Our Standards, In Numbers
Every countertop company says its seams are tight and its edges are clean. Those are adjectives, and you cannot hold anyone to an adjective. This page is the other thing: what we build to, stated as measurements, so you can check the work yourself instead of taking our word for it.
An Adjective Cannot Be Measured. A Number Can.
The gap between a good countertop installation and a bad one is small, physical and completely measurable. Almost nobody in the trade writes the measurements down where a customer can read them before buying.
That is not because the numbers are secret. It is because publishing a number removes the room to argue about it later. Which is precisely the reason to publish it.
Each standard below comes with two things that are more useful than the number on its own: what it actually is in plain language, and how to check it yourself, on your own counter, with no tools.
If you are still choosing a company, ask each one you speak to for these same figures. Our guide to choosing a countertop company covers what to do with the answers.
It is a specification, plus one bounded commitment
These are the tolerances we build to. The correction commitment further down this page is exactly as wide as it is written and no wider: raised within 30 days, the affected section, at no charge.
It is not a full warranty. Warranty terms are a separate document with their own scope, duration and exclusions. Ask for them before you pay a deposit, from us and from anyone else you are considering.
Six Measurements That Decide Whether a Job Is Right
Every one of these is something you can see or feel on the finished counter. None of them requires a tool or an inspector.
| Standard | What it is | Our number |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum seam width | How wide is the gap where two pieces of stone meet? | 1/8 inch (3mm) |
| Maximum lippage across a seam | How much can one side of a seam sit higher than the other? | 1/32 inch |
| Standard overhang past the cabinet face | How far does the stone project past the front of the cabinet? | 1.5 inch |
| Sink reveal consistency | How much can the reveal vary around the bowl? | Within 1/8 inch |
| Maximum gap to the wall | How large a gap is acceptable between the countertop and the wall behind it? | 3/16 inch |
| Maximum caulk line width | How wide is the finished silicone line at the backsplash? | 3/16 inch |
These are trade-standard figures we have chosen and committed to. They are the standards we hold ourselves to, not statistics measured from our own past jobs.
Maximum seam width
Seam width is the single most argued-about number in countertop work. Stone cannot be joined invisibly, so the honest question is never whether there is a seam, it is how wide it is allowed to be and where it is allowed to sit.
How to check it: Look along the seam at counter height, not from directly above. Run a fingernail across it.
1/8 inch (3mm)
Maximum lippage across a seam
Lippage is the height difference between the two pieces. It is what you feel with a hand and what catches a cloth, and it is far more noticeable in daily use than seam width is.
How to check it: Close your eyes and run a flat palm across the seam in both directions.
1/32 inch
Standard overhang past the cabinet face
The overhang sets how the counter reads visually and whether drips clear the cabinet doors. It should be consistent along a whole run, and a run that drifts is a templating error, not a style choice.
How to check it: Measure the projection at both ends of a run and in the middle. All three should match.
1.5 inch
Sink reveal consistency
The reveal is the strip of sink rim visible between the stone and the sink bowl. Positive, zero and negative reveals are all legitimate choices, so the number that matters is not the reveal itself, it is how far it is allowed to wander from one side of the bowl to the other.
How to check it: Look at the reveal at the front, back and both sides of the bowl. It should be even, or evenly tapered, not wandering.
Within 1/8 inch
Maximum gap to the wall
No wall in a Calgary house is straight. The countertop is scribed to the wall, and the tolerance is what the caulk line then has to close. A big gap is not a caulking problem, it is a templating problem that caulk is being asked to hide.
How to check it: Look behind the counter before the caulk goes on, at every wall, at both ends of every run.
3/16 inch
Maximum caulk line width
The caulk line is the last thing done and the first thing a homeowner sees every day. A wide or uneven line is usually a symptom of the gap above it, which is why the two numbers are published together.
How to check it: Sight down the whole run. The line should be one consistent width from end to end.
3/16 inch
The Process That Produces Them
A tolerance is an outcome. It comes from the steps before the cut, not from care on install day.
Measured in your home
We measure every run in your actual kitchen, against your actual cabinets, rather than working from a plan drawing. No wall in a Calgary house is straight, and the countertop is cut to the wall you have.
You see the stone first
We visit the warehouse with you, or send photos of the exact slabs we plan to cut from, so you confirm the veining and colour before fabrication begins. A cut slab cannot be un-cut.
Cut in our own shop
Fabrication happens in our Calgary shop, not at a subcontractor. The people responsible for the numbers on this page are the people operating the machine.
Checked with you at the end
Before we leave, we walk the job with you and look at every edge and every seam together. Anything you are not happy with gets raised then, while everyone is standing in front of it.
What to Do If Something Does Not Match
A published standard is only worth something if you know how to raise it. This is the practical route, and it costs nothing to use.
- ✓Raise it at the walkthrough. The end-of-install walkthrough exists for this. Standing at the counter with the installer is the fastest and easiest moment to resolve anything.
- ✓Point at the specific standard. Name the measurement you think has been missed. It moves the conversation off taste and onto something checkable by both of us.
- ✓Photograph it. At counter height, in daylight, with something in frame for scale. A photo taken on the day is worth far more than a description a week later.
- ✓Put it in writing to us. Email Bedrockcltd@gmail.com or call (587) 899-8756. A written record is in your interest and we would rather have one too.
If a finished install misses these numbers, tell us within 30 days and we will correct the affected section at no charge. That 30 days is the window for reporting a tolerance miss. It is separate from, and does not shorten, our 1-year workmanship warranty.
The Rest of It
Vetting any fabricator
Ten questions to ask any countertop company in Calgary, including the ones we cannot fully answer yet.
Install day, step by step
What actually happens from the first call to the final walkthrough, with real day counts.
Looking after the stone
Sealing, cleaning and the things that genuinely damage a countertop, by material.
Book the Free Measure
In-home measure, itemized written quote within 24 hours, and every question on this page answered in person before you commit to anything.