Granite Template

Gustavo came by late yesterday, right when he said he would. Brought his helper with him. Their mission was to make a template for fabricating the granite counter tops in the kitchen.<br />n<br />nI’m always interested in how things are done in the different trades. So I watched these guys do their thing.<br />n<br />nThey brought with them a stack of six or eight foot long strips of thin, balsa wood -like 4 inch wide strips of wood. They laid these down around all the edges, outside and around the sink cutout. They also used the flexibility of these strips to create the arch, or radius, of the bar edge of the island, where the seating area will be. Once they had them all in place, they marked them up with notes and other scrawls signifying various details. Then, they removed the staples holding them down to the 3/4 inch plywood and had themselves a template.<br />n<br />nThe whole process took less than an hour. The design is pretty straightforward, so it’s not a complex job. But since we have an island that’s a bit more than four feet by eight feet, then a counter top against a wall, it would take two slabs of granite.<br />n<br />nHere are some specs on the slab plan:<br />nThe edge will be a variation of the standard bullnose. It’s called a pencil edge, and here’s <a href=”http://www.cscinreno.com/edge.php” title=”pencil edge”>a page I found that shows the profile</a>. The island will have a slight curve, with the apex of the curve being about five and a half inches further out than the corners. The name of the slab is Venetian Green, which is very similar to Verde Butterfly, but at only 60% the price.<br />n<br />nGustavo expects to have the fabrication done and the counter tops installed by end of day next Tuesday, march 18. This is a critical deadline because the hardwood guys come back the next day to start their sanding and finish work.