So, What Do Fabricators Actually Do?
Most people don’t know what a fabricator does, and most probably don’t really care, until they are remodeling a kitchen. Then, who does what can be downright confusing. Fabricators transform a slab of stone (natural or man-made) into a finished product such as kitchen countertops, bar tops, furniture tops and vanity tops. While fabricators also import natural stone from Brazil, India and other countries, most fabricators buy stone slabs from distributors.
At Merrimack Stone, we are fabricators who source stones from local distributors including natural stones, quartz and porcelain so we that have a variety of stones in our showroom to view and choose for your project. We also partner with a number of local distributors who import stones from all over the world, so that our customers have the largest selection to choose from, although most of our customers are able to find the right stone for their project in our showroom.
If a homeowner chooses a slab or slabs from a distributor, we coordinate all details directly with the distributor including transportation of the slab and pricing. Distributors in New England do not sell directly to homeowners. When a homeowner chooses a stone or two that they like for their project, the distributor contacts us, and we prepare the estimate for the homeowner’s approval so that the stone can be held and purchased on the homeowner’s behalf by us from the distributor. The cost for the project will include the slab cost, cost for fabrication (transforming the stone slab to a kitchen countertop, for example) and installation.
Fabricating the Stone
Once we have the slab(s), we create a template of the kitchen layout using digital measurements taken at the home or work site. The digital measurements are also used to determine the fabrication costs including edge choice, cuts for sinks, faucets and stove as examples, plus installation.
Once the template is created and the placement on the slab is determined, the slab(s) are sent to the fabrication shop. See a video of our fabrication shop. The slabs are cut with a diamond saw. The sink is cut out, and all the edges are polished to match the finish on the face of the slab. Once the fabrication is complete, we schedule a convenient time for installation.
We invite you to come to our showroom to see the natural stone, quartz and porcelain we offer. In order to make the most of your visit, appointments are recommended but are not required.