Diary of a Fitted Kitchen installation: Part 7
Follow us as we take a journey following our own new kitchen installation from start to finish, giving you a bird’s eye view of the kitchen design and fitting process.
Visit to Stone Circle Kitchen Worktop Fabrication.
After choosing my worktop from Consentino, the slab is supplied to Stone Circle for them to fabricate to my specific design. The worktops have to be templated by Stone Circle’s templater and this involves a visit to your home once all base units are level and fixed into the final position. The wall finishes should be complete and not subject to change between the templating and installation. The sink and hob were in place and the position of the tap holes marked out. Any joins in the worktops were discussed and agreed.
I went along with Mark Dallas from Consentino to see what happens to my slab of Lusso on its journey to my kitchen and it was fascinating experience. Stephanie made us very welcome and showed us through to the factory floor where all the magic happens.
Stone Circle have a fantastic factory with the latest stone cutting CNC equipped machines and technology. They do retain valuable hand skills such as polishing and letter carving, skills that have been carried out by stonemasons for centuries.
Stone Circle are the only factory in the UK to use slabsmith software. This allows them as I understand it to bookmatch with precision, which is the practice of matching 2 or more stone or marble surfaces, so that two adjoining surfaces mirror each other. This wasn’t needed on my worktops but the slabsmith software was used to plot the best layout for my kitchen worktop and adjust to hide any seams, there are also final checks for consistency and adjustments. The machinery used is very impressive and we watched as the details were programmed into the computer and my slab of Lusso Silestone worktop was lifted into the bay to be made in to a kitchen worktop.
We spent a really interesting couple of hours at Stone Circle, you don’t often consider the history of the place your goods are made or the people involved but the company is now run by Steve and Jeff who we personally have known for probably 20 years. Originally set up by their father in 1968 and then called B & V Masonry they have gone from strength to strength to the modern, cutting edge organisation they are today.