Do you have more pics? That's a nice tight seam, and while it's not invisible because of the movement of the granite, I don't think you're going to get much better than that without purchasing a whole lot more slabs to be able to bookmatch a seam. As far as the sink goes, perhaps it's just off center of the cutout. That would account for the reveal being different, and it can be easily adjusted.

I am a fabricator.

regarding the color mismatch at the seam - if the fabricator had to use most of 2 slabs then he may have had little option to do something different. A better fabricator would have had you in to see what you were going to get so you would have an opportunity for input prior to sawing. A nasty mismatch like that at a sink would be objectionable to most people.

re: the sink reveals - the fabricator probably simply made the sink cutouts to the drawing or template provided by the OEM without ever looking at the reveal relative to the other sinks. We made this mistake very early on in our business and ended up making an island over because the homeowner asserted that the reveal on the sinks should match on sinks in the same room and I agreed with her. This also doesn't make your fabricator look too swift.

On the plus side you used your GC's granite guy so the GC has far more leverage with the fabricator than a single homeowner would. In my experience the GC's have no problem leaning on the fabricator if the homeowner is unhappy. I suggest making it the GC's problem and if he doesn't make something happen tell him you will withhold payment until he does.

thank you so much greendesigns and oldryder!

I'll have them reposition the sinks to see if that helps with the reveal issue. That would be an easy fix :)

We didn't expect a bookmatched seam but this seam is in a really noticeable location and does not match at all. It looks like the color would have matched better if they had turned the granite around (hope that makes sense). Or if the seam was somewhere less prominent.

We're meeting with our contractor tomorrow. Unfortunately I can't think of a way to fix the mismatch seam without redoing the counter and there may not be enough granite left. It's sad because we spent so much time granite shopping and finally decided on kashmir gold because they had large slabs and we didn't need a seam on the island. Now we're thrilled with the look of the granite but not the seam and sinks.

Thanks again for your input!

No help here, but this would bother me a great deal. If it were in a corner, I'd say, "Hey, the seam had to go somewhere." I'm pretty easy-going about little things, but I'd stick to my guns on this one and would demand that it be re-done.

The template supplied with our sink (Franke) did not match the actual sink at all. Even though our fabricator took measurements of the sink on site, he took the sink to his shop to make sure that the cut out was exact. If they are cutting with a template and the template is off, the cut out will be off as well.

Can you post other photos from a further distance? To me it doesn't look that bad.

This is exactly why I didn't go with granite. We went to the slab yard with contractor, and he pointed out that, due to the configuration of the kitchen, there would be mis-matched slabs at the seam. Unless you pick one of the really boring granite types, you would be subject to this issue.

I would be upset with that too, and I understand your frustration. I hope you can get it resolved!

Suzi

The reason a lot of fabricators place the seam at the sink is that it creates a very small area where the different granites come together. If you aren't going to be splurging on enough slabs to get a "perfect" seam, putting it there minimizes the differences over putting in a larger seam in a corner area. The downside to the smaller less visible seam is that the sink is a high use area, so although the seam is smaller, it ironically may be more visible to the kitchen owner because they use the sink multiple times a day.

There are tradeoffs to almost every seam location with a busy stone and a limited number of slabs to work with. You kinda have to accept that you WILL see the seam, and go from there as to the location where it will bother you the least with the amount of stone that you have to work with.

Having said that, it IS a good seam. It's tight and even and looks smooth and not chipped. It's even well color matched for the epoxy as it can be for a granite with so many colors in it.

I'll take more pictures and post them tonight. There's also a small gap against the wall. The installation just feels a little sloppy. The fabricator had the actual sinks but he must have just used the templates.

The island looks great and has no seams - I really wish we had seen the templates and could have moved the countertop seam.

Small gaps against the wall are normal - they are covered over by the backsplash tiles.

Even with granite with lots of movement can be put together at a seam where you can't tell that much. We went through a process with our fabricator wher we got to decide what part of the slabs went where & what areas would create the best seam. This could have been done a lot better with a little of thought and planning. If they can't fix it, you could always hang a nice hand towel right there...

here's a couple more pictures.

the fabricator fixed the sinks and they look much better. they now have a mostly flush reveal all around. he had used the templates instead of the actual sinks.

our fabricator said that was the best match he could find with the slab. he had a very large slab to make the countertop so I feel like he could have found a better solution. The only way to fix it is to order another slab (not even sure if there's still one available from the same bundle)

Our contractor is saying he doesn't think it looks that bad, but not convinced he's being honest.

At this point we may go with the cover it with a dish towel method because we need to move into this house in a few weeks.

What do you all think? Are we being too picky? Should we let it go or insist on a fix?

