Granite Cut to Size Meaning: A Finished Panel, Not "Any Size You Like"
In stone, cut to size means panels already cut to the finished dimensions on your drawing, with length, width, thickness and edge profile done, ready to fix on arrival. It is not "cut into whatever size". The same phrase carries three different responsibility lines depending on who says it, so pin down three things before you order.
What does granite cut to size actually mean, and is it just any size?
One line: cut to size means panels cut to the finished dimensions you supply, with length, width, thickness and edge profile complete, ready to install when they land. It does not mean "cut into whatever size". The trade mixes three words constantly, so separate the three goods first and every later argument has something to attach to. A slab is raw stock: its width follows the block, it is sold by the square metre, and the buyer cuts it down. A cut-to-size panel is cut to the finished length, width and thickness on your drawing, edges included. A standard tile is a fixed module: you quote a square-metre figure and order, no drawing needed. Their prices are not comparable, because they are not selling the same thing: one sells area, one sells area plus processing, one sells a module. Get the wording wrong once and what arrives may be a slab or a modular tile, and the repair happens on site.
| Type | Sold by what dimension | Who sets the size | Ready to install on arrival |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slab | Square metres, width follows the block | Buyer, who cuts it again | No, one more pass through the works |
| Cut to size | Finished length × width × thickness from the drawing | Buyer draws, factory cuts | Yes, edges profiled and ready to fix |
| Standard tile | Fixed module, e.g. 600×600 | Factory sets the module, buyer gives m² | Yes, but only inside that module |
Why do two suppliers mean different things by the same phrase?
Because each is speaking from a different seat. A trader who only sells slabs says cut to size and means "I will find a works to cut it for you" — his hands never touch the saw and he carries no tolerance. A processing factory says the same words and means "I cut to your order", and what he can stand behind is machines and operations. On a project order the phrase often also swallows edge polishing, cut-outs, numbering and packing. It sounds like one job; the liability line sits three layers apart. You do not need to correct their vocabulary. Pin three sentences instead: who supplies the finished dimensions, who carries dimensional deviation, and whether cutting and edge work sit inside this unit price. Put those three lines in the enquiry and the quotes that come back share one baseline. Same words do not mean the same delivery.
Which numbers must you give the supplier before ordering?
Five, and every missing one pushes the factory onto a default. First, finished length × width × thickness — write the finished size, never the rough slab size. Second, which edges get which profile: full bullnose, chamfer or plain square, listed edge by edge when the four sides differ, never the word "standard". Third, vein direction: running with the length or across it, because the same panel reads differently once laid. Fourth, which face is the front — polished, flamed or bush-hammered is often applied to one side only, and a flipped panel is a wrong panel. Fifth, packing upright or flat-laid: upright puts the load on the panel edge, so even a thin panel stands, but a container then holds fewer than the 346 ㎡ the same panels take when flat-laid; flat-laid puts the load through the middle of the face, where even a 30mm panel will crack, so thin panels cannot share a crate with large formats. Defaults are set so the factory can work fast; they were not set for your drawing.
How tight a promise does a cut-to-size piece actually carry?
It promises a processed dimension, not a precision part. The nominal size on a cut-to-size order is a name, and the real size lands somewhere inside what the saw, the edge machine and the thickness calibrator can hold — not inside the decimals on your drawing. So a cut-to-size panel guarantees that it fits; it does not guarantee that it mates like a machined component. Our plant sits in Cenxi, Guangxi, and what we run most is the 30mm thickness band: Maple Red G562 (GB code G4562) cut-to-size orders start at 100 ㎡, with regular batches shipping in 5 days. If you want a tighter band, first decide whether you are short of dimensional accuracy or of tight joints — how much each item may vary, measured from which datum, with what tool, is already laid out in our separate article on tile size tolerance, and is not re-derived here.
Which area does that line on the quotation actually measure?
Two conventions, and the difference is who owns the offcut. Billed on finished area, you pay for the piece that ends up on the wall or the ground. Billed on consumed slab area, you pay for what came off the block, and the offcut left behind is still on your invoice. How far apart they sit depends on your sizes and how the panels nest, so there is no universal percentage — it has to be laid out per order. One constant is worth memorising: 1 square metre equals 10.764 square feet. A 100 ㎡ order reads as 1076.4 sq ft on finished area; on consumed slab area it reads higher, and the extra has to be labelled with which method produced it. Loading works the same way: 30mm Maple Red G562 is counted at 346 ㎡ per 20ft container — that is a loading figure, not a yield rate.
Which five questions settle what the other side means?
Ask them in order, one answer each, and the answer tells you which meaning you are buying. ① Is this unit price on finished area or on consumed slab area? ② Do the finished sizes follow the drawing I sent, or will you round them to a standard module? ③ Which items carry a stated deviation for length and thickness, and what happens when they are exceeded? ④ Are edge profiling, chamfering and cut-outs inside this unit price? ⑤ Is the packing upright or flat, and how many pieces per bundle? Then copy the answers, in their own words, into the order's remarks field — not the phrase "as usual". Written into the order it holds regardless of who remembers the conversation; left in a chat thread, a new salesperson restarts the negotiation. These five are not a script; they are the shortest route from a spoken agreement to a written one.