They area huge PIA for a homeowner to deal with unless you have a specific use for them. You can't handle them by yourself and the end up being in the way. And no, remnants have almost no value except to a fabricator who has the skill to do something with them. Most of the cost of any counter is in the labor, not the material. You think you want the remnant for a vanity, then have the fabricator store it, but don't expect that to be free beyond maybe six months.

I had my leftovers made into trivets and mounted them on fat silver candleholders from Ikea and other cups/candleholders so that I have varying heights. I gave them as cake or cupcake stands to my GC, my architect, my mom, etc....it was a way for them to have a souvenir from the house.

I kept a few and I think they look cute. I use them for entertaining a lot. The largest ones hold a pizza and the smaller ones are more for putting a bottle of wine on or a few candies.

My fabricator didn't blink an eye when I asked him to do this. He quoted me a price and I gladly paid it. He also told me I had a larger piece left and asked me if I wanted him to hold it. He did hold it. And now three years later, because I moved, it's being used as the counter for my daughter's bathroom.

Not all fabricators have the space to hold everyone's remnants, but it goes to show you that sometimes there are fabricators who are very cooperative and know that cultivating relationships by doing a favor may bring return business. Obviously, because he has my remnant slab, he will get my fabrication work for it when I use it, and luckily for him, that small vanity also came with work for my new kitchen, laundry, and other 4 bathrooms. That's a lot of business for just holding my small 3x4 ft piece of granite.

If you want trivets, you should go ahead and get them made for you.

Our fabricator also sells slabs and the contract reads that any remnants belong to them. However, we bought our slabs elsewhere and he fabricated them ... the remnants belonged to us and they are huge. We were going to use them for our fireplace, but couldn't decide. He stored them for us for nearly a year while I hemmed and hawed (sp ?). I felt bad for leaving them there for so long, so we had them picked up and delivered to our house where they are now stored on our side yard on a steel A-frame. I have no idea what we are going to do with them! In hindsight, I should have offered him a trade ... our huge remnants in exchange for something else to do our fireplace with. We had the majority of one slab left over, and I sure wish it were true that "most of the cost of any counter is in the labor, not the materials," as the material was far from cheap and was indeed a big chunk of the cost! It is true, though, that they are a PITA to deal with.

There are almost as many ways to price a stone job as there are fabricators. Some will figure slabs needed as job cost and keep remnants. Others will charge the owner for slabs and add labor and let the customer have the leftovers. There is no right or wrong way. It depends on the fabricators policies.

If you donate to the Restore then some thrifty person like me will stalk the place for right size and color and will buy a quartz top for my oak buffet for $20. DH cut it and polished the edges.

Why you might not want them - large remnants are very heavy. People can get badly hurt if they aren't secured where they are stored.

We kept our remnants - we paid for the slabs and our agreement with our fabricators was that we owned the remnants and could either keep them or let him have them.

We used the largest pieces of our remnants for the fireplace surround when we redid our family room. I'm glad that we kept them as it was an expensive and difficult to match stone. We still have a piece that we may use in the future to replace the powder room vanity and some other smaller bits.

My DH also had the fabricator return the remnant from the black 3 x 8 piece we bought to use for the fireplace hearth. I'd have let the fabricator keep that because it was an inexpensive material and I can't think of a place where we would use the left over.

We are very careful how we store and move them.

Our remnants were granite and quartzite - both are very hard and a homeowner isn't likely to be able to work them. I wonder if it would be more feasible for marble which is softer?

Thanks very much for all the replies. These are 2" thick slabs, so my suggestion to use the leftovers for trivets was more joke than serious. However, there may be other uses.

Our countertops are being installed as part of complete kitchen renovation, so I am trying to stay within the allowance in the contract. We have looked at marble slabs from several suppliers, and I don't think my contractor has an agreement with any specific fabricator.

I will talk to them this week and see if I can get more information. We found slabs with a pattern we liked at a Daltile store and I think that will be the source of the slabs.

Thanks,

Bruce

"It depends on the fabricators policies."

I agree.

When I fabricated solid surface, I would get an occasional customer asking for a cut-out or drop. I explained that they had gotten everything they'd been charged for. Often the cut-outs and drops ended up in their edges or splash.

No one bought sheets from me, they bought finished and installed tops.

Our granite countertops were priced by the square foot. When the man came to measure for the tops my brother was here doing some work for me and inquired about the piece from the sink cut out, saying he wanted to make some trivets for me. (He was looking out for his younger sister, making sure I was getting my money's worth! ) The measurer told him that a square foot of 3cm granite weights more than 20 pounds. I knew I didn't need any trivet that was that heavy. Although my brother was sure I needed them. I would probably end up dropping it on my foot.

