C S Tops

C S Tops fabricates and installs granite, quartz and solid surface countertops from a shop on 3050 East in St. George. Fabrication is where a slab becomes a countertop, and the decisions made in the shop - where a seam falls, how an edge is profiled, how an overhang is carried - determine how the finished top behaves for the next twenty years.

Worth knowing

Seams are the most visible of those decisions and the least arbitrary. Slabs have a maximum size, so any run longer than one imposes a seam, and the fabricator chooses its position to serve strength rather than appearance. A seam is placed where the top is fully supported and away from the weakest region, which on almost every kitchen counter is the narrow bridge of stone in front of and behind the sink cutout. A seam through that bridge is a crack waiting for the first heavy pan.

Overhangs follow their own rules. Stone has compressive strength in abundance and much less bending strength, so an unsupported overhang past roughly ten inches to a foot - the figure varies with material and thickness - needs steel or corbels beneath it, and a two-centimetre material needs support sooner than a three-centimetre one. Edge profile is largely aesthetic but not entirely: a squared eave chips more readily than an eased or bullnosed one, which matters on a household counter corner. And an undermount sink transfers its weight and the weight of its contents to the stone through the mounting hardware, so the substrate and clips are structural rather than incidental.

See also epoxy and concrete coating contractors and new build versus established homes. Browse all Cabinets & Countertops in the directory.

Nearby: Webster's Countertops, Guy's Auto Master, Marlin Plumbing Heating & Air.