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Countertop Replacement, How Does It Work?

Replacing and updating your countertops with beautiful new granite or one of the many colorful and durable quartz materials is probably much easier than you might think. Computers and digital technology have taken the manufacturing of granite and quartz countertops well into the 21st century. The first effect of technology is in the measuring and templating process. New digital devices allow for microscopic accuracy in the field and automatically produce digital drawings which are directly compatible with the computer controlled devices that actually cut and shape the finished product. The virtual elimination of measuring errors, and the errors of humans transferring numbers from one system to another, has reduced the cost of mistakes to nearly zero.

In most (not all) cases, your kitchen can be accurately measured without disturbing your old countertops at all. This process will only take about an hour. After that, the measurements are taken back to our manufacturing facility in Mt. Airy and transferred to the digital systems which control the manufacturing process. Most cutting and shaping is done by computer controlled machinery to ensure the greatest accuracy. Final finishing is done entirely by hand to guarantee the beauty of your new countertops.

Just when you thought things could not be better, along comes the Slabsmith. This system integrates digital photography with the digitally controlled manufacturing process to further reduce costs and waste. First, a digital photograph is taken of the whole slab which has been selected by the customer. The Slabsmith calculates the most efficient cutout of parts from the whole slab and displays this for review on a monitor. This alone makes the process much more efficient.

But, Slabsmith goes much farther. By displaying the digital photo of the slab on a large screen monitor and overlaying the cutout shapes of the various parts in the project, the customer can visualize the actual cut pieces against the grain and color variations of the slab of granite. Some granite has very pronounced grain and variations in color, and the Slabsmith will show a picture of the finished countertops with the pieces in relative position so that the customer can evaluate whether they like the way the seams align the different color patterns. The cutout positions can then be changed to assess the effect it has on the grain and color patterns at the seams. This assures that the customer gets a finished product with which they are thoroughly pleased.

When your new countertops are ready to be installed, our team will remove your old countertops and install the new usually in one day. This means there is very little interruption in your use of the kitchen in most cases. Additional time may be necessary if plumbing is moved, electrical is modified, of if you have included any options such as an elaborate backsplash. You can see the whole process of manufacturing a countertop, including the use of the Slabsmith, in a video on our website – just click this link. Cabinet Discounters has always embraced cutting edge technology to give their customers the best results. You can see some examples of finished projects in the photo gallery on our website.