What happens to the old top
We or your plumber disconnect the sink and faucet lines before anything else moves. If you are using your own plumber, we work around their schedule. The old countertop is cut free from the cabinets, lifted out in sections, and carried out through the house to be hauled away. Old laminate, tile, granite, whatever is currently on the cabinets comes out the same way. We remove the old sink and any attached hardware along with the top itself, unless you are keeping and reinstalling that sink.
Protecting cabinets and floors
Before anything is cut or lifted we cover the floors and protect the cabinet boxes and surrounding surfaces from dust and scratches. A countertop coming off is a heavier, messier job than it looks from the outside. We check the cabinet tops underneath for damage once the old counter is out (loose glue, water damage, an uneven base) and flag anything that needs attention before the new stone goes in, since a new top installed over a bad base will show it later. Cutting and lifting an old stone counter safely, without cracking cabinet faces or gouging floors, is part of what the crew is trained to do.
How it fits with the rest of the job
Tear-out and haul-away happen at the start of the install visit. We template with the old top still in place, and on install day the crew takes it out, checks the cabinet tops and sets the new stone, so there is as little time as possible with no usable counter in the kitchen. If you want the old top gone sooner (a subtop to repair, or cabinets another trade needs to reach), an early tear-out is available on request. Either way, we or your plumber disconnect the sink and faucet before the old top comes off, and your plumber reconnects them once the new sink is set. Tell us when your plumber can come and we set the install date so the reconnect can follow close behind.
Tear-out fits a full kitchen remodel already underway as well as a countertop-only swap. A builder or remodeler replacing cabinets needs the old top gone and hauled off site before the new cabinets go in, which is where an early tear-out fits. On an apartment or multifamily turn, the same sequencing applies unit by unit: tear-out and install on one visit, cleared and ready for the next crew, so a property manager can keep units moving without one job holding up the next.
We take the old material off site ourselves, so there is nothing left in a driveway or a dumpster for you to deal with once we are done. If you are keeping cabinets that will not be touched again, we mask and protect them the same way we protect the floors, so tear-out does not turn into a second project.
Send the estimate form or call us and we will fold tear-out and haul-away into your countertop estimate.