Measuring Countertop Square Footage

I'm having a granite countertop put in and would like to know the experiences that others have had.

What is the conventional way to measure "square feet" to be multiplied by the advertised price per square foot?

This is a description of the method my contractor is using

(1) First divide the counter up into rectangles in the obvious way -- the piece along each wall is a rectangle, the backsplash pieces are rectangles, etc.

(2) Calculate the square footage of each rectangle.

(3) For the corner cabinet, which is a 33 inch corner, calculate it as a 33' by 33' square. (In other words, add the triangular piece they're going to lop off.

(4) Round each measurement up to the next square foot.

(5) Add them up.

The devil is in the details -- number 4 in particular -- at $60 a square foot, the rounding up makes a big difference.

Does anyone know if this is standard?

Thanks very much.

CCS

Reply to
ccs>ikyr
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It is standard practice in many industries to round up and to charge for any scrap.

The outfit buying the material will generally have to buy his material in 1' increments. If you need only 7' 4", what happens to the other 8"? Probably scrap. Sometimes it is salvageable by someone for making a clock or whatever, buy you don't build a business on "maybe" uses for cut offs.

In some cases countertop is price by the linear inch. Results will be the same. On a given project that needs plywood, it comes in 4 x 8 sheets, or

32 square feet. and let's just say it is $1 a sq. ft. Let's say you need 20 feet. I have to buy 32 feet Would you feel better if I charge you a flat $32 for material or if I charged you $1.60 per square foot? Either way, you pay for what I can't use.
Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

A friend of mine just installed granite in his kitchen. Length X width then they added 10%. That is the square feet that he paid for. $60 is competive. My friend paid $6k finished and installed for 32 feet including the 5 inch back splash.

Like boats and air planes if you have to ask you cant afford them.

Reply to
SQLit

I would not play the $/SF game. Have them quote total price for the job. Compare bid totals, you do not care how they arrived at the bid total.

How much did your car cost per tire?

Reply to
MikeP

Thanks for the comments.

I agree with MikeP, what matters in the end is how much you pay for the job. At the moment, in the middle of a kitchen remodel, it's a bit hard to get more bids for the counter.

The problem I have is assessing a two-part price. One part is the price per square foot and the other is "square feet". The price per square foot came in reasonable relative to what others are charging. My question is how standardized the "square feet" measurement approach is.

As Edwin said, the contractor can't return the scrap materials, so some consideration for that is reasonable. SQLit's friend had a bid that added 10%. In my case the square footage goes from 67 square feet when measured as actual surface to 80 square feet using their method. That's about 20%. Seems a bit rich to me, but what do I know?

I plan on asking the counter guys to give me the scraps and figure out ex post what they used, but that doesn't help me now.

Any other thoughts?

Reply to
ccs>ikyr

And the quality of the job. That should come before concern about price, especially considering the number of junior-bacon cheeseburgers you're talking about. You don't want to be wishing later on that you'd spent more for a better job.

Reply to
Michael Keefe

Naturally, and the installer is very highly rated for quality. I don't mind paying for that and fully expect I will.

I do object, however, to the price popping up by $950 because of this rounding approach.

I called three well-regarded other installers this morning, and all reported that you pay for square feet you use, period, with the exception of the cutout for the sink, which you pay for. They all indicated that the bottom line cost from the scrappage is included in the price they set per square feet.

Reply to
ccs>ikyr

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