Has anyone done this themselves? I am having one hell of a time trying to find anyone in my area who can cut and install granite. I found someone who can install, but he cant cut.

I have the saws and equipment to do it, just wondering if anyone else has tried and could give some insight on difficulty/tips.

I wouldn't trust anyone to install my counters that couldn't cut.

That's the difficult part and it usually requires some adjustments.

Be sure to put masking tape over the area you are cutting to prevent chipping, breakout, etc. and ust take your time and everything should be okay!

I have installed my own quartz counter tops before but not granite. Trimming to fit was not that big of a deal since the 2 CM thick splash covered the raw edges. The difficult part was trimming them to length, bullnosing and polishing the exposed ends. The tops I had were longer than I needed. I used a variable speed grinder and stepped my way through various grit sanding discs up to very fine grit and finally a buffing pad.

Turned out pretty well but the proper equipment for polishing can be very expensive. I was fortunate enough to have someone to borrow the variable speed grinder and sanding/polishing discs from.

Diggity said:

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I wouldn't trust anyone to install my counters that couldn't cut.

That's the difficult part and it usually requires some adjustments.

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The guy I located is the installer for several big box stores and local companies. He said the counters he installs are typically cut at the warehouse, and he installs on contract.

Ag In Texas said:

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I have installed my own quartz counter tops before but not granite. Trimming to fit was not that big of a deal since the 2 CM thick splash covered the raw edges. The difficult part was trimming them to length, bullnosing and polishing the exposed ends. The tops I had were longer than I needed. I used a variable speed grinder and stepped my way through various grit sanding discs up to very fine grit and finally a buffing pad.

Turned out pretty well but the proper equipment for polishing can be very expensive. I was fortunate enough to have someone to borrow the variable speed grinder and sanding/polishing discs from.

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Thanks for the advice! The counters we are putting in are actually prefab counters at 8' length, so we would just need to miter the corners, and cut the sink hole. They already have the bullnose edge, and are already polished (though I do have the equipment for polishing as well- my inlaws do a ton of work with rocks, so they have all the equipment).

histag10 said:

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Diggity said:

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I wouldn't trust anyone to install my counters that couldn't cut.

That's the difficult part and it usually requires some adjustments.

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The guy I located is the installer for several big box stores and local companies. He said the counters he installs are typically cut at the warehouse, and he installs on contract.

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Yup, some guys just do straight installs of the granite that was fabricated/polished by a different group. This is not uncommon

Ag In Texas said:

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I have installed my own quartz counter tops before but not granite. Trimming to fit was not that big of a deal since the 2 CM thick splash covered the raw edges. The difficult part was trimming them to length, bullnosing and polishing the exposed ends. The tops I had were longer than I needed. I used a variable speed grinder and stepped my way through various grit sanding discs up to very fine grit and finally a buffing pad.

Turned out pretty well but the proper equipment for polishing can be very expensive. I was fortunate enough to have someone to borrow the variable speed grinder and sanding/polishing discs from.

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For trimming to fit did you use a wet saw? The online info I'm seeing recommends that.

You can dry cut counter top granite with an angle grinder and diamond blade. It helps if the backsplash covers the cut edge, otherwise you have to buy a polishing kit.

I thought you ALWAYS cut any type of rock with a wet saw....

I cut everything dry with a diamond blade on a grinder. Did use a bit of water during final polishing.

You might use water to keep dust down...... it was a very dusty process with the quartz.

I bought a slab of granite about 23" wide that was about 2 ft too long to fit my small bathroom vanity top. So I cut one end off using an angle grinder and diamond blade. Hand held. No problem. I have cut a lot of tile the same way. Also cut the back splash pieces to fit. It does create a lot of dust. I didn't have to do any polishing because all the edges were hidden. The whole project cost $80.
I saw a crew cutting granite slabs in one of my neighbor's front yards the same way the other day. They were also polishing the edges.