How To Install Granite Countertops On A Budget - Part 4 - Securing Slabs to The Cabinets
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ต.ค. 2024
- Do it yourself granite kitchen countertops! I have already cut and fit the counters and in this video I'm using silicone to glue the pieces to the plywood subcounters.
Nice that someone made positive comments after all the earlier abuse you took from so-called experts and others. Forty plus years in the trades tells me you did just fine for a novice at granite top work. Good for you for taking it on and making it work. I agree with GraniteJockey.
Jack Coveney Thanks a lot for the kind words
So if a professional points out errors they become "So-Called" because of ones inability to cope with criticism? I'm thinking society has fallen far to the wayside with lack of coping mechanisms. Watch a few professional installations and see why the higher cost yields far better gains.
That said JG did a very well but time consuming installation that saves the avg Joe a nice chunk of change, time is money but if you can spare the time you can save a lot of money. Keep up the great videos JG!
You did a very nice job on this. One problem with 3/4" granite countertops, particularly in front of the sink, is cracking due folks doing the SLAM SLAM SLAM of 10# or 20# ice bags onto the edge to break up semi-melted then frozen solid ice. It's like taking a sledgehammer to the granite at its weakest point. If a natural micro-fracture happened to be along the front to begin with, that nice 3/4" countertop is going to crack. And of course, it's never the homeowner's fault, always the dealer/installers fault. For this reason, installers in my area do not warrant against cracks developing in 3/4" granite kitchen countertops like they do the 5/4" countertops.
For some final adjustments on the seam there are a number of nice little tricks. Since you are using 2cm stone with a 3/4'' ply backing you can screw 1'' coarse dry wall screws from the bottom up and you will get precise final adjustments before the epoxy sets. Where I am on the east coast all of the granite counters we sell and install are 3cm and don't require a plywood backing and believe it or not that stone your installed we would not have used a plywood backing either. Some cabinets come with a dust jacket and customers don't want to have it removed for easier shimming and so the dry wall screw or deck screw that matches in color to the dust jacket for final adjustments works well. I have been doing granite countertops my entire adult life and you have an eye for the stone and did a good job. You should be proud of yourself. I do want to know what you used to glue the seam together. If you used silicone I would suggest going to a local shop and asking them to mix you up some epoxy and fill that joint. Also when you are using your metabo for $20 you can buy a flush mount adapter from any online granite supplier makes life much easier (granquartz, regent, stoneboss, braxton bragg, granite city tool etc etc...) and also another small trick when using an angle grinder is to flip it around, hold it with your left hand and the blade will spin the opposite direction and the dust will blow away from you. Don't worry about chips on the top so much, granite is a finesse art form not brute force. Good job all in all, let me know if you move to the east coast and need a job.
Thanks so much for the compliment, it means a lot coming from someone who knows the trade. To glue the seam I used some cream colored 2 part epoxy that I found at Lowe's. For being local and cheap I think it came out fine. That's a great tip about the screws too, It would allow adjustment without having to lift/shim/drop/check/lift/shim/drop etc. It's definitely an art form and I feel lucky it came out as well as it did. Cheers!
Usually the last thing someone who works in granite does is learn the installation. Normally shops won't let someone with no experience into the field... you ultimately represent the company you work for and lack of experience can give all customer's the wrong impression. So you spend a few years in the shop... the hardest part of the job. You move countless tops a day, do the grinding and shaping and polishing, work with water all day.. it's terrible stuff sometimes. Then after a few years you get to help on the truck... get tools, learn the art of customer service. So for someone like you who has never had that formal training in the shop to understand the raw material and how it works... what happens when you do certain things, you took a good look at the project, thought outside the box and ultimately got the job done with superb results.
I'll take a guy with gumption and ambition and no training than the most experienced narrow minded worker any day of the week. If you are into the stone work you should go to www.slipperyrockgazette.net/ and have it sent to your house. It's a cool stone industry paper to read once a month.
And free.
+GraniteJockey wow, I love this idea about shimming with the screws. What do you think about those giant plastic shims? I was concerned they wouldn't be stable to silicon right on top of the way he did. I was thinking to cut them to smaller pieces, maybe 1 and a half to two inches wide and evenly spaced out. Would this affect the final product? I'm concerned those long sections of plastic won't be structurally sound.
GraniteJockey ,im about to undertake this as well but the sink hole is already cut, i just need some tips on removing the 3inbacksplash lip thats already attached to my granite and tips on leveling it correctly
Pro tip that I learned from some installers: Use coarse drywall screws and screw up from the underside of the plywood underlayment to level granite and to align seams.,
WOW I would have thought this impossible. MY wife gets access occasionally to giant slabs of granite for really cheap prices, and I didnt think this was doable. NOw I have to make sure she NEVER see's this video HAHA. Thank you.
+Doyle Hodges Glad to give a heads up. But really I think this job was easier than tile.
+Jennies Garage really? ive done tile jobs since 91. aside from layout and setup i actually enjoy tile work. but then again most people hate painting and i find that relaxing as well haha. either way thank u for the input.
Thank you very much for these series of videos. This is very helpful.
great job, enjoyed watching.
I was planning to buy the house but when you said that you can't have women dancing in the counter top I've got disappointed, other than that you did good job Sir.
I interpreted that as cracks develop from the really heavy ones dancing on it while drunk.
Nice cutting sir.
