Originally, I was going to replace a vanity formica top with cultured marble, but I just got an email from the customer telling me that she chose solid marble. She also wrote that I would need help getting it upstairs. I had been planning on doing it myself, but now I’m not so sure.
The top is 48″ wide and 21″ deep with a built-in sink. How much do you think this thing weighs? Can 1 (relatively normal) person handle it?
I do have a hand truck and a dolly, but even after getting it upstairs, I still need to set it in place.
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Agate or Cat's Eye?
Get help, it's not just heavy, fragile too.
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My source of info. says that one sq. ft. of marble 1 inch thick weights approx. 13 lbs./sq. ft. So if your top is not more than 1 inch thick, it should weight approx. 100 lbs.
Great info that answered the OP's question directly!
thanks (I'll file that away for future referance)
Thanks to all for the good info. Sounds like I'll be getting a helper.
I recently did a furniture top 1"x 22"x 6'. I'm guessing it was at least 125#. You need to handle stone up on edge, it may snap if carried
flat ways. You need help. Someone under the cabinet to help ease it into place, maybe two on top. There can be occlusions in the stone that are very fragile. You can also bang up the face of the cabinet trying to get the bowl up and over, make sure you protect it with a wrap. And don't over tighten the drain or faucets, or use plumbers putty.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
Even a cripple like me can do it. Sometimes things are easier by yourself. setting it on the cab is the hardest part. Lift the front and caulk down
Myself and another managed 26" x 112" granite tops. those were a but kickers
Maybe that is why im a cripple?
Advice from one who's over reached their limited abilities...herniated discs in your back can mean life in a wheel chair and DonCanDo could be DonCan't. It's not worth it to attempt wrestling heavy objects just to get a sink in place w/o sufficient help.
L2/L3 & L3/L4 once but never again...almost couldn't walk for a month and thoughts of a gun to my head came to mind more then once.
I'd be concerned with the fragility of some types of marble. Two guys can handle that vanity more gently and with more control than one.
Two people no doubt.
Did one that size in granite this winter. definitely two guys, and don't use a truck up the stairs. The bumping and bouncing every step will have it fractured.
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You stated built-in sink... how?
What kind of sink is it? Undermount stainless, copper, acrylic, cast iron?
Is the sink made out of marble pieces and epoxied to the top?
Undermount stainless, copper or acrylic will be the lightest. Cast iron will be the heaviest.
A square sink built out of marble pieces and epoxied to the bottom of the top slab won't be light.
The problem is the hole and the *maybe* 4" of material between the back of the sink and the wall. Your problem will be worse if the faucet holes are cut in there too.
If it was a solid slab 48 (uhh, I hope it is really 49" if a 48" base is used) x 21" it would be difficult, but not impossible. Adding a big hole for the sink makes it much worse.
If it is going to be a top mount vessel sink with 2 small holes (drain, faucet), then it won't be too bad to do it solo.
If that top has a big hole in it... or worse, a heavy undermount sink attached, there is no way I would think about doing it solo unless I had a spare one in the truck.
Safest way would be for 2 people to carry it vertically up the stairs (ie: perpendicular to the position it will be installed in). I would want 2 guys with suction cups attached to the top centered between the sink opening and edge *plus* someone laying down in the cabinet supporting the sink bowl as it is set in place. May not really need that third person, but I would think about it.
Definitely think about attaching the faucet before setting the top in place.
Marble weighs approximately 160 pounds per cubic foot.
"How much does marble weigh?"
Marble weighs as much as one's heart does after having chipped or fractured it on account of not having a helper.
Hey, didn't I already say I was getting a helper, sheesh. (just kidding)
Believe me, I'm more nervous now even though I'm planning on getting help than I was before my original post.
I have not seen the top yet so I don't know exactly what I'm getting into, but the bathroom needs some other minor updates so I'll be there for a few days. I'll schedule the vanity top for any day other than my first day there.
I'm sure it'll be beautiful. Call Shep, maybe you can get him to deliver it (the marble), with that fancy car of his.