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Why better countertop drawings are the key to sell more?

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Countertop drawing

Imagine when you’re explaining your countertop drawing to your cutter, telling him how he is going to make a waterfall out of a slab: first, cut the slab into N pieces, then which sides should be cut at 45 degrees to be placed together, which others contain a specific edge profile…

Every machine, every building, and even every piece of furniture starts with one of these precise drawings. They are called technical drawings.

💡 Think of technical drawing as a super-detailed map or blueprint for building things.

They are a special language that uses specific symbols, exact sizes, and different views to show exactly how something should be made, so everyone can understand the same thing. 

A well-done drawing is an incredibly important tool for any project because it:

And apart from that, they may come in many forms depending on what you’re building. For example, there are drawings for machines (showing how the parts fit inside), buildings (blueprints for houses or factories), electrical systems (how wires and circuits connect), etc.

And all of them also use clever techniques to show everything clearly, like:

💡 You certainly remember that one situation when you didn’t understand what to do because the sketch was not clear.

The good news is that these drawing and planning techniques have been perfected to fit a specific type of technical drawing that suits our line of work: countertop shop drawings.

1. Countertop Drawings: The Secret to Perfect Kitchens

When we talk about stone projects like kitchen or bathroom countertops, these special drawings are called countertop shop drawings. 

💡 Remember that time, maybe a long time ago, when you ruined a piece of a slab because you cut it wrong?

Now imagine it is your employee who cuts a slab wrong and makes you lose money and delay the job.

Who’s gonna pay for that?

A good countertop shop drawing can prevent it from happening

But what exactly is a good countertop shop drawing? What exactly do they include? They spell out every tiny detail you could imagine:

By having all these details mapped out in a professional countertop shop drawing, everyone knows exactly what to expect. This ensures accurate work, happy customers, and a stunning final result that fits perfectly in your space.

Once again, using good software like SlabWare can ensure you have a standard, clear drawing so everyone in the team can keep up the good work.

SlabWare is the only software in the market that allows you to add any edge profile you work with into your schematics. Give it a try for free by clicking here!

2. The Headaches of Hand Drawing Layouts for Countertops

A few days ago, I had an installer who came to my place to install a TV rack in the living room. I had bought that piece of furniture on the internet, and hired that guy to install it. He took 4 hours to install it because the assembly plans and the product weren’t quite matching. A few extra holes had to be drilled to drive the screws, and two pieces had to be sawn so they could fit the spaces where they should fit.

And that happened to a wooden TV rack!

Now imagine that happening to an intricate countertop where you’re creating a bookmatch or a waterfall. 

How “happy” would that customer be? (irony intended!)

While general technical drawings have their challenges, creating drawings for countertops by hand adds a whole new layer of difficulty. 

The stone business moves fast, and customers want their projects done quickly and perfectly. But traditional, manual ways of drawing and planning can really slow things down and cause big problems.

Here are some common headaches faced when trying to do countertop drawings by hand. Grab your pen and paper – pun intended! – and check the ones you’ve already been through:

And btw, that extra inch is EXACTLY why we had to saw the two pieces of wood from my TV rack as I said above.

And guess what: who’s paying for that? 

These challenges not only make the stone fabrication process slower and more expensive but can also lead to unhappy customers who experience delays or receive a product that isn’t quite right.

But there is ONE big problem that is above all of those, because it will make it difficult for you to price your products, services, and amount of material spent, it can prevent you from giving a quick quote to your customers, and it is our next topic: the manual calculation.

3. The Nightmare of Measuring and Cutting by Hand

Beyond just drawing, calculating the exact amount of stone needed (called “area”, or “square footage”) and planning where to cut can also be a huge challenge without the right tools.

ATTENTION: This step seems complicated. If you want to simplify it, SlabWare does it! Get to topic number 4 below to learn how.

The Basic Idea: Length x Width = Area

Imagine you have a simple rectangular countertop.

  1. Measure in Inches: First, you measure the length of the countertop and its width, both in inches. Why inches? Because that’s how exact measurements are usually taken for detailed work.
  2. Multiply: You multiply the length by the width. This gives you the total area in “square inches.”
    • Example 1: A Simple Island Counter Let’s say you have a kitchen island countertop that is 80 inches long and 40 inches wide.

First, multiply: 80in x 40in = 3200 sq inches.

Converting to Square Feet: Why Divide by 144?

Since countertops are typically priced by the square foot, you need to convert your “square inches” into “square feet.”

12 in x 12 in = 144 sq inches = 1 sq. ft.

3200 sq inches div 144 = 22.22 sq.ft. 

So, your island counter is roughly 22.22 square feet.

What about L-Shaped or U-Shaped Counters?

These are even trickier! 

For shapes that aren’t simple rectangles, you can’t just do one calculation. You have to break them down.

Example 2: An L-Shaped Kitchen Counter Imagine your kitchen counter forms an ‘L’ shape. You can think of it as two separate rectangles joined together.
Let’s say your L-shape looks something like this (imagine looking down from above):

So, your L-shaped counter is roughly 24.31 square feet.

This might be a bit complicated to do, but SlabWare does it automatically. Check topic 4 below for more.

Don’t forget the “Extras” (Overhangs and Backsplashes): You also need to account for parts that add to the material needed:

What Doesn’t Add Material? Interestingly, big holes like sink cutouts or spaces for cooktops don’t usually reduce the amount of stone you need to order. You still need to buy the full slab, and those holes are cut out from it.

As you can see, doing all this math by hand, especially for complex kitchens, can be time-consuming, confusing, and very easy to get wrong. A small mistake in calculation can lead to a big problem during fabrication or a surprise in the budget. 

This is why professionals often rely on tools that do this heavy lifting for them, like SlabWare.

4. Software to the Rescue: Easier Drawings, Better Results!

The good news is, you don’t need to be an expert artist or spend hours drawing all these complex details by hand anymore! 

Modern technology, like special computer programs such as SlabWare, can do all the hard work for you. 

This is where special countertop drawing software comes in like a superhero, making sure everything is precise and standardized, and helping everyone work together better. 

These programs are designed specifically for the stone industry and make everything so much easier and more accurate. They take all the headaches of manual drawing and measuring away, ensuring a smooth process from start to finish.

With SlabWare, you can have accurate drawings, either working in m/sq.m, or in inches/sq.ft.

You can use the system to add the exact measures of your countertops, divide them per area (such as bathroom, kitchen, etc), add slabs to check on the visuals, and the best: the system calculates automatically the square footage of all the drawings you create.

This is the tool you need! That is the EASIEST way to solve all the problems you’ve seen in this post at once.

Hence, we suggest you test the system for FREE by clicking here.

If you prefer a guided tour or if you need to see how the system can fit your business’ needs, schedule a demo with our excellent team by clicking here.

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