How do you install quartz countertops? Of all the questions we get whenever we begin building a new custom Vancouver home, this is perhaps one of the more interesting ones.
Many people who trust Larch Construction to take on a project as important as the construction of their custom Vancouver home don’t much care how their quartz countertops are installed.
If you’re one of them, skip over this article knowing that your countertop will be installed with precision, skill, and attention to detail and that your countertop will be a stunning addition to your kitchen.
If you’re the type who longs to know how everything works, and that having a good understanding of the painstaking steps it takes to create quartz countertop masterpieces is important to you for no other reason than that you’ll have epic stories to tell future houseguests, keep reading.
How Most People Think Quartz Countertops Are Installed
If you ask the average person how quartz countertops are installed, they’ll probably say something to the effect of, “Well, I suppose they measure the area the countertop goes, order it to size or cut it, then attach it to the cabinetry.”
This is a rudimentary understanding of how a do it yourself type person might install a countertop if they lacked the training, the skill, or the equipment needed to do the job right.
How Larch Construction Installs Quartz Countertops
Compare what you just read to how Larch Construction installs quartz countertops:
- Our skilled tradesmen bring in precision measuring equipment (the cost of which can range from $10,000 up to $25,000) to measure the exact area your quartz countertop will occupy
- These measurements are stored for future use when your custom quartz countertop is ordered (and later installed)
- Because many walls are not plumb, a plan is put into place to ensure that cheap fillers won’t be used to fill the empty space. Instead, we measure precisely
- Remember those precise measurements I mentioned? These precise measurements are taken because they will be used to exactly manufacture each piece, so that they can be properly installed when they are delivered, which means the pieces will fit together snugly, without gaps.
- As your quartz countertop is installed, special compressors and glue are used to connect each piece together. Because of our precision process, seams are nearly invisible to the naked eye. Cheaply manufactured quartz countertops have massive gaps between the pieces, which is a recipe for disaster.
The reason quartz countertop installation is a huge challenge is one of Geometry: Quartz comes in big rectangular slabs… and kitchens come in every conceivable shape and size.
As a result, the tradesman who cuts the quartz has to be able to envision what the finished countertops will look like, then cut them into smaller pieces in a way that allows them to be put back together when they are installed in your home.
The secret to truly remarkable quartz countertop installation is making the small pieces which make up your countertop look like a big continuous piece.
Only a master craftsman can put the pieces back together and glue them in a way that is nearly indiscernible to the naked eye.
This seamless look is a true master skill that very few people can say they have mastered. A lot goes into mastery of this skill, including using good glue and compressors to create the tightest bond possible.
Because good compressors are expensive, high-quality quartz countertops must also be expensive, although the best equipment and materials are useless in the hands of an inexperienced or inept craftsman.
Larch Construction uses only skilled craftsmen who are experienced and have been thoroughly tested after having successfully completed many quartz countertop projects enough times to be able to call themselves masters at their craft.
This is the precise process Larch Construction follow each and every time we install a custom quartz countertop when we build a new home.
A Final Thought About Quartz Countertop Installation
Not all contractors are as painstaking to detail as we are. We think this is a big deal – and you will too, especially when your countertops are still in immaculate condition 10 or 15 years in the future.
This is vitally important information to know whether Larch Construction is your contractor or not.
A Final Thought
The thoughts above are just a few of the details that go into planning custom Vancouver homes that are built to last. There are many pieces of the custom home building puzzle – budgeting, design, planning, building, and many others – that can help you make your Vancouver custom home a reality for you and your family.
When you’re ready to begin a conversation about how Larch Custom Home Construction can be a valuable resource in building your custom Vancouver home, you can reach out to us to get started.