Getting a Slab Up Three Flights: Countertop Delivery in Chicago Buildings

Written by the Al Jory Marble team, fabricators and installers based in Crestwood, Illinois.

A finished countertop section can weigh several hundred pounds. It does not bend, it does not flex, and it does not forgive a tight turn at a stair landing. In a suburban ranch this is a non-issue. In a Chicago three flat with a narrow stairwell and a ninety degree turn halfway up, it is the defining constraint of the entire job.

City installations are a different trade from suburban ones, and most of the work happens before installation day.

Access is a fabrication decision, not a delivery problem

The most important thing to understand is that building access gets settled at the template, not at delivery. When we measure your kitchen we also measure the route to it.

Doorway widths. Hallway widths. The turn radius at each corner. Stair width and the size of the landing. Ceiling height on the stairs, which matters because a tall piece has to be carried at an angle. Elevator interior dimensions and door opening. Whether there is a service entrance and whether it is usable.

If a piece cannot make the route, we do not find a way to force it. We change the piece. A section that will not turn a landing gets divided into two sections that will, and the seam that creates gets planned deliberately, positioned where it is least visible rather than wherever the geometry happens to put it. That process is covered in more depth in where countertop seams go.

The alternative, which is what happens when access is not surveyed in advance, is a crew standing in a stairwell with a piece of stone that does not fit and a decision to make on the spot. Nothing good comes from that.

Two flats and three flats

These are the most common access challenge we deal with in the city. The classic Chicago two flat and three flat has a stairwell that was sized for people and furniture, not for slabs.

The complications stack up. The stairs are often narrower than modern construction. There is frequently a turn with a landing rather than a straight run. Handrails reduce the effective width and sometimes have to come off temporarily. Older buildings may have a rear staircase that is even narrower but sometimes offers a straighter path.

We look at both routes when there are two, and the back stairs occasionally win despite being tighter, because a straight narrow run beats a wider run with a turn in it.

High rise and condo buildings

Downtown and North Side condo work trades physical difficulty for administrative complexity. The stone usually gets up without drama. Getting permission to bring it up is the work.

Most buildings require a certificate of insurance naming the building and the management company, submitted in advance and approved before anyone arrives. Freight elevator time has to be reserved, often days ahead, and frequently within a narrow window. Many buildings restrict move-in and delivery hours, which means an eight in the morning start may not be permitted. Corridors and elevator interiors typically need protective padding installed. Some buildings require a loading dock reservation separate from the elevator reservation.

We handle this paperwork directly with the management company rather than making the homeowner chase it. Send us the contact and we deal with it. It is not difficult work but it is time sensitive, and a missed elevator reservation can push an installation out by a week.

Bungalows and older single family homes

The bungalow belt across the Southwest and Northwest Sides brings a different problem. Access is usually straightforward at ground level, but the kitchens themselves are compact and the doorways into them are frequently narrower than modern openings.

A slab can get into the house easily and then not get into the kitchen. We measure the interior doorway, not just the exterior one, for exactly this reason. In some cases a door and its stops come off temporarily, which is routine and gets put back the same day.

These older kitchens also tend to have walls that have moved considerably over a century, which affects templating as much as access. We wrote about that side of it in what happens when we template your kitchen.

How stone travels

Finished pieces ride standing on edge in an A frame rack, because stone is dramatically stronger in that orientation than laid flat. A long piece carried flat and unsupported can crack under its own weight going over a pothole, and Chicago has no shortage of those.

The same principle applies to carrying it. Pieces are moved on edge, which is why the ceiling height over a staircase matters and why a low soffit at the top of a stair run can be a genuine obstacle.

The vintage building problem nobody mentions

There is a category of Chicago building where the access route is fine and the floor is the issue. In older buildings, particularly those with balloon framing or long unsupported joist spans, the kitchen floor can have real deflection in it.

This matters because stone does not tolerate movement. A large island top set on a floor that flexes noticeably underfoot is asking for a cracked seam a few years down the line. When we find significant deflection at the template, we say so, and sometimes the honest answer is that the floor needs attention before the countertop goes in.

The related issue is cabinet condition. Older kitchens sometimes have cabinets that were solid when they were installed decades ago and have since had a run of water damage under the sink, or a base that has separated from the wall. Stone is heavy, and it needs a sound base underneath it. Part of the template visit is checking that what we are setting the tops on can carry them.

We would rather raise this before fabrication than discover it with a slab in the room.

Parking, which is not a small thing

On many city streets there is nowhere to put a truck. Permit parking, street cleaning schedules, bike lanes, and construction all reduce the options. Carrying stone an extra fifty feet from an illegal spot is not a plan.

We ask about parking during the template visit and, where needed, arrange a permit in advance. If your street has restrictions, tell us early. It costs nothing to plan around and it is a real problem to discover at seven in the morning on installation day.

What we need from you

• Your building management contact, if you are in a building with requirements.
• Honest information about the stairs, including any turns, and whether there is a service entrance.
• Parking restrictions on your block.
• Elevator reservation policies and permitted work hours.
• A clear path from the door to the kitchen on installation day.

None of this is complicated, but all of it is easier to sort out two weeks ahead than the morning of.

Why it is worth working with someone who does this regularly

A fabricator who works exclusively in the suburbs can be excellent at the craft and still be caught out by a building that requires a certificate of insurance and a nine in the morning elevator window. City work has its own vocabulary and its own failure modes.

Because we handle fabrication and installation in house, the access survey done at the template feeds directly into how the stone is cut. There is no gap between the person who saw the stairwell and the person who decided where to divide the pieces.

We install kitchen countertops across the city and the suburbs, from Chicago condos and two flats out to Aurora, Naperville, and Orland Park. If your building has requirements, tell us and we will handle them. Call Al Jory Marble at (708) 362-7674.