Getting Heavy Slabs Into Older Austin Homes

The A-frame cart does one job: it holds a long piece of stone on edge so that two or three people can steer it instead of lift it. Work booked through custom countertops austin tx theo lawrence books starts with the route, because custom countertops cut for an Austin, TX kitchen still have to get through the front door, down a hallway and past a corner.

Narrow doors and old floor plans

Bungalows in Hyde Park and Clarksville were built with doors that suit a person, not a stone piece. A top for a long wall runs eight or ten feet and has to turn a corner to reach the kitchen. Installers measure every door, hallway and turn on the template visit and write the narrowest point on the sheet. If the piece will not pass, the fabricator splits it, and seam placement follows the access path as much as it follows the kitchen layout.

Steps, porches and tight driveways

Houses in Travis Heights and Tarrytown often have steep lots, a few porch steps and a driveway shared with a neighbor. The truck parks where it can, and the pieces are carried on edge, never flat, because a long granite or quartzite piece flexes and cracks under its own weight. Any piece with a sink cutout is the most fragile, since the front strip is thin, so it travels last and with a brace left in the opening.

Summer heat for the crew

Austin has long hot summers, with highs of ninety degrees or more on over one hundred twenty days a year, so installs start early. Stone sits in a hot truck bed and handles fine, but the crew tires fast, and tired people drop corners. Water breaks, shade for the slab staging area and short carries between rests keep the work steady. The resin used on a seam also sets faster in heat, which shortens the time the crew has to line up the edges.

Protecting the house

Doorframes get padded and floors get a runner of heavy board. Quartz, porcelain and marble are all slippery to hold with wet hands, and a piece that swings into a wall takes a chunk out of the plaster. The path is cleared and furniture is moved before the crew arrives, since a clear route is half of a safe carry.

Planning around access

When a house is truly tight, the shop cuts the top in more pieces than the kitchen alone would call for, with seams placed where the pattern or the cabinet can hide them. A remnant that suits a bathroom vanity can be carried by one person, but a main kitchen run cannot, and the template visit is where that gets settled, not the delivery day.