How To Cut Granite Countertops

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How to cut a slab of granite with a Skilsaw yourself to save money! Cutting your own granite countertops is very easy to do with just a couple of tools!

My husband and I bought our current house with the intentions of renovating the heck out of it. Truth be told, it was only 8 years old but not in the best of shape, due to a divorce of the previous homeowners. One of our to-do list items was renovate the bathrooms. In fact, we actually bought the cabinets for our kids bathroom in the state we used to live in before we closed on this house. So the movers loaded up our brand new cabinets and hauled them to our current house! They sat in the garage for a couple of years before we finally got around to the renovation, but I’m so glad we did it!

But with the cabinets came the need for counters and new sinks. One night, at 3am, our little man woke up and needed to nurse. So I did what any nursing mommy would do at 3am – I hopped on my phone and searched Craigslist. I have no idea what made me think to search for granite but I did and because of that 3am baby feeding, we have fully renovated our entire kitchen and all bathrooms (89 square feet worth!) from the granite we purchased for ….drum roll please….$200!!! Yes, you read that right!  (price breakdown at the end of this post)

It was definitely one of those God moments for us to score such a deal. There was an older couple who had a home built in our very town while they were living up North. So designing a house from 500+ miles away was a bit of a challenge. They went with black granite but when they actually moved into their new home they didn’t really like it, instead they wanted cream. So out came all of that beautiful, brand new granite in their kitchen and bathroom! Ironically enough, their kitchen layout was galley style, which was exactly the way we were renovating ours to be! —> see, God moment! So of course, we snatched up the granite and have been renovating every area possible with this beautiful black granite!

This post contains affiliate links. See my disclosure here.

Lets go over what you need to cut your granite yourself at home as well as the steps needed to make your cuts!

We had previously cut the other half of this large slab of granite and used it in our kitchen renovation. Here, we were cutting it to size for our master bathroom. We did not need to polish the edges because the front of it already had a polished edge and that is all we needed in our bathroom as the two sides butted up against the walls, so no need to have it polished. Here is our tutorial for drilling holes for drains and faucets.

Tools Needed to Cut Granite:

These are the tools we used with easy shopping links. There are variants you can use, but this is what has worked best for us with each granite cutting project we have done.

Worm Drive Saw

Diamond Blade

C-Clamps

Saw Guide

Permanent Marker

Garden Hose

2×4 Boards

Safety Glasses 

Ear Plugs

How to Cut Granite:

1. Lay 2×4 boards on flat surface
2. Lay granite on top of 2×4 boards, polished side up
3. Mark out all cut marks, and always measure twice!
4. Attach saw guide with c-clamps
5. Start spraying water on granite, keep an even flow of water
6. Begin cutting granite with worm drive saw and diamond blade
7. Remove saw guide and c-clamps
8. Dry granite off and you’re done

In this video, my husband and I explain the entire process of cutting granite yourself at home. We also discuss why we are using each specific tool and tips to get nice straight, clean lines without any chips!

Please be advised, using electricity and water can be very dangerous. Perform this wet granite cutting method at your own risk. Always wear the proper safety gear.

How Much Does Granite Cost?

In our kitchen and master bathroom we used the Ubatuba granite which sells for $39/square foot at Lowes + sales tax.

In our kid’s bathroom we used Blue Pearl granite which sells for $65/square foot at Lowes + sales tax.

So lets break it down and look at how much we saved!

Kitchen = 77 square feet @ $39/sq ft + 6.75% sales tax = $3,205.50

Bathroom = 12 square feet @$65/sq ft + 6.75% sales tax = $832.65

Grand Total = $4,038. 15!! ….remember, we only paid $200!

How much value did it add?

Typically you are able to add 50% – 75% of your cost to the value of your home. With us doing our own renovation work and for getting it at such a severely discounted price, we were able to add a significant amount of value to our home for essentially pennies! I call that a win any day of the week!

Drilling holes in granite countertops for drain holes and faucets? Here’s our tutorial!!! 

p.s. Here’s a sneak-peek where we used this granite countertop!

The before photo is exactly what it looked like the first time we toured the house.

We left the cabinet structure from the original design and my husband custom built our wooden shaker style cabinet doors. We reused the hinges and the door knobs to save money (and they were just fine anyway!) The sinks, faucets, and drain stoppers were all bought from Amazon and I can honestly say I love them!!