Define the Details

December 5, 2008

Stone dust and tacky silicone makes for an ugly finished product. Once the holes are drilled, the surface of the paper and the tape needs to be cleaned prior to removal to avoid dust and chips getting into your sink and onto your finished caulk bead.

Click photo to enlarge If your installers get stone chips and dust into a sink during the drilling process, do they have a system in place for cleaning the sink without damage? The first time one of your installers takes a wet paper towel and drags stone chips across the bottom of a polished stainless sink, you’ll wish you’d put a cleaning system in place that leaves a spotless and scratch-free sink.

Or, better yet, your installer simply leaves the chips and dust for the plumber to clean once the faucet is installed and the water is on. The sound of granite chips inside a newly installed garbage disposal does not inspire homeowner confidence; the plumber will not be happy with your installers, either. An unhappy plumber is not a good thing for a granite guy.

Teach your installers to clean out every freshly drilled hole with a damp paper towel. Nothing will infuriate a plumber more than getting an eye full of granite dust while he’s trying to hook up a faucet.

Backsplash is another area where the lack of systematic installation methods can create some poor-quality end results. We’ve all seen the installation in which a seam was set without the seamed pieces being in plane, creating a nice gap between the base counter and the bottom of the splash.

Creating an install procedure that includes having the backsplash in place prior to seaming and gluing the base pieces can avoid this. Placing the backsplash prior to seam and set will also show you if your base pieces are set flat or, worse yet, your backsplash has been cut with a slight bow.Click photo to enlarge

If you do have a bowed backsplash, how will your installers handle it? Will they set it anyway, leaving you to explain to the homeowner why the shadow line between the splash and the base exists only in that one area? Will they try to bow the base piece to meet the bow in the stone, thus introducing internal pressure that could work its way out through a seam or cutout in the form of a crack?

Or, will they cut the splash down onsite or back at the shop, knowing that whatever height changes they make to the bowed piece of splash they will have to make to the rest? With a system in place for this issue your installer avoids having to make a judgment call on the jobsite.

Once the backsplash has been properly set, do your installers have a consistent system for caulking? Do they use the same methods and materials from crew to crew? If not, your results may vary widely.

I like to tape off the base piece and the bottom of the splash to create a consistent bead. I also use seam adhesive where my backsplash seams meet, unless it’s a full-height splash on an exterior wall that will get seasonal movement. Your installation crews may have a different method, and as long as the end result looks good and is consistent from crew to crew, you shouldn’t have problems.

If you use color-matched caulk for your engineered-stone installations, make sure each crew has the proper amount and knows what color to use. A poor color match will, once again, catch the eye first, instead of the whole project.

Click photo to enlarge Will your installation crews caulk between the top of the backsplash, and wall or is that the job of the painter? What kind of caulk will they use, and what’s the biggest gap they’ll fill when the wall is bowed? As long as each of your crews knows your answer to these questions, you shouldn’t get calls about backsplash issues that you did not expect.

Consistency issues extend to cleaning off seams as well. Returning to a job to clean off the residue from the seam adhesive can be avoided if it’s one step in your installation process.

The same is true of cleaning off the adhesive squeezed out from underneath the stone. If it’s part of your system, and you help your guys develop disciplined habits, the work gets done.

Checking the gauging on stone at the seam, test fitting appliances and faucets, caulking around support brackets – the list goes on and on for end-of-installation details. Develop a system for your installers to work within and they will have no problem doing consistent, quality installs.

Jason Nottestad, a 15-year veteran of the stone industry, is National Customer Service Manager for VT Stone Surfaces; he’s now on this third year of “The Installer” columns for Stone Business. He can be reached at JNottestad@vtindustries.com.