I know if I would have to had paid for two whole slabs I would have wanted any remnants that were usable although I don't know where I would have stored them.

After buying a slab for a large vanity, the fabricator gave us about 1/2 slab "credit" for a future project and he sold the other part of the slab. When we did the other bathroom, we chose from his slabs and just paid fabrication. Worked for us!

We had a decent sized piece of soapstone leftover. My husband cut two pieces for me that together fit the oven shelf perfectly for a pizza stone.
I've seen small cubes cut from soapstone to be used as frozen drink cubes instead of ice.
If I didn't have soapstone counters I would seek out a hunk of it just for thawing frozen meat. It sucks the cold right out!

And they make lovely decorative table tops to be used in foyers, bedrooms...

I have a large chunk in my back yard, after moving it from my last house. Hey, you never know when you'll have to remodel something! I am sure the movers were not amused, but I think I will have a spot for it in my new kitchen. Or my new bathroom. Or leaning against my shed. Right now I am running the long-term cherry and bird poop stain test.

LOL, fori. I pity the mover who has to move my two humungous slabs. Now that they are in my yard, I have the sinking feeling that they are never going anywhere. I have no idea how anyone could even lift them to get them onto a truck.

I guess no one else subscribes to my "less is more" theory. I'd rather have to buy it again than keep it "just in case". That goes for marble slabs, kitchen utensils, clothes, hairbands, everything :-)

I apologize in advance if this is duplicative, as I have not read all the posts.

First of all, I would mark up a photo of the slab to chose what coloration goes where (unless it is pure white like a Thassos, you will probably have parts of the stone you like better than others).

Second, I repurposed whatever I could. My marble is an aged marble called Dolomya and it was quite dear. I joke that I'd have make chopstick holders from it!

I only used it on one of my islands, so I had a lot left. I used some for a small desktop, and some for a pastry board (or cheese board).

Third, each cut costs money, quite a bit IIRC, so keep that in mind.

LOL @sjhockeyfan, I read your last sentence as "husbands" instead of "hairbands". That could apply too.

chiefy, definitely applies :-)

There is a stone working business here that leaves a trailer out front with small bits and pieces that they let people come and rummage through for crafts..my sister built a decorative 'walkway' out of some; I used some black marble for a border around my daffodils, it is really cool, looks like water and reflects the sky and the flowers. I use some for edging around other plants, and some larger pieces for random 'stepping stones' in my back yard (set in ground level). Be inventive if you have some left over material, it can provide some unusual but striking features!

the pieces I have are 6 inches thick, they are pretty big in size, we cannot pick them up, we will need a machine to move them. I'm looking for ideas what to do with them? I would not mind using them in the yard. Ideas would be appreciated.

If you bought them, you own them! I'm sure you could sell them, especially if they're 8' long and wide enough for a bathroom vanity :)

I understand I own them :) I did not buy them, they were left on the property I bought. I'm just looking for ideas on how to use them. I don't think I can use them in the house as they are hard to move...they are the size of big monuments

firstmmo, that is a great idea and they look beautiful!!!
Maxine Q, how about a counter by the grill
outdoor coffee table, outdoor endtable, if slab is big enough, outdoor dining table. if polished, i wouldn't use for stepping stones since they would be slippery when wet....maybe u can use honed, but i would try it first
cut into small rectangles for flower bed border....
out door shelves for flower pots, candles, seasonal items like pumpkins etc....

i had them use some of my scraps for my kitchen windowsill and turntable which i put my napkin holder, S&P shakers etc...
we also got the cutout from the cooktop, which we have yet to utilize, but it will be going outside prob for counter or small coffee table.
for some reason, we forgot to get the cutout from our sink, but if my memory serves me, i think they used that for the turntable...

check on Pinterest for ideas

firstmmo, if you see this - do you remember the diameters of the various circles you had made from your leftover stone? they came out so beautiful - love the idea.

i was thinking 12'' ones for cake stands and maybe 18'' for a lazy susan (or do you think that would make it too heavy?)

When you bought the tops, did you purchase slabs separate from fabrication? Probably not, suppliers only sell to fabricators. Because, normally you are buying the sq ft for your counter tops, and fabricators only charge you for exactly that. Technically, you're not the one buying the slabs, they are. You are just buying the sq ft amount needed for your counter. Any left over belongs to them. Example: If your tops are only 70sf and that's what you paid for, then I don't see any reason why you would be charged two slabs of 120sf.

