Granite...wood vs. laser template...does it matter? Also a crack

11 years ago

I found some Jet Mist honed I love at the very first granite yard I wandered into off the street. They have since contacted me and given me a good price on it.

I know its good, because now I've gone to the yard my contractor recommends and they have Jet Mist also, but they quoted a much higher price, then gave me my contractor's 15% discount but theyre still about $3/400 more than the first place even with that discount.

I am wondering if you get what you pay for though...the less expensive yard does wood templating, the other one does laser. I haven't researched that too much yet but to me laser sounds like it'd be better than wood? Though my contractor somewhat disagreed.

Also, the Jet Mist at the less expensive place has a crack in it. From reading on here I realize that may not matter, much.

Is it it worth an extra $400 to get a slab without a crack that will be laser installed? It'd be really nice to save $400.

Featured Answer

live_wire_oak

8 years ago

None of that is important. What do their seams look like? What do their counter wall clearances look like? What do their sink reveals look like? What is their reputation? $500 isn't worth horrible seams and fighting to make them do it over. So, look at their work, and don't sweat the price.

Comments (9)

debrak_2008
11 years ago
Ours was done with cardboard. Came out great. Our fabricator said laser has limitations with more complicated layouts where the the counter turns a corner. (outside turn, not inside) Hope that makes sense.
PRO
Granite City Services
11 years ago
I am a fabricator.

Laser or wood doesn't matter if the guy doing the measure is competent.

re: the crack also not a big deal as long as you are ok ith it
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PRO
Salmon Falls Cabinetry
11 years ago
I agree with oldryder. The benefits of each only are benefits to the fabricator. It has nothing to do with the end product.
suzanne_sl
11 years ago
Our granite was templated with a laser system. Here's a 3-1/2 min. video at the bottom of this page which shows how it works.

I'm not sure why laser might have a hard time with outside (or any) corners. This is our outside corner. This was was never intended to have a backsplash, so it had to be right. All of our walls look like this.

The wall opposite the peninsula towards the corner to the right is so not even. The builders 40 years ago placed the wall studs with one crown facing the kitchen instead of away which makes a bulge in the wall at that spot (just to the left of that last outlet). We had to carve the wall board a bit to slide the granite into place and repair it afterwards, but the counters hug the wall the entire distance.

This is where the sink counter dead-ends into the pantry, another spot where the edge would always show. You can see where they shaved a little so the pantry door would open properly. That was done on-site. The back wall is just as tight, although it eventually had a backsplash installed.

I'm quite sure that there are fabricators who template with cardboard or luan or whatever and get really good results. The question is, is your's one of them?

Here is a link that might be useful: Laser templating
PRO
Spencer Bingham
8 years ago
I also am a fabricator, who owns a shop with 14 guys, cnc, pro edge, yukon saw. we use corrugated plastic to template. it has nothing to do with the final product. the reasoning behind the laser template is for the cnc machine you can up load the file straight into the layout system instead of building the templates on the cad program by hand. Now that I have a cnc I am looking into buying a laser template machine but they are over priced and if it only saves me an hour a day its just not worth it and you also still have to have a plotter which prints out the templates for you if you dont have a saw that can take Laser programing or cad.
User
8 years ago
Price is the least important component.
millworkman
8 years ago
Tops should be in and well "lived in or broken in" by now the op started this thread 2 years ago but for some reason someone felt it necessary to dig thru old threads to revive......
homebuyer23
Original Author
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Lol, this was my thread, yes from over 2 years ago, I was surprised to see email updates on it! Fwiw, I cant even remember how the company I ended up using did their templating! I didn't use either of the 2 companies I referenced above. I also didn't use Jet Mist!