Do I have a leg to stand on: my remnant slab?

11 years ago

Hola,
For those who purchased slabs, and not by square foot, what happened to the remnant piece(s)?
Was it specifically in your contract dictating what would happen to the remnant, if any?

My contract states that I need to purchase the slabs, not by square foot (because what would he do w/ the remnant?).
I had purchased 2 large marble slabs, using ~90% of 1 and ~50% of the 2nd slab. There was enough leftover to do 2 double-sink vanities (1 for my masterbath and 1 for the kids' bath).

Fabricator cut up my slabs, so the remnants are not usable.

Well, due to the Holiday time crunch/backlog, fabricator's goal was to get everything cut, not to maximize the size of remnants. I didn't know this or didn't think of it, and didn't think to remind marble sales rep about it before the final cuts (cut countertop first, then backsplash, then 5 marble window sills). So the remnants are not of usable size.

Rep's offer was for me to drive 75minutes to the job site to pick out 1 similar price point remnant slab, as a gesture for them dragging out the whole templating-installation process (mucho backlog). His stand is that the slabs are his property and he does not owe me any part of the remnants.

I don't know what they have in stock or what stones they're cutting that day/week, or what size(s) will be available as remnants.
- Do I just drive there every other week to find a working remnant?
- Do I just give up on this, and accept the fact that I'll have to pay for my vanities countertops?
- Do I have any recourse, since what happens to the remnants is not specified in the contract?

Appreciate your help and insight,
Thank you,
Amanda

I am so close to a functional kitchen, but yet, no electrician this week to hook up my fabulous Miele induction cooktop, etc. Sigh...

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Comments (11)

raehelen
11 years ago
Not seeing the exact wording of your contract, I would say that your Rep's offer for you to pick remnants for your bathroom countertops is fair. It is unfortunate that the fabricator wasn't more careful, but seeing that you can't use the marble 'that is yours' ( I agree that those slabs are yours not the rep's), I would not quibble about having to select new granite/marble for free.

Can you not phone ahead, and or tell them what kind of countertop you are looking for so that you don't waste a trip?
mudworm
11 years ago
In your contract with the fabricator, did you specify that the two slabs will yield the countertop, backsplash, window sill, and vanities?

I'm not sure if you are aware, but the piece cut for a countertop is a great deal bigger than the usable surface due to all the extras for the edge and waste. Was it just your assumption that the leftover should be big enough for vanities, or was it drawn out during the templating process? Oh, talk about templating process, I was there with the fabricator to move around the templates for our main countertop so that we could still use the leftover piece for a bar top.

I understand that you are bummed out that remnants cannot be used. However, you may want to closely examine your contract to see what is specified in there.
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Gilly, are you going to get granite in your kitchen? If so, I would ask to see the layout to see if there is ample overage for the bathroom. Our bathroom counter was too big for a remnant as well and we ended up having to buy a half slab. Since the fabricator insisted the counter & backsplash was going to take the entire 1/2 slab, I found other remnants that sort of looked like our granite to use for the shower curb & threshold. However, when I signed off on the final layout, I told them I wanted all remnants after cutting. and as it turned out, there was piece left over that's big enough to use in our other bathroom. If you're sure you won't have enough left over you may be able to get a good discount if you're willing to buy a half slab from the same fabricator. (some will sell in half slabs some won't) Another option is to keep checking other fabricators. We found one in our area that only charges for the fabrication and not the remnant. They had a full warehouse full including some that looked similar to our slab. In the end it cost us 75.00 to have a curb and threshold fabricated. I had gotten quotes for up to 160 by other fabricating stores, so it pays to shop around. Good luck!
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On a positivie note, the fabricator did learn from my experience and said they would show the customer the layout (either by photo or in person) before cutting in the future. Lucky them! Thanks again everyone for your input. Nice to have this board for third party opinions. Friends aren't always honest. I will try come on here more often now to reciprocate. Lucky us, now we are having another issue that will make me forget about the granite issue, with our busy crown molding, it isn't working due to different ceiling heights throughout kitchen, like 3/4 to 1.5" in some areas! The worst area due to a lower board sistering joist holding toilet pipe between floors (opened the ceiling). Never noticed before because cabinets didn't go all the way up... And now will have to try a simpler crown molding that won't look like accordion in some areas due to height differences, or no crown molding on the high cabinets, ooh.... So looks like we won't be getting kitchen back for a while longer, as we have to raise the sheet rock about 3/4" (that's all we got) in that one area. Now I know more questions to ask if I do another reno job before hiring a contractor. Like, will they measure the room from floor to ceiling for oddities to plan for surprises? Shouldn't that be a norm?
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dretutz
11 years ago
Fabricators often look at marbling and movement in the slab and cut to get the "Nicest" piece. That was the case with my soapstone. If you did not tell them you wanted usable remnants, then I don't think the fabricator is responsible for failing to have usable remants.
Mistman
11 years ago
Regardless, I would think if you purchased the slabs they're yours. My countertop guy gives you he rems if you want them, if not he tries to sell them, after all he didn't buy them you did.
catbuilder
11 years ago
If you weren't there to direct the templating (a normal procedure), and you weren't willing to store the remnants yourself, I don't think the fabricator is in the wrong. After all, they're not mind readers, and they're not in the business of being a free warehouse.
User
11 years ago
Templates would be laid out differently if you wanted to maximize the square footage vs. maximizing the beauty of the stone. And you would be responsible for telling the fabricator up front that you preferred to not have the nicest looking placement for the pieces in the kitchen in in order to stretch the usage out to include vanities from the slab. You are being more than fairly compensated for your incorrect assumption.
huango
Original Author
11 years ago
Sorry for leaving out info:
Yes, I was there for templating.
So yes, there was a large remnant remaining from the templating.
In the very beginning, I did tell the sales rep that I do have plans for the remnant. My fault for not reminding them.

I put priority to getting the best fit for my kitchen.
Then after that, if there was anything left, we would use it.
As you can see from below's templating, there should be a good size remnant.

Here's the remnant that should be leftover.

I'd be happy to store the remnant.
I have the weirdly shaped piece from the cooktop cut-out in my garage. No plans for it.
mudworm
11 years ago
Who positioned the templates? Your templates look extremely close to each other and to the slab edges. Do you not have any laminate edges? When we did the templating, we left 4" extra on each edge to account for the laminate edge and waste, which is quite substantial.

If the blue is the agreed cut line, then why can't you use the remnants if that's what you saved? Confused.
huango
Original Author
11 years ago
No laminate edge; it's 3cm thick. No need for extra space around template.

Not exactly sure how they cut it, maybe across the bottom horizontally, and straight down (from the right diagonally?).
I don't know.
mudworm
11 years ago
Now I see your argument. At the time (of templating), did you not mention to the fabricator that you would be making vanities and sills out of the remaining blanks and want them to be kept intact? If you did, I agree you do have a leg to stand on. However, if the fabricator did not know, I can understand that they'd make the cuts most convenient for them. A tough situation. Best of luck!
PRO
Granite City Services
11 years ago
I am a fabricator

If the fabricator did not know about your desire to make some additional parts then you can't hold him accountable. It vitally important for the guy sawing the slabs to know all the parts before he starts. YOur fabricators offer to let you select an alternate is pretty reasonable.

Do I have a leg to stand on: my remnant slab?

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Do I have a leg to stand on: my remnant slab?

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