Removing the Old Tops and Disposal
Nobody Quotes the Demolition Honestly
Removal is the stage that gets a single line and a small number, and it is the stage that most often runs over. The removal notes at countertop installation asheville nc 10 selection set out how the old countertop surface comes off in an Asheville kitchen, who is responsible for hauling it away, and what actually goes wrong at that point.
What Is Holding It Down
Old laminate is usually screwed up through the corner blocks from inside the base units and glued along the front rail. Stone is bedded on silicone and sometimes on dabs of construction adhesive. Anything tiled is grouted to the wall and effectively welded to the substrate underneath. Knowing which of those you have decides whether the tear out is an hour or half a day.
Disconnect Before Anything Moves
Water off, trap dropped, supply lines capped, and the disposal unit and any filter tap taken off first. If there is an undermount sink, it is bonded to the underside of the surface and comes away with it, which surprises people who assumed they were keeping it. Gas cooktops need a qualified disconnect and that is not a job to improvise on the morning.
The Damage Nobody Budgets For
Two things get wrecked in removal. Cabinet tops, when a bar is levered against a thin rail instead of against a side panel, and the wall, when a tiled backsplash comes off and takes the plaster face with it. The second is almost guaranteed in an older house. Plan for a plaster repair above the run rather than discovering you need one on the day the fitters arrive.
Getting It Out of the House
A three metre run of stone is genuinely heavy and it is scored and broken into carryable sections rather than walked out whole. That means dust and grit through the room, so it wants sheeting and a route worked out in advance. Cut the old silicone line at the wall first so the break does not travel up into the plaster.
Where It Goes
Buncombe County will not take stone in kerbside collection, so it goes to a construction and demolition facility and is charged by weight. Laminate goes as general construction waste. Ask whether disposal is inside the quote or whether a skip is your problem, because it is the single most common thing left ambiguous on a countertop quote and it is worth a real number.