Written by the Stone Restore Solutions team in Grove, Oklahoma. Published · last reviewed for accuracy .
Choose material early
Slab selection can happen well before anything is installed, and choosing early is usually the right call: cabinet colour, backsplash, paint and hardware are all easier to settle once the stone is decided.
Because natural stone varies slab to slab, seeing the actual material early avoids designing a room around a photograph.
Template after cabinets are set
Templating measures the room as built, not as drawn — walls out of square, a wall that bows, a run that is a quarter inch off. That is only possible once the cabinets or bases are in place and level.
This is why countertops arrive after cabinets on every schedule, and why a template date moves when a cabinet date moves.
Remodels: living with the work
On a remodel there is a window between removing the old tops and installing the new ones, so plan for the sink to be out of service during it.
Tell us early about anything that constrains the schedule — a plumber's availability, a family event, a rental turnover — and we will work the sequence around it.
New builds: coordinating with your builder
On new construction we coordinate directly with the builder or cabinet installer so templating lands at the right point rather than being chased.
Sinks, faucets and cooktops should be on site before templating, because their real dimensions drive the cutouts.