I know from experience how hard it is to do this. Take a long time to get the dust out your nose also . Taking out your sink looked bit risky but well done pretty fearless you must be
For the seams you can angle in towards the buttom just slightly so the top seam makes tight fit
Also ALWAYS put a four inch bridge at the front of your sink on a 25" piece
great job!
Should have floated the counter with plaster or the material floor guys use to level floors (before laying down linoleum) to make the counter top level first. You do that by finding the low spots, adding shim strips then leveling up to the shims with the filler. Once the filler has dried, you can remove the shims and fill in those shim areas with the same material and it will be perfectly level. You don't build a house until the foundation is in place. And if the foundation is not good neither is the house. Also, your method created a breeding ground for insects of all types. They'll love the house you created in the void under the granite. They have direct access to food and water. But, you did a fairly good job otherwise. More than I would take on. I'd rather go to a person that does this for a living (the install) than take this on. I believe I could do it (differently), but when someone else does it and it goes wrong, I don't have to pay more money, they do.
That is a super huge seam cut, all you need is just a 3/4" what we call a butterfly cut
Boris Andrijic What's a butterfly cut?
That 45 degree cut where the join meets is way too big, next time cut pass the laminated edge (about 1 1/2 inches in) and you're good.
Use epoxy with colorant to bound and fill the join. For an amateur, you did a very nice job installing. Don't be discourage by naysayer, remember practice makes perfect.
Use this Diamond-Grit Jigsaw Blade from Bosch to make clean, smooth cuts in slate, limestone, marble, backerboard, glass, Grade 5 porcelain and granite, among other masonry materials. Operating the saw at a moderate speed and keeping the 3-1/4 in.
Thanks for the idea, that would be good for little detail cuts.
Jennies Garage good job man giving me hope to make this install!
Silicone caulk or sealant stains like crazy and will bleed through to the surface of the counter. To avoid this spotting you should use Silicone for Granite which is a non-staining formula. They sell them at Home Depot, Lowes and some hardware store.
+James L Hmmm. I've been watching videos of experts installing counters and never heard this from them. Silicon is going to dry in about 3 hours (well, depending what type you use, but the new silicon II for baths is drying in that time, and the wood underlayment will help it dry out relatively quickly though the silicon on top of the plastic won't dry as quickly and won't be stable, that's something that bothered me about this), so any leaching to the surface would have to happen before then. I can't see this happening, but I could be very wrong, this is just my logical thinking at work, not experience having done it before.
Hi, thanks for the comment. The main reason I bought the 2'X9' pieces is that it would've been extremely difficult to cut and finish the front edge. As an amateur, there's no way I could've made it look good. I've found that the most labor and time intensive part of the job was the cutting and finishing.
Great work!
If you don't mind me asking, why did you do a partial 45 degree cut at the joint, as opposed to only making a straight 90 degree one?
Not trying to be smartie pants or anything just curious as the reason behind it, thank you.
I was curious about that as well. When I began to think about it I recalled that the piece has that lip that overhangs the front edge. I surmised that it was done as such in order to avoid making an awkward cut in another plane. Just imagine trying to take that lip off, just flush with the bottom of the piece.
It saves material; (about 4 square feet) good move.
I feel stupid wasting time watching that cut. I feel sick to my stomache. You are right, he just needed to remove the bottom lip and go wall to wall.
Thats a big join
Use mirror , granite, marble adhesive to prevent staining.
Ok as a granite countertop fabricator /saw operator/ installer and recently supervisor I first want to say to everyone talking about using the saw in water people run water feed circular saws everyday we all just wear rubber boots and the we also use work drive circular saws to the person saying this is mad made rock (quirtzite) Not Quarts as he called it it's not this is Pauline grey granite it is extremely hard one of the hardest granite I have came across and to the guy who made this video buddy you need to be careful with that grinder always hold the head of it so it doesn't kick back and you should have used the grinder to cut the sink and every side that isn't polished except the backs I am sure I will find some more stuff not putting down just educating
how did or what did you use to put the 2 slabs together? just the Silicon? im ready to put my 2 slabs together just wondering if it was ok for me to just ise Silicon?
i just want too know why you went backwards when you could of put your blade on the other way
@5.36 how to remove this glued granite after say 7 years?
What silicone glue brand do you use to put the granite onto the wood?. Thanks.
you ask your question 2 years ago, i answer it now, he used regular " door/window/siding silicone", which made me surprised, but i guess we can, but i would use way better higher quality one, because why not just a little more money!
What is the name of that silicon glue???? From where i will get???
Answer your question after one year, he used not a good one, just a regular silicon one, but best is to use silicone for granite installation.
Nice job on the granite, i have to do the same thing and you did it exactly how i was planning.
Granite in a rental property!
Should of just put new cabinets as well
Beautiful job. But now your counters put those cabinets to shame!
They make slabs big enough that you could have eliminated making a seam there. Did you get a really good deal on the granite? Just wondering why you didn't get like a 5'x10' slab? I know it weighs a lot more and there would be waste but I seen buying the full slab can be cheaper at times. I'm new to this really and want to try and just thought I'd ask.
Buying bigger slabs is actually more expensive. Most use for granite is NOT countertops but flooring and some on verticals.
Women dancing on countertops. Yes sir.
Your corner diagonal cut is unnecessary too long.
I agree. It only needs to get past the bullnose.
What kinda silicone is that?
Old trick to the install although I have warn you, don't put ti much weight on top of the screws or the top will break
Also ALWAYS put a four inch bridge at the front of your sink on a 25" piece