About Us
Owned by Steve and Cassie Schatz, Straightline Construction and Granite, LLC, previously known as MarbleCor, specializes in countertop fabrication. Our proficiency in managing intricate projects allows us to effectively handle a range of tasks from kitchen remodels to complete home renovations.
If you are in the Pacific Northwest area and in search of a premier countertop fabricator, Straightline is your answer! We take pride in being a leading installer in the region, providing outstanding craftsmanship along with unmatched customer service. Our skilled fabricators are ready to transform your kitchen, bathroom, or any other area in your home using the highest quality materials, ensuring you do not have to settle for anything less than perfection.
At Straightline Construction and Granite, we have established a strong reputation for our exceptional skills in kitchen and bathroom renovations. Our dedicated team of highly skilled professionals is committed to delivering remarkable results tailored to the specific needs and preferences of each client.
What Sets Us Apart?
We provide a diverse range of services, from custom countertop installations to complete renovations of kitchens and bathrooms. Utilizing advanced techniques and premium materials, our team ensures that the results we deliver are durable, functional, and aesthetically pleasing. You can confidently rely on our renovation company as your comprehensive resource. Our dedicated team oversees every phase of the project, starting with the initial brainstorming and culminating in the final installation.
At Straightline Construction & Granite, we offer fully customizable countertops tailored precisely to your specifications, right down to the edge and sink designs. Present us with your overall vision, and we will work closely with you to bring it to life. When looking for a countertop fabricator, consider Straightline Construction & Granite as your industry expert.
Inspecting the slab
In this first step, the fabricator will inspect your chosen slab(s). Stone, being a natural product often contains characteristics indigenous to that particular material. Some of these characteristics include dry seams, black spots, polyester resin fill, pits, and natural directional veining, feldspar or mica conglomerates (knots). Oftentimes, these marks make the stone what it is, unique and beautiful. On occasion, a customer may find certain characteristics unacceptable and the stone fabricator will work to avoid those during templating and fabrication process. As the customer will be enjoying this stone in their home for years to come, it is critical to jointly review the slab(s), laying out the template together to achieve the best possible outcome.
Prior to templating, a final inspection is made of the stone, identifying any areas unacceptable to the customer, or areas that are more severe than the normal characteristics described above. The fabricator will mark those areas and work to avoid those during templating, while balancing the effort to minimize waste and therefore cost.
Template Layout
Once the slab is inspected, it is then laid out and the previously created templates are arranged on the stone to ensure the best appearance of vein texture and color. The templates are also arranged to ensure appropriate flow for the various countertops in your layout. As an example with an L shaped countertop, or a countertop and an island that is parallel or perpendicular, you want to ensure the overall flow of the countertop pattern will work in your finished project. This natural beauty occurs more often in natural stone than in quartz, making this process especially important with granite or marble. This is where an experienced templater is key, it is a mix of experience and artistry. A beautiful countertop is just that, a piece of art, and you want it to be the focal point you are anticipating.
Cutting the stone
The stone is then cut using a bridge saw or with the more advanced Cut 500 Saw.
The bridge saw cuts with a diamond segmented blade at a feed rate of approximately 7 feet per minute. After the pieces are cut from the large slab, they are forwarded to a CNC machine and with the help of a vacuum lifting system. On the CNC machine, the stone countertop pieces are then fabricated.
The 5-axis CUT 500 cnc bridge saw is the top-of-the-line Helios Automazioni; ideal for marble, granite, porcelain, and sintered materials. Cut 500 has been designed for superior performance, reliability, and versatility. The beauty of this machine is it will do the fabrication for us! We can set up your slab and when we return all that is left is polishing. Saving time and saving you money.
Fabricating
In this phase of the stone fabrication, the cutouts for your undermount sink, cooktop, or holes for faucets are all made. The first step is cutting the stone to approximately 1/16 of an inch of its final size. Then, the CNC (Computer Numerically Controlled) machine is programmed to know the size of the stone or stones on the table. You can put multiple pieces of stone on the table and work on them together. The CNC machine is then programmed to know where the stones are located and what to do to each of those pieces. Since every stone has different working characteristics, it is key to have an experienced and knowledgeable CNC machine operator. It is truly a job where artistry and technology meet to produce the optimal finished product. Some stone materials require the CNC machine to move more slowly, some require stone to be entered in a certain way. To achieve the most accurate result, we need a specialized operator and a specialized machine programmed with exact dimensions. As consumers, I believe we all want to achieve the best end result.
Once the holes are cut in the granite the edge is shaped by the CNC machine before the countertop is taken to final polish. There are a variety of stone edges to choose from, but the versatile CNC machine can produce any edge you select.
Polishing
We are approaching the end of the process here, polishing the stone. When the granite arrives to the fabricator from the quarry, the face of slab is already polished. Typically the granite face is not polished or changed at the fabricator’s shop. What does need polished, however, is the edge. Recall during the fabricating step the CNC machine created the countertop edge you selected for your project.
Regardless of the edge, it will now go through a 7 step polishing process. The industry standard is to use diamond polishing pads of increasing grit from 50 to 3,000 to polish the edge. Think of sandpaper in increasing grit to visualize how this process works. We hand polish and shape every piece. This is a talent where an experienced polisher is essential. All stone is different and it takes a talented artist to know how to polish each and every piece to perfection. Similarly, if your granite is ever scratched or damaged, this process is used to repair it.
Quality Control
The final step in the process is inspection of the stones. The stone fabricator will ensure the edges are uniform around all sides of the stone(s). Then they will be reviewed from multiple angles to make sure the light is bouncing off the edges uniformly, and the color of the top of the stone and the edges match perfectly. At this point, we have a finished product ready to be installed in your home.
Stone is truly a piece of natural art, and following this extensive process ensures that your finished product is a beautiful focal point of your project. Mixing experience, technology, tools and artistry is key to a stunning end result.
Schedule A Consultation Today!
At Straightline Construction and Granite, remodeling is our area of expertise. Our specialists are ready to assist you whenever you want to begin designing your ideal kitchen or bathroom. Click below for a free quote today.