Thank you everyone for your replies and advice!!

sorry for the blurry pics

look at the opposite ends of the 2 pieces. if either piece was rotated 180 degrees would the color match at the joint have been better? if yes then it's a fabricator mistake.

it's not uncommon for a slab to be darker on one end. usually this is managed by "flipping" one piece relative to the other when sawing.

for me this significant color change at the joint is unacceptable. We have remade parts that had a better match than in your pics.

If it is my counter, I would ask them to redo it. It is mismatched both in pattern and color, even viewing from distance or at different angles. If you would use a towel to cover the seam, it means you know it is not done right.

Of course the fabricator will say he had done his best. It takes him 5 seconds to say it, but you would see the seams several times a day for the rest of the time you live in this house.

No question that would be bothersome to a lot if not most of people (personally I can't imagine any homeowner not being bothered!) Do check out whether it could have been flipped. I think they should have advised you of the situation before making the countertop. That was the time to address that there was a problem.

After going through all the effort, time and expense of remodeling a kitchen, I would not want to settle for a sloppy job. Of course the fabricator and GC will tell you it's not that bad and most people wouldn't even notice. I would not give any weight at all to their opinion since there's a conflict of interest there. You are the one who has to live with it. For the purchase price of these countertops, they should be (near) perfection, imo.

P.S. And another thing that bothers me about this sort of thing is that they aren't driven to anticipate or fix problems and errors all by themselves. They wait to see what they can pass off to the homeowner, hoping they are ignorant, don't notice or won't confront them. Instead of just making sure they delivered a great job. Personal pride in workmanship and strong ethics is hard to find these days. For what we pay for the very high rates that are being charged, I think those things should be a given.

This post was edited by snookums2 on Wed, Mar 27, 13 at 11:11

The back seam I could live with, the front not so much. A lot depends on whether there is enough of your granite available to redo and if it will match any better. Draping a dishtowel is just silly. That's like wearing a hat to cover bad hair. At some point, you gotta take it off. Good luck. My seam is where yours is, but I have quartz and both sides are the same.

It seems like nowadays you have to be continuously looking over the shoulder of anyone who is doing work for you. Unfortunately that's not always possible. One reason why I'm always so fearful of having anything done.

Me, too, bec. I don't understand this at all!

I think that the germane question would be if the OP was willing to buy another entire slab of granite just to be able to have the perfect seam. If not, then compromises have to be made. Where things start to fall down is that the fabricator should have communicated the issue to the OP and let them make the decision to spend more money or have the less than perfect seam.

Or choose another stone.

I agree, if flipping the stone wouldn't have worked, what would you have done if you had know up front. No small matter, which was your call.

Our fabricator said if he had flipped the granite 180 degrees the veins didn't match and it was too gold. I think the golder area would have looked better than the blue. His real mistake is to not have asked us. If we had been asked we couldn't have complained about it. We didn't want to buy a 3rd slab but if the fabricator had told us we'd have a poor matching seam we would have considered it.

I'm just not sure how to handle this. I'm going to ask to see the rest of our slab. The fabricator says there's not enough to redo the countertop but I want to see for myself.

If there's not enough we'd have to buy a slab from another bundle and then there'd could be a worse mismatch between the island and the counterop.

What would you tell the fabricator to do?

Thanks again - our contractor claimed we were the first people to complain about the seam in natural stone. It was SO helpful to let him know we had posted pictures and plenty of people agreed with us!

our contractor claimed we were the first people to complain about the seam in natural stone

Either he's lying or the rest of the people will settle for anything they're given. My neighbors just got new granite counters. Their seam is awful, rough, and the sides don't match. They think it's great, so I kept my mouth shut.

As difficult and uncomfortable as it seems, stick to your guns. They should have asked you first and let you make the decision. We had an issue with our granite installation and the fabricator tried to say it was inevitable that it wouldn't be perfect. I asked them not to glue it down until my GC saw it and my GC agreed with me and had them do it over. There is one other smaller cabinet where the overhang really shouldn't be as long as they made if because the particular cabinet is flush with the refrig on a separate wall. Unfortunately, I gave in there after they said they made all the overhangs match. I shouldn't have given in, because while yes, the overhangs to match, for that particular little cabinet it just isn't quite right and it would have been easy for them to have shaved off an extra 1/4". Clearly, in your situation they should have asked first.

This may be a very stupid suggestion but is there anyway that they could install an apron front sink there? If you don't like that look then it would be a definite no but if you do like the look the apron front would totally cover that huge difference in color. If this is possible I would insist that the GC and fabricator argue between themselves as to who picks up the tab for it and a new sink should be provided (your choice) at no charge to you!

I know this is an old thread but does anyone know how it was resolved? I am dealing with the same type of issue. Thanks!