Out past the inner suburbs, in Galveston County, the sink in a kitchen in Santa Fe may have moved in a past remodel, and the plumbing under it shows where the new cutout lands.
The five stones we cut
We cut and install five materials, and each one fits a different kind of kitchen. Granite is natural stone, quarried mostly in Brazil and India. It handles normal pan heat and resists scratching well, and it needs a penetrating sealer. Quartz is engineered: about 90 percent ground quartz bound with resin and pigment. It never needs sealing, and its pattern holds from one slab to the next. The resin is its weak point, since sustained heat above about 300 F, harsh solvents and direct sun all damage it, so quartz stays indoors.
Quartzite is natural stone too, quartz sandstone fused by heat and pressure. It is harder than granite, carries veining that reads like marble and needs sealing. A few stones sold as quartzite are really dolomitic marble and etch like marble, so it pays to know which kind a slab is before you buy it. Marble is the soft one. Lemon, vinegar and wine etch it, it scratches and it wears a patina over time, which is why people choose it for a vanity, a fireplace surround or a baking station, and for a kitchen when they like the patina. Porcelain comes in large, thin slabs with the pattern printed on the face. It resists heat, sun and stains, which makes it a strong choice outdoors, though a chip in porcelain is hard to repair.
Seams and overhangs
A long run or a large island can need more than one piece of stone. Where the layout allows, the seam goes at the sink or the cooktop, where a cutout already breaks the surface. We cut the joint tight in our shop and fill it on site with epoxy tinted to the stone. A seam is visible if you look closely, and a busy pattern hides it better than a quiet one. You see the seam plan at template, before anything is cut. Seating at an island needs knee room, and on 3 cm stone any overhang deeper than 10 inches gets support brackets.
How a job runs
Every job runs through the same steps with the same crew. It starts with a free estimate at the house. We look at the cabinets, the sink and the cooktop, bring samples of all five materials and give you a written price, with tear-out and the sink install as their own lines. Then you choose the stone. Granite, quartzite and marble are picked slab by slab at any stone yard: you send us a photo of the slab tag, and the slab is confirmed at template. Quartz and porcelain are picked from samples.
Once the cabinets are set and level, our templater comes back and records every wall, run and cutout with a digital template. Someone should be home for that visit, since seams and overhangs get settled on the spot. In our shop, we cut the slab to that template, polish the edges and cut the sink and cooktop openings.
On install day, the crew takes out the old tops and hauls them away, sets the new stone, fills the seams with color-matched epoxy, sets the sink and drills the faucet holes. Granite, quartzite and marble get their sealer before the crew leaves.
Older houses and older cabinets
In an older house, the cabinets under the old top may no longer be level, and the walls may not be square. We check every run with a level before the template, and the digital template records the walls as they are, so the stone is cut to the room and not to a drawing. A cabinet that needs shimming or a repair should be fixed before template day, since fixing it first saves a recut.
Builders, remodelers and commercial work
We also work for builders, remodelers, designers and property managers. Builders and remodelers give us the cabinet date, and we template once the boxes are set, then schedule the install around the other trades. Designers can send drawings with the estimate request, and we check them against the real walls at template. Restaurants, bars, offices and hotels get commercial counters cut in the same shop and set by the same crew. Apartment owners doing unit turns can repeat one material and one edge profile across every unit.
Where we work and how to start
The crew that serves Santa Fe also works in Hitchcock, Dickinson and La Marque, and across the rest of Galveston County.
Ready to price new tops for a house in Santa Fe? Send the estimate form or call, and we will set a time to visit with samples.