The tools of Steve Dunn's trade include ultra-hard drill bits, diamond-dusted polishing sandpaper and a really strong back.
As a lead installer for Hallmark Stone of Fenton, Dunn is responsible for overseeing the installation of countertops weighing hundreds of pounds and costing thousands of dollars.
About 4 1/2 years ago, Dunn was working as a country club maintenance man, scoping out a career in carpentry, when his wife stumbled across the Hallmark Stone job on the Internet. He started as a "helper."
Dunn now spends most days on the road, training crews to create templates, install the pieces and avoid breaking expensive granite tops.
Dunn chatted on a brisk Tuesday morning during a job at a house in University City.
Are more people trying to do these huge massive sprawling kitchens now?
We do a little bit of everything, from small vanities to little fireplaces, tub surrounds to big kitchens — the whole house, all the vanities in every room.
Tell me a little about this material. Can you hurt it?
Silestone is scratch-resistant, so you don't have to seal it. All of them (engineered quartz, granite and marble) can scratch. If you drag a toolbox across it, you might scratch it. Normal kitchen use, normal wear, you're not going to scratch any of it. But a cast-iron skillet — if you drop it, you can chip it a little bit.
What do you deal with on a typical job? Are you overseeing, dealing with questions from customers?
If there are any questions about anything … we go over everything. In the first trip we make, we do the templates, and that kind of goes over all the little stuff…"…. A lot of people don't know what a seam looks like. It's not like a grout joint. At certain angles you might see it.
The templates are pieces of corrugated plastic. You know (the countertop) is going to fit, and the customer gets to see what it looks like. Any shape you can cut out of it, we can make.
How long does a typical job take?
Two to four hours for just an average-size kitchen, for the install. The templating sometimes takes less, sometimes takes longer, because sometimes people don't know what they want. You can cut it one way and they may want you to cut it a different way.
What do you like most about the job?
I like the repair work. … Some people, they think a top might be ruined if it's cracked. Some people don't even want us to try to repair something. But sometimes you can make it disappear.
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