Yes, you can save money by going with prefab. NO, there is NO way you can use a "portable tile saw" to cut up a 400 pound slab. If you're very careful, support the granite just right, and have friends to help, you can do straight cuts with a worm drive circular saw with a diamond concrete cutting blade. Cutting of any sink holes are best done by a professional. Slab yards where you find prefab generally can put you in touch with fabricators that are willing to do the minimal fabrication necessary. Don't forget transport to your site and install of the 400 pound piece of rock! Once again, these are tasks best left to professionals, and the fabricator you can locate at your stone yard will at least have the specialized tools and gruntwork guys on tap to deal with the job.

Is the counter standard depth? If so, prefab will probably be fine and you may be able to get any trimming you need done at a reasonable price. Do you have any sink or cooktop cutouts? That will complicate things.

If you really want to DIY, we DIY'd our soapstone (everywhere, including corner sink) and it wasn't that difficult.

Another DIY accessible option is PaperStone, which has a more uniform look like some of the quartz surfaces (not to say it looks like stone because it doesn't).

Here is a link that might be useful: PaperStone

as much as it pains me to say this, HD is now offering 8ft prefab granites for $399 in the atlanta market, They will sell you the 4 inch granite blade to use on a side grinder to cut it to length, and you can cut your sink hole with it as well.

This definitely has a steep learning curve, measure 3 times and cut once, slowly.

Blessings

yes thanks for the information I am looking for about 25 - 26" depth, and they seem to be available. I went to a couple stone yards and it is incredibly affordable. As for cutting, I don't need any sink cutouts, but if I needed them, I would leave those to a fabricator! I am only doing a small hutch area, really just need one big simple slab, very simple nothing too fancy at all.

I know they sell a circular wet saw, you can put a diamond blade on. Or an angle grinder with some care will work. I just need to trim off few inches at one end. One stone yard would even do the cutting for me for a small fee, so the problem is solved I think.

So is it really 400 lbs?

Also any info on installation? I think you have to use a epoxy to attach a 3/4" plywood to the bottom because the bullnose edge is 1.5" but the actual piece is .75"? And it gives some substrate to attach to the cabinets.

Also does anyone know how to polish the cut edge, I have about 1" exposed on the cut end and want to have it at least a little darker if I can't fully polish it.

"So is it really 400 lbs?"

i don't think so. ...probably a little more.
best of luck to you.

Over 400 lbs? I am not buying the weight numbers some of you are claiming.

So I researched and for 8' x 26 inches,
a 2CM Thick(Approx 3/4") is around 200 lbs, and 3CM Approx 1 1/4" is around 300 lbs.

It only reaches over 400 lbs when it is 3CM and 8' x 3' Deep (a very long island piece)

For 200 lbs slab, 2 healthy man should be able to handle it and 3 will be at ease.

http://www.black-granite-monuments.com/prefabricated.htm

Here is a link that might be useful: Some prefab slabs specification

2cm weighs 13 lbs per sf, 3cm is 19 lbs per sf.

Poor owner, the polishing is where the true expense comes from, and then laminating the edge, whoosh, up goes the cost of your project.

Those two questions are what makes this no longer a DIY. With granite. Marble and Soapstone maybe, but not granite.

If you cannot find the piece of granite already cut and polished in your length and thickness, then you need to start shopping for remnants and get a finished quote from the fabricator.

I am not laminating any edges myself it is already bullnosed on the long edge,
I already found out what I need to know for this project, I will post pictures with I am done. Thanks.