Replies

1. 
   RobWes | Sep 28, 2009 04:03pm | #1

   Piano wire/guitar string

2. 
   DonCanDo | Sep 28, 2009 04:29pm | #2

   Scraper blade on a multimaster.

3. 
   Dave45 | Sep 28, 2009 04:42pm | #3

   Try a Multimaster. I recently got the Dremel for ~$100, and it's rapidly becoming a "go-to" tool for all kinds of tricky cuts.

4. 
   xMike | Sep 29, 2009 04:07am | #4

   I like the piano wire/guitar string idea. Actually, you can get a thinner, stronger piece of piano wire than you can a guitar string, I think.

   Anyway, that's what is used to remove big mirrors glued to drywall without destroying either the mirror or the drywall.

   If I were doing it, I'd also make up a bunch of small wedges that I could insert into the seam to keep it in tension while I sawed away at the glue with the piano wire. Just a tap on each, or you'll end up making a wedge shaped notch at each wedge location that you'll have to hide with molding.

   Be sure that you have several pieces of wire long enough to do the job. They do fatigue and break from time to time.

   Mike

5. 
   Clewless1 | Sep 29, 2009 04:46am | #5

   Piano wire is my choice, too, unless you can cut the glue w/ a utility knife, but I'm guessing that isn't likely, maybe.

6. 
   USAnigel | Sep 29, 2009 07:33am | #6

   It all depends!

   If you just have a bead around the edges, then just cut and lift the top out. Sometimes a few shims on the strong areas of the cabinets make it easier to cut the silicon.

   I have had cabinets where the silicon was all over the tops of the cabinets and that had to be smashed and scraped off.

7. 
   JTC1 | Sep 29, 2009 02:40pm | #7

   USAnigel touches on it -- go have a close look around for shims.

   The shim gaps will be your starting place.

   I have had pretty decent luck just using a sharpened 1" putty knife to cut the silicone. Wonder bar to lift.

   Like someone else mentioned - you will need some wedges / shims to hold up the top as you loosen it.

   Hope for silicone and not glue......

   Jim

   Never underestimate the value of a sharp pencil or good light.
8. 
   jej | Sep 30, 2009 02:34am | #8

   could you leave the granite and add on top with substate

9. 
   davidmeiland | Sep 30, 2009 05:12am | #9

   A lot of granite is set with epoxy. You have little hope of cutting it free if that's the case. We just demo'd a kitchen for a remodel, and the base cabinets were destroyed in the process of getting the granite off of them. There were dozens of little blobs of epoxy under them. Even the most determined piano wire operator would not have succeeded. With silicone... maybe.

1. 
   cowtown | Sep 30, 2009 06:36am | #11

   David says a lot of granite is set with epoxy. Undermount sinks perhaps, but I ain't seen any of the granite installers I've encountered use expoxy for setting countertops.

   On an Island, piano wire is a good bet. Where to buy piano wire, well there's the wholesalers who are typically protective of this trade, but if you find one that will sell to you, 15-20 bucks CDN$ a pound for the finer gauge is typical .

   eric in Calgary

1. 
   davidmeiland | Sep 30, 2009 07:01am | #12

   I have never seen a professional fabricator set on anything but epoxy. FWIW it looks a whole lot like what comes out of a Simpson epoxy-tie cartridge.

1. 
   cowtown | Sep 30, 2009 08:29am | #15

   David, I've never seen a professional ctop staller on any job,  use epoxy for anything but setting undermound sinks, and even then only in the corners. For that matter, I've seen one of the top granite/composite installers use nothing more than silicone on installs.

   You might disagree with me, but when you set a tonne of granite on top of a set of boxes, it don't take more than a tad of adherence to hold it in place, hell it would take three men and a boy to even move it if there was nothing holding it in place.

    Clearly a reasonable person would have to agree that using epoxy to hold the countertop in place would not only be an unnecesary cost, but would be totally overkill. Not to mention that removing the ctop should a fracture occur would possibly cause a total trashing of the boxes (and Granite does crack doncha agree)and bizarrely large charge backs to the ctop supplier to replace boxes and absorb the replacement and repair costs. 

   With that perpsective stated, I'm sure you'll agree that using an  Epoxy as a broad-spectrumn adhesive is not only unneccesary in terms of costs and adherence, it's equally unjustified in terms of possible complications (fractures), replacements (don't like the colour)  and damages to the boxes. If yer installers only use epoxy, well it's a no-brainer that they are putting you at unnceccesary risk. Maybe it's time to rethink this scenario eh?

