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THE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF USING A 2
CM VS. A 3 CM GRANITE
RAS GRANITE AND MARBLE is a CUSTOM fabricator and installs
both custom 2cm (3/4”) thickness as well as 3cm (1-1/8”) thick granite installations
Previously, most installations of granite in the Northwest area of our country used stone of approximately
2cm (3/4”) thickness with laminated edgework detail of 4cm (1 ½”) installed over a plywood substrate to
ensure strength and durability.
Over the past decade the popularity of stone countertops has increased significantly;
as a result many new fabricators have entered the industry with the desire to lower expenses and increase revenues as much
as possible. This has created the demand for fast production and installations, eliminating the lamination process by reducing
the apparent thickness at the edgework detail to only 3cm (1 1/8”) by using a thicker and heavier 3cm (1 1/8”)
stone. In many cases these fabricators are selling these installations without recommending a plywood substrate.
RAS GRANITE AND MARBLE along with many other authorities in this industry do not recommend installations
of 3 cm (1 1/8”) stone without substrates at least in the cook top, sink cutouts, and seam areas. Many custom fabricators, including RAS GRANITE AND MARBLE, consider 2cm (3/4”) installations with proper substrates
to be superior to 3cm (1 1/8”) installations that are unsupported by substrates for the following reasons: - 2cm
(3/4”) granite properly adhered to a 5/8” or ¾” substrate has more tensile strength (flexibility)
than 3cm (1 1/8”) granite alone. Many fabricators falsely promote 3cm stones to be sturdier than 2cm stones
because of the difference in thickness, misleading customers to believe this extra thickness creates extra strength. In actuality,
2cm coupled with a substrate is the superior product because of its ability to flex.
- 2 cm granite seams are easily kept
flat without creating a lip even if the stone is slightly warped because of its superior flexibility combined with substrate
to bond resin at seams. Seams cannot be kept even with 3cm if stone is slightly warped because of it lack of flexibility
and because most fabricators do not use a substrate to bond resin at seams.
- Sinks and cook top cutouts are supported
with substrates in the front and back of cutouts where the stone becomes narrower requiring flexible strength support.
Substrates can be used to assist the attachment of sinks and cook tops with 2cm granite installed over substrate. Substrates
allow extra support for a flat bar to be routed between stone and subtop if needed.
- 2cm granite substrate distributes the
weight over the cabinets, eliminating the possibility of fulcrum points at various spots of the cabinets. This allows
more tolerance for the cabinet maker to level and keep the tops in the same plane, which is a necessity for superior countertop
installation. 3cm unsupported granite is 1/3 heavier than 2cm. Unless the cabinets are perfectly level and on the same plane
(in practice, normally not the case), any slight problem with levelness or out of plane conditions will cause fulcrum points
at various locations on the cabinets and can cause shifting at seams and problems at cook tops and sink cutouts after a period
of time. This will also produce an uneven butting of the granite countertop to the top of the cabinets making very unattractive
gaps that can be detected with little investigation.
- 2 cm granite with substrate allows overhang to extend up to 12” without
support. Unsupported overhangs beyond 10” are not recommended with unsupported 3cm granite.
- 2 cm splashes
allow for more counter space compared with the 3cm splashes which create a much bulkier presentation and on standard cabinets
may cause less counter space and placement of faucet holes above sinks. A wider variety of edge profiles including
specialty step outs and 4 and 5cm laminated profiles are available and can be viewed on this website, by clicking on the edges
and special edges tabs located on the left of the homepage.
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