An information guide to Granite Worktop Templates

If you are looking to template your kitchen work surface, or any other work surface, so that you can install a worktop yourself, then good news – this document should hopefully answer your questions!

In this article, I will be focussing my attention to granite worktops in particular, although this process could be applied to most other forms of worktop, including; wood and marble – I am also assuming that this worktop installation, will include be an under-mounted / Belfast sink.

Tools Required

• Pencil
• Black marker pen
• Stanley knife
• Blank Cordek template
• Square
• A can of glue spray
• A touch of charm

The last point on my list is not essential, but it does go a long way to getting a long line of tea’s and biscuits!

Step 1 – Measuring your worktop

Measure the surface area width where the granite will be placed. It is important to note that when measuring a template, the front edge will normally be 40mm as you will need to give an extra 20mm here, for the drawer or cupboard doors and 20mm excess!

Commonly, we work with worktops which are 610mm in width (including the outer excess), although this has been known to differ.

(Note; you can measure additional worktop surfaces at the same time, placing pencil marks on edges for the template sizes and then repeat the following steps)

Step 2 – Preparing your worktop template

Cut the Cordek template to size using your knife / Stanley blade (be careful not to cut yourself) and place on the top surface of your worktop, where your stone will be set – a good idea (and a trick I employ on a regular basis), is to hold the template in-place, using drawing pins!

(Note; this method only works when the drawing pins stick in – e.g. wood)

Back-in-the-day, we were cursed with creating templates with timber – this meant that we couldn’t see through the template to know where your sink, tap and hob cut-outs would go (with ease) – and we equally, didn’t know where the inner-holes of your cabinets were!

The things we now take for granted eh…

Right!

Take your black marker pen and mark-off where the inner-holes of your cabinets are – you will also need to mark; where your sinks will be fitted, where your taps will be fitted, where your draining grooves will be cut and where your hob cut-outs will be placed…

(Note; remember to mark the document for any extra cut-outs – an example of this could be pipe cut-outs!)

Step 3 – Cut out the cut-outs

Basically, the idea here is to take your template with your markings and measurements on it – place a protective, cut-proof layer underneath it (stone or wood are good choices) and then cut away!

(Note; Always take care when cutting and always remember to have a cut-protective layer underneath your template, when you cut it – I have seen irreversible damage done to lino, wood, carpet and stone in my years as a fitter!)

The next stage would be to get your granite worktop cut with the appropriate holes within!

This is something that you may want your local stone factory to do. You need access to a special kind of saw, to get the job done properly – there is also the polishing of the edges…

In my opinion, it is far safer, both from a financial and a health point-of-view, to get the stone cut by a specialist!

And that’s it!

I hope this information is useful?

If you have any questions relating to this text, or feel that I have left something out and require more information, or if you require information that you feel I may be able to help with, then please leave me a message and I will endeavor to get back to you as soon as I am able…

Happy Days!

Explore posts in the same categories: Granite Worktop Information, Technical Information

Tags: granite, installation, kitchen, template, tips, worktop

You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.