installers have a step-by-step system for drilling holes on site? My system begins with protecting an installed sink by papering over it, thus avoiding chips and dust that may drop down and damage the surface. If we caulked between the base counter and the splash prior to drilling holes, that bead will also need to be covered up with tape.