Protecting Your Granite Installations

Installing granite involves a number of techniques and practices that are common to hard surfaces of differing types. Whether the material is a natural stone or a man made material the installation benefits from protecting it. This takes various techniques throughout the fabrication process. In the fabrication shop, on the road, during the install, and even after it, there are occasions where granite be protected. In this article we will briefly look at some of these.

Proper Granite Storage Protects the Installation

Even though the storage of granite takes place so long before the installation, these two aspects of stone countertop fabrication are related. In fact, storing granite can create all sorts of problems if steps are not taken to protect the install.

How granite slabs are stored makes a difference in the install quality because blemishes can happen at that point. When a granite surface gets scratched, chipped, or even cracked, it adds to the work that must be done to the material. The end result might be a perfect installation, but how much time and money was spent to produce that installation? It all starts with the storage methods. Using the proper storage equipment in the correct manner affects the countertop's installation quality.

Fabrication Techniques Protect Granite Installs

There are points in the granite fabrication process where scratches, chips, or even cracks can take place. At any of these stages of working the material, a blemish or mistake can hinder the final result and it will be noticed after the install if not before.

Taking care to use blades and shaping tools that are designed for granite and that product clean cuts will go far. If polishing that surface, the quality of the pads and the proper use of them will contribute too. Remember, the fabrication has the potential to protect the install.

Granite Installation Portection During Transport

Protecting the installation of granite definitely involves the transport step. After all, if the surface material falls off the delivery van and breaks, that would surely be a real problem. Thus, transport habits contribute to the protection of a quality install.

So what are the practices for transporting granite surfaces that play a role in the protection of the installation of the countertop? One of them is the proper loading and unloading of the granite onto and off of the delivery vehicle. Another is using equipment with rubber contact points that is in good condition. There are others as well but these are worth noting.

Granite Installation Protection

Obviously the step of the granite countertop fabrication process that carries the potential for protecting the installation is the install itself. After all, it is the exact task that we are talking about protecting.

The install of granite countertops takes equipment that is designed to prevent it from scratching or chipping. Vacuum cups help the installers to lift, handle, and position the material as they put it in place. Slab dollies and other specialized equipment also adds to the protection of the install during this part of the process.

Post Completion Granite Countertop Protection

All the way up to this point, granite countertop protection has been achieved by 1) carefully handling the material, and 2) using the proper equipment correctly. But now more is needed. The granite countertop install job is done and yet the surface still needs to be protected.

Now the task will be to try to keep other trades from using the granite countertop so that it doesn't get scratched, stained, or chipped from tools or food. An effective way of caring for this is to make use of a protective countertop film with a caution warning that let's others know that the granite surface is not ready for anyone to use. Adding this coating will also keep dust from getting on the surface and scratching the top of the granite countertop.

Like other stone industry materials, granite countertops need to be protected through the entire process. Being mindful of this need as the granite surface is being stored, transported, installed, and even sitting completecontributes to overall profitability of your business.