or How I Finally Got My Vacation

Peter J. Marcucci

Special Contributor

I will never forget the look of angst and pity in my supervisor’s eyes when I asked, “What’s to cut?” hoping to get through my pre-vacation week easily. He began peeling clipboards off the wall hooks. Five to be exact. All kitchens—all separate residences—all the same material: Namibian White.          

8:00 Monday Morning, Fall 2003

“Cool—easy money!” I thought. I’ve been given a handful of jobs before and simply breezed through the day non-stop. I then asked where the bundle was? 

“Well,” he said clearing his throat, “there is no bundle. Only eleven slabs in three separate locations and just enough to get all of these kitchens cut. And by the way, all five jobs need client approval before cutting.” 

Okay. I’ve cut plenty of jobs when material was tight. This is no biggie—or so I thought.

Shortly after locating these three groups (and here’s the rub), it was easy to see they varied in size, shade and thickness. Challenging to say the least. But always up for a good challenge, my first thoughts for getting through this nightmare was to implement my number one rule: get organized and know the options, but first I needed A-frames—lots of A-frames. 

Slabs were then grouped according to size and placed close together with book-matched slabs even closer. With all undesirable areas marked in grease pencil, I began getting organized by numbering all countertop drawings to their corresponding templates as well as noting all splash measurements. 

It soon became clear that 2 of 5 kitchens had countertop runs longer than the longest slabs, and would have to jump from one book-matched slab to the next for a seam match. (In this market, seam matching was not an option—it was a must). 

And did I mention that splashes had to not only match their countertops, but also match each other? One kitchen high bar even featured a cascade of matched color down the splash and onto the lower top. No pressure here! 

So, template by template, and slab by slab, so went my trial and error layouts using the most desirable areas for each focal point of each kitchen. Very important at this stage: know your focal points, and know what the clients want before they do.  

And there stood my eleven slabs with templates marked in grease pencil. Undesirable areas were either placed in cutouts, toward the back, or were avoided altogether, and yes, the material is tight and no room for even one mistake, but it works. 

And there stood me, drawing representations of each countertop on eleven separate drawings of slabs. It was now time to sell my ideas to our clients, and so I did, one client at a time all afternoon. Some made small acceptable changes, while others made a mess as I stood back watching. 

When finished, those few turned to me for agreement and I simply replied, “Sure, we can do that, but remember the matched seam and cascade effect you loved so much? Unfortunately, your way, that’s not possible anymore.” And like so many clients in the past, once they compared theirs to mine, they easily went back to my original proposal.

Ah, done with layouts—and now the fun part—keeping all those promises I made and no mistakes. Focus. Focus. Focus.

                                                                                                                                        

Tuesday Morning

The following day in paradise began by loading the saw with the “smallest” of eleven slabs. With all five layouts fresh in my mind and notes in my hand, I began by cutting 2-3 kitchens per slab (a necessary strategy). This worked well as long as any mixed shades used in the same kitchen were kept separate, such as a desktop or island. 

Another factor that saved me was the use of good, old-fashioned wood templates. Yes, I am totally cool with laser templating, but using stick templates during this multiple job, multiple slab layout allowed me to push the limits of material to the max by making clear to me, and the client, just how far I could intrude into undesirable areas. 

Wood templates also allowed me to push the back edge of all splash covered countertops into slab drill holes with accuracy. Sometimes every gained millimeter is crucial to success. 

As Thursday evening approached, I was loading my last slab. Everyone could now breathe easier. 

TGIF

By Friday noon all five kitchens were cut and into production with only a 36˝ x 42˝ and a 13˝ x 60˝ leftover. As long as my colleagues in fabrication and installation were careful, all five kitchens would golden, as would my vacation. 

Had I made just one mistake during cutting or handling, we would have had to order a supplement slab. Yes, we’ve all done that before, but how far and long would we have had to search for a thickness and color match to a kitchen already cut? Lower profits anyone? No? See my point? 

Eight Tips That Got Me 

Through That Week

1) Stay cool, focused and resourceful, and refuse to “cut corners” to save time, or give in to a second-rate job. Had I given in we would have never received client approval. 

2) Most clients don’t have a clue about countertop placement or what is possible, so it’s up to you to educate them. Know what they want before they do, and show them that their happiness is just as important to you as it is to them. 

Know what you are going to tell them and why. Be flexible, but stay firm on your beliefs. If they want to play around let them; when they’re finished, show them why your way is better. If they are insistent on using their way, just realize that their way will make them happy—even if you know better.  

3) After material and layout approval, close the deal by saying, “We’ve all made good decisions and I don’t see any problems at this time, but I will call you if there is.” Trust me, as long as you’ve done your job till now, they will walk away confident that they’ve picked the right company, salesman, and cutter.

4) No matter how large the job, before beginning, open up all slabs and get the big picture of what you have and don’t have to work with. Know your options before you begin, and don’t assume the next slab is as usable as the last. 

Colors, cracks, unpolished areas and scratches always vary. Be especially wary if you’ve received two or more slabs for the same job and they are of different size. Again, know your options. 

5) When necessary, place a countertop in need of a matched seam on top of a full slab or remnant while moving and comparing for accuracy. It’s amazing how well you can fake a seam transition with many materials.

6) Before cutting a job that’s tight on material, whenever possible, begin with the largest countertop from the smallest slab and working your way to the next largest.

7) When cutting a slab that is laid out so tight that it looks like a jigsaw puzzle, fully mark out each piece with grease pencil so you know where your stopping points are and, where needed, separate countertops by only a blade-width.

8) Accuracy first—speed second. Don’t give into production pressure, and don’t pressure your blade by pushing it faster than it was designed for. It may overheat and cup. 

This cupping action then creates more heat—creating more cupping and more heat, leaving you with a ruined blade and a countertop with curved seams. If it’s a blade sold through Braxton-Bragg such as a Diamant-D—that probably won’t happen.

Peter J. Marcucci has over 25 years of fabrication experience in the stone industry. Send your comments to our Contacts page