Successful Slab Selection

Successful Slab Selection

Would you commission a painting or sculpture to display in your home without consulting with the artist?  If the piece was to be the focal point of your collection, how much license would you grant them?

If you are like most art connoisseurs, you would choose mediums, colors, and textures that not only work in the space but express your refined tastes, and you would communicate your expectations to the artist…before the piece was created!

Choosing the granite or quartz slabs as the focal point of your kitchen is no different. You must know what you want and communicate it to the fabricator before the counters are cut and installed!

Remember the following phrase, and your countertop project will express your individuality and wow everyone who sees it:

Select, Inspect, and Double Check

Select:

Granite and quartz samples are nice in that they are small enough to handle easily and make narrowing selections more efficient.  But because they are natural, the large slabs they represent will often contain variations of all sorts…sometimes to the degree that they may not match your expectations at all.  As such, it is important to personally view and select the individual slabs that will be used for your countertop project.

Granite and quartz that display variation, motion, and movement (exotic materials) are beautiful, unique, and easy to “fall in love” with.  By investing the time to personally view slabs in their totality, you can identify certain characteristics that you must have as well as those that are deal-breakers.

Once you have narrowed your choices and selected a few colors that will work for your project, its time to inspect.

Inspect:

When choosing your material, color and pattern are only part of the selection process. Everyone selecting natural stone needs to “consider the feel” of the surface of the slab.

Natural stone is unique and as varied in composition as the country of origin. Consequently, the surfaces can vary dramatically.  Some slabs are as smooth as glass while others feel rough and pitted. Often, it is the exotic materials that have more variation in the surface and it is easy to be so wowed by the appearance that the texture is over-looked, only to become an unpleasant surprise after the counters are installed and in use.

The most effective way to inspect a slab is by repeatedly wiping a micro-fiber rag across the surface.  If the rag starts to snag, you’ve got to decide if the stunning appearance is more important than the “feel”. How will the reality of living with and wiping off your counter every day impact your level of satisfaction after they’re installed.

Double Check:

After selecting and inspecting your final slab selection, there is still room for unmet expectations because someone has to “lay out” the counters and determine how the individual pieces will be oriented, and where they will be cut out of the slabs. You can leave this decision to the fabricator…but should you? No, because they might miss some of the most beautiful sections of your slab!

After all the time spent searching, comparing, and agonizing over your final slab selection, you must insist on participating in the layout process, giving your input, explaining what features you want prominently displayed, and pointing out what characteristics you want to avoid.

By personally selecting, inspecting, and double checking your granite or quartz slab, you are, by definition, becoming a connoisseur of fine art. You are commissioning the stone as the focal point of your kitchen with the very real expectation that they will please you and all who see them for years to come!

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