Ten steps to a streamlined job

1 - Measurements and/or site visit.

2 - Estimated costings submitted.

3- Pricing approval time and any amendments to ideas.

4 - Ordering the stone.
Stone is a natural substance and can be variable, so although some can be fairly reliably approved and ordered straight from samples shown, others are highly decorative and totally individual from slab to slab. These need client approval for each piece. This can involve the client or designer being taken to the stone yard or to the showroom.

5 - Deposit for 50% to cover the raw stone purchase. This happens before or after no 4.

6 - Allow for stone delivery time.
This is instant if we have it already, or only a short while if the stoneyard have it in stock. If you have chosen a stone that is not in stock and needs to be imported from a quarry abroad, this can take many weeks if a container is being waited for. A job well planned in advance can accomodate all of these times.

7 - A site visit for templating and checking other reliant trades progress.

8 - Cutting the stone and polishing at the workshop.

9 - Site visit to fit the stone.

10 - Client approval and final installment, payable upon completion.

Pricing

Smaller domestic jobs... allow for 50% deposit and 50% due immediately upon completion.

Larger industrial sites... allow for 50% deposit for the whole site. Upon multiple rooms/sections, each individual agreed area will be invoiced upon its completion, and payment due upon invoicing.

All matching tiles ordered must be paid for in advance. Your builder will normally organise his own tiler. We only fit slabwork. We may know of a good tiler working in your area, but he will be a separate trader to ourselves.

Please note that all the stonework provided and fitted, remains the property of Rectory Stone until the work has been finished and the invoice paid for in full.

Top tips to think about to obtain an accurate costing

Measure the area or drawings and give us the basic dimensions. We can price from drawings, architects plans and even a rough sketch, as long as all the dimensions are present.

Do you have the sink dropping on top of the stone, or will you have the sink underneath the stone?

Are your tap holes needing to be drilled through the stone?

Indicate which edges are polished.

Have a think about what sort of edge polish you would like, straight with a pencil curve edge up to a fully rounded bullnose or if you have a softer stone like marble, even a decorative ogee.

Might you have splashbacks along the wall edge? How high would you like them?

What colour is the stone you are thinking of? Some colours and stones are much more rare and expensive than others. A very slight change in your choice can make a huge difference to the price and the final look you are after.

Let us know what you expect from the stone. Should it be durable? Granite is good for kitchens, marble or softer stones can be used for bathrooms. Floors need to have their type of use considered carefully.

Consider your templates. We make them for you usually, but if your builder would like to, then we will only price for checking them. Accurate templating is a vital part of a job and can save much trouble and time later on. Some jobs that are not moulding to a wall or shape, do not need templates, such as island units.

Will your builder want to fix the stone in or would you like us to do so?

Builders/architects planning timeline hints

Whether you are part of a larger construction site, or a small domestic job. Let us know your planned dates as early as possible and keep us up to date with how the job and other trades are progressing. This enables us to leave a space for your job rather than putting you to the end of the queue. This communication saves any avoidable frustration of waiting when you are within sight of the end of a building project. This may be obvious, but often does not happen.

Top tips for keeping within time, budget and sanity

Templating:- Make sure all sinks, taps and anything going in, or on, the stone are on site prior to templating. This avoids any issues at the hardboard stage before mistakes get expensive.

Carcasses, sinks and baths etc. need to be fixed firmly in place and levelled using a spirit level to check. Stone is extremely heavy and needs something sturdy to sit on or hang onto.

Walls need to be finished plaster and any new tiling is recommended to be done after the stone is fitted. You may be amazed how many people get the templates made first, and then plaster and tile the same walls without considering the reduction it makes to the area the stone is to be fitted into. This can result in the stone sometimes having to be taken away again to be recut, causing a delay, or at best, a major recut on site making a big mess on a nearly finished site with fine stone dust getting everywhere.

Consider the other services involved, such as electricians, plumbers etc whose work will affect the timing for your stone fitting? Make sure they are on target in advance, before you are in the situation where the stone fitters turn up on site and find they cannot fit the stone for a while because the sink is not attached or the plumbing is still being worked on. This will result in a completely unecessary hourly site waiting charge for each of the labour force involved and possibly a parking charge in London. If they have to leave to fit someone elses job, you may be left with your site unfinished until they can reshedule your job.

Cancelling a fitting job the night before, or on the morning it is due in, will obviously incur the top cancellation charge of a full days cost of all the labour employed for that day and the travel costs involved. We will try and avoid making this full charge if we have other things we can be getting on with. The timing of your job may then be affected by waiting, as other jobs will have been scheduled around your missed slot.

All late cancellations cause problems, even during the week before, and can easily be avoided by communication earlier on. Let us know early on if you can see your site schedule is lagging.

The opposite is also avoidable. Fitting the finished stone too soon in a site, so that the other tradesmen work or walk on it. This can result in an extra polishing cost to rebuff any scratches or accidental knocks.

Allow a little time for sealants to evaporate before living in an area they have been applied to. They can be quite strong.

To give you a really rough idea of our timing. An average kitchen, in a stone that is available, with good work planning and scheduling, is approximately 10 working days. This is for guidance only. Your own job timing will depend on your own specifications.

You may be nicely surprised at what you can do, by phoning us to have a chat, or send an early, rough drawing by e-mail for an idea of pricing and timing to Rectory Stone at enquiries@rectorystone.co.uk