Lost Post: Zodiaq installation

Things were so busy at HH last month, that I never got a chance to get some photos up of the unusual process we went through when our Zodiaq countertops were installed. When they say engineered stone counters, they aren't kidding. Our installers used the latest technology to measure our layout, so the slabs can be cut and manufactured off site. Once we placed the order, they came out and measured with plans to install about 10 days later.

In order to get the proper layout and exact wall dimensions to ensure the counters fit every nook and cranny, their field measurements were done using... a camera? No really! Here's how it works. They had circular stickers about 6" in diameter that were plastered along the backsplash area of the walls above our countertops. These black and white stickers looked like some kind of high-contrast mini dart boards. There were also fancy sliding tools that were laid out at diagonals along the tops of our cabinets.

Witnessing this bizarre process, I asked the measurer guy if I could take some photos for our blog. He replied, "As long as you let me take some photos too." And he pulled out a digital camera and started taking photos from all sorts of angles like mad. It was like some kind of runway photo shoot. The flashes were blinding... but where was Giselle? SIGH ...

In all, there were probably around 50 photographs. Apparently, once the measurer got back to the shop, he simply loaded all photos into a software program, which read the targets and translated them into exact dimensions in a CAD program. My incredulous response was met with an "I've seen this before" look, and once he was done photographing, he took out a tape measure and measured the general dimensions "just to verify," but I think this was really a token effort to appease me.

A week and a half later, when the installers showed up with the actual cut pieces, they slipped into place like a glove. There was only one seam between our stove and sink in the entire installation, which is now hardly noticeable. The Zodiaq counters went in really quickly. Silicon adhesive everywhere, a shim here, a faucet hole there, bada bing, bada boom. And a few hours later, our Cappucino counters were done!

Special thanks to the guys at Sprovieri's for doing a professional job throughout the process.