What subtop for granite countertop?

[Paul Shinn]

We are going to have granite countertops installed in our kitchen. I am doing the demo of the old ceramic tile tops to save money. The tile was set in thick mortar on top of chicken wire on top of wooden boards--not a continuous top. I could leave it like that for the installers but we still need to use our kitchen, and things fall through the gaps in the boards. All the boards aren't even in height either--I guess the mortar took care of the leveling. Anyway, I was thinking of taking out the boards and putting down a plywood top (a subtop is not included in the install price). Can I just use some regular old plywood like sandply or outdoor ply for sheathing? Can it be continuous or is the slat method better?

Thanks, Paul

[Rudy]

Ask them, there is more than one way to install granite tops. They'll tell you what they need you to do. I put TEMP plywood on top of the cabinets for the 4 weeks that it took for the stone to be prepared. The granite guys wanted me to remove the ply & beef up the cabinet framing before they arrived to do the install, which I did the AM before they arrived.

R

[mbrooks]

Ask the installers how they want to handle it. They might have ideas about what would work best for them.