As mentioned above, if you purchased your slabs directly from the yard then they are yours to do as you please. Note that the price you paid (if purchased directly from a yard) would be in the $7 to $10/sq. ft range (depending on stone type, location, etc). If, however, you purchased the 'slabs' from your fabricator, your fabricator owns the slabs and is selling you a finished job; priced between $30 and $100 sq/ft.

Typically, a fabricator purchases a slab, cuts whatever sections are needed for your project (charges you accordingly) and stores the remnants for resale to other customers in smaller jobs.

A friend used her leftover counter top as serving trays. One is large enough for a family size pizza ( family of 5). A neighbor told me that he used the cut out from his sink as a serving tray. I had not considered keeping the cut out until he mentioned it.

Using natural stone in 2 or 3cm as a serving tray isn't a very good idea. Stone will scratch stone and if you drop it on your foot you'll be in trouble.

My fabricator made me a "tray" (cheese board? serving tray?) out of some leftover Ceasarstone. I liked it at first, but it's way to heavy to actually use, so I put it away.

sjhockeyfan325, do you know the approximate dimensions of your cheese board/serving tray? And how heavy would you say it is?

It was probably 18" x 14" or so (I'm doing this from memory). I have no idea how heavy, but believe me VERY heavy (I'd rather move my KA mixer around than have to lift that piece of Ceasarstone!). I'm not sure whether I still have it (I might have given it away). If I do, I'll weigh and measure it tonight.

sjhockeyfan325, thanks so much! I'm still considering making cake trays out of our leftover quartz pieces, so I'm trying to figure out the optimal sizes to avoid them being too heavy. If you do still have your cheese board and wouldn't mind measuring it later, I'd really appreciate it :) Either way, thanks for your response!

Anyone who has retained remnants but not found anything in particular to do with them might offer them on craigslist, for money, or on freecycle, to get them a good home. People who get things cheaply or free will go to a lot of trouble to transport them safely.

3cm granite weighs about 18 pounds per square foot. That would put a 14" x 18" tray at about 30 lbs.

I have some friends who have a circle, probably about 2-foot across, of marble for serving cheese. When they entertain, they always have various artisan cheeses on it and it always looks so divine that I almost feel guilty for eating the cheese and messing it up. But then it looks equally cool messy. Yeah, I know it's heavy. She usually has her DH place it for her.

I try not to keep things around "just in case" or simply because they were expensive. Those things are usually clutter for a couple years, then they're thrown away. I wouldn't keep a stone remnant unless I had a definite plan for it.

Let's make a list of things you could do with remnants. Other people's ideas might help us use bits and pieces wisely.

- Trivets, cutting boards

- Tops for small vanities in powder rooms

- Incorporate into outdoor kitchen /grill area as a no-burn area

- Break into pieces and use as stepping stones or decorative pieces in a garden

- Use as an outdoor coffee table top

- Tabletops for end tables, sofa tables, or nightstands

- Hearthstone or mantle for fireplace

- Seat in the shower, especially if it's a triangular corner seat

I love this idea

Custom Granite Serving Tray or Hot Plate · More Info

If you had the handles, how would you attach them?

mrspete I would have the fabricator attach them.

mrspete - You can use a two part epoxy that's designed for masonry (JB Weld, Lepage, etc) - they are available at nearly every hardware store and Walmart. You should be sure to remove any granite sealer and 'scuff up' the granite before applying epoxy so that it can properly bond - the same goes for removing coatings that would hinder adhesion on the handle.

Braydon , thanks for the info. Do you know where to find the handles that look like the one in the above photo?

When those handles come off, it's going to be ugly

Taylor's Cabinets & Interiors - why would they come off - will it be ugly because of damage to what it falls on or the mess on underneath the handles. Are you talking about them coming off because of the glue? I really want to do that on my sink round and the fabricator said he could do it if I found the handles. I don't know that he was going to use epoxzy.

Imagine that 20-40 lbs of stone landing on your feet...

I would NEVER EVER trust something that heavy and portable to any epoxy. And yeah, I've seen the ones the hacks use to fasten sinks. I'd want mechanical fastening, through drilled holes.

Great info - so IF i can find the handles, I should make sure the fabricator drill versus glues. It is heavy, I just weighed it and it is 14 lbs. Thanks Taylor's Cabinets & Interiors and Sophie Wheeler.

And make sure you don't sit it on a surface you care about, unless you put some serious pads/feet on it.

I have the serious pads and feet. Thank you again!

I know this thread is old, but if you have a leftover piece that's a decent size you can use it for the top for an outdoor bar or as a countertop/shelving in a pantry.