The Challenges of Installation
So, what’s the worst installation issue a shop can run into? Many seem to center around big islands and lack of egress to the jobsite … but there are others.
For example, Kahului, Hawaii-based Jim Doran at Ceramic Tile Plus says his worst experiences have come from specially ordered material that’s damaged in shipping, and sometimes rough roads to remote locations on Maui.
Dave Standerfer, owner of Standerfer Stoneworks in Soldotna, Alaska, had the unusual experience of installing a job for a client who was unhappy with the results. The company did an initial repair.
“Then we discovered the foundation was moving,” he said. “At that point, we refused to do any more work until that was fixed, but I had to take them to small claims court to get final payment. We won, but it was a nightmare.”
Another person used to dealing with tough weather is Andy Hohl of Precision Granite in Pagosa Springs, Colo. He says much of the secret to dealing with snow is having good trucks with good tires. However, that doesn’t help when you’re trying to move a job to an upper floor in a condominium building with a small elevator.
“That’s where we boom it onto the upper deck,” he says. “My question to the client is: ‘Do you want it to be in one piece of in two pieces?’ If they really want it, they’ll do two pieces.”
Glenn Woods of Santa Rosa Stone Inc., in Indio, Calif., knows that snow isn’t the only element that can challenge an installation. He’s located in Southern California’s Coachella Valley desert, where summer high temperatures can reach 115°F or more.
“There are pieces of stone, especially when you’re dealing with black granite, that you can’t touch it with your hand without wearing thick leather gloves,” he says.
However, Woods’ biggest challenge is taking shower panels upstairs with multiple landings that have tight turns.
At Frank’s Marble and Granite in Red Lion, Pa., owner Carmine Pantano says stairs of a different sort are often his biggest challenge – although having a crane to boom pieces onto an upper deck helps.
“I’d say the hardest part to install would be in these homes that are bi-level,” Pantano says. “The problem is getting large pieces up the stairs, and then it depends on what’s at the top of the stairs. If it goes right into the kitchen, you’re okay. But if you hit a wall there’s no way to get any large pieces into the house. How are you going to get a 10’ piece into an area that’s 4’ wide?”
It might make a person think that doing an installation in the great outdoors would be easy by comparison, but Mirko Petrov, co-owner of Toronto Granite in Mississauga, Ont., says that’s not always the case.
“We’ve faced a number of challenging install jobs over the years, but one that stands out was a large outdoor barbecue island,” he says. “It required us to navigate steep terrain and challenging access to the job site.”
However, he adds the company did get the installation done successfully and the clients were thrilled – which is always the goal.