Installation

If you have existing countertops and you or your contractor does the removal of old countertops, they need to be removed completely before our team arrives at your home. Make sure that the countertops are removed entirely including any sinks or cooktop etc. so only cabinets are visible.

In case removal of existing countertops is part of our project, our team will carefully remove them from the cabinets, trying their best to avoid any damage to the cabinet or wall. If you have laminate counters with backsplash, sometimes a bit of the wall plaster will come off with the old counters. Don’t worry; usually your new granite or tile backsplash will cover up those marks. If not, they are easy to patch by your contractor.

Once AMF  installers have made sure the space is ready, they will begin carrying in the individual pieces of stone . Since granite is a natural material and very heavy, most kitchens will have several sections of stone that will be expertly seamed together during the installation.

Once it is laid on a level surface, you will never have to worry about your granite, marble, soapstone, or quartz cracking, but our team will use extra care in moving the pieces, since unsecured stone is not as stable.

 It is very important that the cabinets are as level as possible and completely secured to the wall before the granite is put in place. In case of free standing islands, all the cabinets of island need to be securely anchored to the floor. This protects the stone from tipping hazard.

Our guys won’t need to spend as much time with the level tool if your cabinets are new, but this is an important step for any installation. If this step is done correctly, you won’t have to think about replacing your countertops for the lifetime of your home.

If cabinets are completely out of level, and the unevenness cannot be rectified by placing shims under the new granite countertops, then the cabinet contractor needs to level the cabinets.

Obviously it a very unpleasant situation for the home owner and a labor time wastage for granite company.

In order to prevent such unforeseen situations, AMF Brothers recommends the removal of existing countertops before the measurement is done.

That way the levelness and sturdiness of the cabinets may be evaluated well before the installation day, preventing the unpleasant last minute surprises.

That is why we put so much emphasis on maintaining a highly trained staff with years of experience. Any variations in the plane will be offset with small, wood shims as the granite or other surface is laid down (a shim is a thin, wood wedge cut specifically for the home improvement industry).

If you have chosen an under-mount sink (which is the most common type of sink installation), at this point one of the installers will attach our rail or clip system for keeping that sink nice and snug up under the granite.

Once the cabinets are found to be within the permissible levels, our installers will lay the pieces of the granite in place on the counters. Then they will use an epoxy at the seams to cement the pieces of marble, granite, soapstone, or quartz to each other.

There are two types of epoxy: clear and a neutral color, which we color and blend onsite to carefully match your countertop color. As soon as the seams are dry, they will carefully skim off excess epoxy with a razor blade to ensure the seam is as smooth as possible. Then the granite will be further secured to the cabinet with onsite prepared attachment blocks called ‘bondo blocks’.

It’s important to note here that no wall is perfectly straight, not even in brand new homes. We capture the imperfections by our digital templating system while measuring your countertops and scribe the backside of the granite counters to match the imperfections of the wall.

But in-spite of these best stone fabrication methods, you may see some gaps between the backside of the granite counters and the wall.

It may bother some home owners, but good news is that your tile or granite backsplash will cover that up completely.

If you have ordered matching granite backsplash, the guys will probably need to make some minor adjustments to those pieces for a tight fit before installing them and setting the seams in the same way as the decks (the main, horizontal pieces of countertop).

If you have a cooktop (as opposed to a slide in range), the installers may need to cut the hole for it out on-site.

With many stones, it is risky to try and transport the stone all the way to your house with that large of a hole. So, our craftsmen back at the shop will usually create notches (get the cuts started). Then the installers will finish the cuts of cook-top inside once the stone is set on the counters. If we need to do it inside, we will use at least one shop vacuum to collect the dust as we cut.

Even though we clean up afterwards, you probably will get a little dust in your home around the job site.

That is why we advise homeowners to keep any nearby furniture or house hold objects to be covered and protected from the dust.

If you have ordered matching granite backsplash, the guys will probably need to make some minor adjustments to those pieces for a tight fit before installing them and setting the seams in the same way as the decks (the main, horizontal pieces of countertop).

If you have a cooktop (as opposed to a slide in range), the installers may need to cut the hole for it out on-site.

With many stones, it is risky to try and transport the stone all the way to your house with that large of a hole. So, our craftsmen back at the shop will usually create notches (get the cuts started). Then the installers will finish the cuts of cook-top inside once the stone is set on the counters. If we need to do it inside, we will use at least one shop vacuum to collect the dust as we cut.

Even though we clean up afterwards, you probably will get a little dust in your home around the job site.

That is why we advise homeowners to keep any nearby furniture or house hold objects to be covered and protected from the dust.