Hi,everyone. We have an "L" shaped island in our kitchen We would like to remove and reuse the granite countertop, but it would mean just making 2 straight cuts to alter its size. It only has to be cut about 22" on 1 side, and 42" on the other. There are only 3 cabinets that the granite is laying on. Is this something that should be left to professionals- if it can even be done at all? Since they would have the proper tools, would there still be a high risk of the granite breaking? As I said, there are only 2 straight cuts to be made. No obstacles ---kitchen sink, etc. Thank you for your help!
Gregg and Kathy

Some homeowners might have the right tools to cut granite but even my shop would not attempt it. A pro would use a wet saw and also be able to grind the edges smooth.

Thanks for your answer. One thing I did forget to ask----before we're even able to reuse the countertop----how difficult is it to remove the countertop from the cabinets? Granite was professionally installed---maybe epoxy was used??

Granite can be cut with a circular saw and a diamond embedded blade such as shown below. Lay on a flat surface so that both pieces will be adequately supported.

They do not use epoxy, usually just silicone around the edges. It is important to raise the counter evenly so very small wedges driven along one edge will get it started. I'd draw a utility knife long the edge to get a start. Harold is correct, that kind of blade will cut granite. However, it will not produce an edge like you need for a counter top.

Oh,wow. So, in order to get the beveled edge that we have on rest of countertop, we would have to have the cut professionally done, right? We would like to have the newly cut granite edges match existing edges. Thanks again!

I don't think any of us could make that beveled edge even with all the tools we have. Pros use a special router and grinding equipment to get that edge and the smoothness required. Call around, you may have difficulty finding a pro willing to do this work for a price worth doing. They would much rather sell granite than work on yours.

I don't think any of us could make that beveled edge even with all the tools we have. Pros use a special router and grinding equipment to get that edge and the smoothness required. Call around, you may have difficulty finding a pro willing to do this work for a price worth doing. they would much rather sell granite than work on yours.

Thank you so much for your advise. We will look around and see what we can find. Hopefully successfully! Thanks for your help.

I know that the beveling and the rounding over of edges is done with a hand grinder but I don't know what kind of wheel. Don't know how polishing is done, probably a certain type of sand paper on hand grinder. Call around.

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Look through here:
Edge Work Kit for Granite Edge Profiling / Polishing (http://www.toolocity.com/edgeworkkitM2.aspx)
And:
http://www.toolocity.com/how-todvds.aspx