Stone cutting services - Getting stone cut off site

[mickavalon]

I'm currently quoting a design that specs Granite Paving that edges an Oval Swimming Pool and Circular Path that surrounds the Pool, all to be made precise to the Plans i.e not cut by us with a stihl saw.
Does anyone know or have experince of getting such work done, especially by anyone in the Midlands?

[Ted]

Can a local funeral place help? I have heard they are cheaper than granite fabricators who do countertops and other such stuff...

I normally get my carpenter to make a plywood template for a countertop so the knockouts are clear and accurate and then take them down the granite fabricators...

[Ted]

Can a local funeral place help? I have heard that in the UK they are cheaper than granite fabricators who do countertops and other such stuff...

I normally get my carpenter to make a plywood template for a countertop so the knockouts are clear and accurate and then take the template down the granite fabricator's...

I don't know how feasible templates are in your case but it makes it dead simple for the granite guy...

[lutonlagerlout]

most decent contractors can cut to within 5mm tolerance ,which is as good as it gets for the naked eye
much more chance of stone getting damaged if there is a lot of movements,fork trucks,palletising involved
I am pretty sure mcgonagle stone cut a lot of stone for the boss and cookie on the kutsford job
i suppose for circles and arcs it makes sense but for most other cuts the contractor could scribe them on site
LLL

[ilovesettsonmondays]

depending on what stone it is ,why dont you try aggregate industries in coalville.

[haggistini]

http://www.touchlocal.com/nat/c-1889-Stone+Masons
im sure some of these can help as we still have thee best masons in the world in this country

[Tony McC]

A monumental mason or a kitchen worktop supplier will usually have the necessary tools, but will charge more than a local stone supplier. A company I use in NW England charges me 1 quid per cut, whereas a local monumental mason wanted 85 quid for 5 cuts - and that was alleged "mate's rates" !

Lennox Masonry in Acocks Green specialise in secondary work, milling, profiling, etc., so should be able to help...0121 706 5050

[London Stone Paving]

Agree with what Ted says. The cheapest way to get the job done will be to make the templates yourself and then deliver them to mason/fabricator/monumental.

Another option could be to get a stone mason to come to your site and do the work in situ, but in my experience this would be a lot more expensive than doing the templates yourself.

We do loads of this sort of work in London. Like LLL says one of the biggest problems faced is getting the stone from A to B without it getting damaged. Especially when using national pallet lines, because there are so many layers of staff involved that no one really gives a toss about your goods arriving in one piece.

Why dont you do a cost comparison and contact a fabricator, on site mason and a monumental mason. If you have a plan to work too, all you need to find out is how much they charge per linear m for radius cutting and how much they charge per linear me for edge profiling

[Ted]

Agree with what Ted says. The cheapest way to get the job done will be to make the templates yourself and then deliver them to mason/fabricator/monumental.

The other advantage in making your own templates is you know they are accurate. You can make two copies - one for you and one for the granite guy so you have one back up copy for reference.

You can then check them against your templates upon receipt of the cut granite.

If the granite guy comes and measures and messes up in some way (for instance putting too much or unequal overlap on the pool edge), you then have a nasty dispute brewing as he has cut the granite and thinks he is right, whilst you are unhappy with what he has done...

[London Stone Paving]

The conclusion is that the work is specialised. Whoever is doing the templating needs to know what they are doing or the job is doomed from the start.

The majority of templates we cut are supplied by the client. We will cut exactly to the templates and then deliver the templates to the site with the stone.

[mickavalon]

Thanks Lads; The Project is a Natural Swimming Pool, converted from an existing Trad Pool with conc formed walls. The Walls of the Pool are to be lowered to about 300mm below water line and The Pool is then Re-surfaced with a Butyl Liner which extends out to take in the Planted Shallows. Where the Liner passes over the original Walls, the Spec is to Cap it with Pink Granite Copings/walkway, which must fit exactly to the Pools Oval Shape, Further they have to be weighty enough to require no Mortar to set them on and min Joints, so I need to get the cutting as precise as Poss, there are also Steps into the Pool and A Circular Pathway which will Border the Pool in the same Stone, on Dry land though, so Mortar isn't an issue there. So I need to get the Stone cut exactly to size, but I'm thinking something like a CAD Drawing maybe needed?

[London Stone Paving]

Have you got a drawing/design of the exisiting pool?

[Suggers]

Like Ted, I also come from the plywood template generation.....
at least then I can only blame myself ? -

[Suggers]

ps - didn't get who the drawing's for ?
Client or council.
pps - reread, now got it...... night night.

[Tony McC]

I prepare CAD drawings for a couple of professional pool installers based in the balmy south-east of England.

One of my sisters bought a house with a pool over the summer (more money than sense). My nieces and nephews were using it as a skating rink last weekend.