    

   I'm sure that what you say is true, butI'm thinkin that you ain't thought this through, or perhaps misunderstood what yer CTop suppliers is acutally doing.

   It don't make a tad of sense to me...

   Eric

2. 
   BillHartmann | Oct 01, 2009 04:01am | #19

   If it epoxy then a hot wire will go through it. Epoxy is not very heat tolerant and will quickly lose it's strength..
   William the Geezer, the sequel to Billy the Kid - Shoe

1. 
   davidmeiland | Oct 01, 2009 04:13am | #20

   So, one guy on each end of the wire, wearing gloves, another guy in the middle with a torch heating it red hot just before they start cutting?

2. 
   BillHartmann | Oct 01, 2009 04:25am | #21

   I was thinking of using an electric hot wire like used for cutting foam.But it might work better to just heat the granite.And, if I understand correctly, the idea is to save the cabinets and the countertop is trash anyway. So start heating the granite over the epoxy and it it cracks all the better. Much easier to get out small piece rather than one large.Any way start heating it right over the epoxy and have people with overn mits on to start lifting it. Of it here are gaps near by had wedge in. And have some heated putty knives. As soon as it start to give work one in the joint. Then move on to the next one..
   William the Geezer, the sequel to Billy the Kid - Shoe

2. 
   Karl | Sep 30, 2009 07:34am | #13

   I put installed some silestone countertops at a Nordstrom dept store cafe and the job specified an epoxy be used to set the countertops.I can't recall the exact product I used but it was called t-2000 or something like that. It was cold weather and I recall it being a real chore to mix the catalyst in with the epoxy resin.Lately I have been using PL polyurethane construction adhesive mostly because it is the only compatible adhesive I can find in large quart tubes. I cringe at the thought of trying to remove one of the granite tops set on it.Karl

1. 
   cowtown | Sep 30, 2009 08:10am | #14

   OK, Karl, The job I'm working on has silestone ctopsx3, and the only epoxy used was on the corners of the undermount sinks. The rest was silicone.

   All the granite installs I've seen have only used silicone. some on the top of the casework, some on the arises only

    

   Beats me why anyone would use epxy to bond to particleboard,

   Anyway , bethcha that piano wire is still the best way to lift a granite lid from an island. Doncha agree?

    

   Eric

    

3. 
   MikeHennessy | Sep 30, 2009 02:32pm | #16

   "but I ain't seen any of the granite installers I've encountered use expoxy for setting countertops"

   Same here, but they do epoxy the joints, and I have no clue how you'd deal with that, short of a diamond saw.

   "Where to buy piano wire"

   Plumbing department. They sell braided wire "saws" for PVC.Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PAEverything fits, until you put glue on it.

4. 
   JTC1 | Sep 30, 2009 10:20pm | #17

   Where to buy piano wire........

   Any good fishing tackle supply store.

   Single strand, SS, available in natural shiney or in a tobacco brown finish (glue won't care which color).

   Used for wire leaders for toothy critters in fresh or saltwater.

   Malin Co., markets short, 1/4 pound, coils (150' or so) several different gauges - less than $10.

   Unlike most wire sizing numbers -- the smaller the number, the smaller the wire; i.e., #10 wire is smaller in diameter than #15 wire.

   #10 wire = .024" dia., estimated breaking strength 119 lbs.

   Jim

   Edit: My granite guys set in silicone; undermount sink = epoxy; dishwasher threaded screw inserts = epoxy; seams = some incredibly smelly, color matched polyester resin based adhesive - reminds be of boat building - smells worse when contained in a new kitchen than it ever did in a boat yard!

   Never underestimate the value of a sharp pencil or good light.

   Edited 9/30/2009 3:25 pm ET by JTC1

1. 
   JohnCujie | Oct 01, 2009 03:10am | #18

   I never saw anything but epoxy in Calif., here in Colorado all silicone as far as I can tell. Not sure if it's a regional thing or not. Maybe old school in SF Bay Area.We were able to take a top off one time by prying off the subtop and taking the ply and granite together. Was pretty easy, but it was a small top.John

10. 
    Tinkerman | Sep 30, 2009 05:36am | #10

    Thanks to everyone for the ideas... I like the piano wire technique... the adhesive appears to be silicon...will see next week what the contractor proposes that screwed it up.