I can't speak to your specific concerns about the granite, but did want to reassure you about the HD kitchen rep. i wouldn't be concerned about her calling from her cell phone. my husband works for a different division of HD and works out of our home. his cell phone is his work phone.

First off let me say there is not one red flag with HD
that concerns me in your entire post. Nothing. They sound
fine.

As for the woman you spoke with. I can tell you my installer
called from his private unlisted number. Not the company
but the week prior to installation and the day of.
Often installers and even secretaries with companies
like this might work from home. It is probably a mom
and pop kind of business. I would not worry. Your priority
is talent with the installer. NO worry for me there.

Did you ask if you could see any of their previous work?
You could call HD and request to see a sample of their
work either pictures or an actual visit to the home.

Waiting for the right slab? I had to do this. My family
went nuts because we had to use the laundry room sink
and live with plywood counters until I found the right
slab. I would do it all over again to have the counter I
love but DH would not. He would have been happy with the
plywood.

Granite is a natural product. This means there will be
fissures, or color changes or even ulgy black spots that
look like a paint gun. It's God's artwork. (mho)
Ask if you can template?
What does this mean? It means, you tell them that you do
not want the ugly dot, or you want the little pattern
that looks like a tiny cloud over by your sink. You choose
how you want the stone to be made into a countertop.
A good installer will work with you. They might say.
Sorry the ugly black dot is going to be needed unless you
pay for another slab. But at least you get what you want.

Did you take pictures of the slabs?
Sometimes this is a good idea. That way when you do choose
you can be sure you are getting the slab you photographed.

Another key peice is that HD in general wants to please
it's customers. They do often choose the cheaper installers
but this does not mean the cheaper are not as talented.
Sometimes it is an installer who has been laid off from a
larger granite company because of the economy. In your
situation far from a metro area you are fine going the path
your going on.

Worry is all part of the process. Have you read
Gardenwebs stone checklist? I will link it below.

Have you thought about where you want your seams?
What is a seam? I will post some pictures below of good
seams and bad ones so you can see. Knowledge is power
and you will have it by the time the installer arrives.

Have you thought about the edge? Check out a recent post
on that topic.
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0219115832604.html?37

For me, I would take down my old countertop.
WHY?
Because I care so much about the edges, corners, seams
and the entire process. I wanted my countertop to fit
perfectly. I know there are installers that use the laser.
I don't trust it. They can use the laser if they want
but it is going to be after my old counter is off the
wall. It usually takes a fabricator to cut your stone into
counters about 2 weeks. Can you live without a kitchen
sink for 2 weeks? Especially if it means your seams and
edges and backsplash corners are perfect? I can and would.
My home is in New England and not perfect. The bumpy walls,
the slants, the changes in micro measurements in the
cabinet tops all have to be drawn out and measured to a tee
in order to be installed nicely. This is the only
concern I would have with your project.

The best way to get what you want in this project is to
tell HD that you want seams that look the image below.
(The good one) and that you want the measurements to be
perfect. Letting the installer and HD know up front what
you expect goes a long way toward making it work for you.
You are NOT going to be a person who sits back to have
a shoddy job done. Knowledge is power.

It is perfectly normal to stress. I did not sleep for weeks
with worry about the right stone, the right installer,
the money I was spending, and the choices I was making.
All Scary. You are not alone.

~boxerpups

Ps. anymore questions, do not hesitate. I really do
understand what you are going through. If I had the energy
I would find my post from years ago that sounds just like
yours.

UGLY UGLY UGLY Seam

Marvelous, marvelous, marvelous seam!!!!!!!!!!

Rollie from GW seam image

Rollie from GW

This is my countertop. My installer bookmatched
my seam. There is a seam down the pattern of the
granite it but it is hidden.
the seam is by the light switch.

Template

Forgive me for going on and on....
I just assume you do not know the above and I want to help.
I am beyond thankful for past people like Stonegirl,
Kevin and other granite gurus who helped me make my
kitchen my favorite place to be.
Sometimes I can be a boring know it all. Just ask
my teenagers.
; )
~boxer

Here is a link that might be useful: Stone Information and Advice (& Checklists)

We used HD in our last home and we were very pleased. Absolutely no complaints at all.

Boxer - what a useful thread on granite. Thanks so much!

Boxerpups- WOW, thank you so much! I really appreciate you taking the time out to provide all that information. You are awesome.

To everyone else again thank you for replying. I guess freaking out is part of the process, huh? lol. Well that is good to know because usually I am pretty excited about house projects but this is new territory for me. We have never had granite before. We were just going to go with laminate again but found granite wasn't that much more. Sheesh, when did laminate get so expensive?

It makes sense that the woman uses her cell phone. I have called a couple of times and if she doesn't answer she sets up her voicemail everyday stating what hours she is working and so forth so that seems pretty professional to me. I belong to another decorating forum but the people on there loathe the big box stores and I knew all I would get is "you are making the biggest mistake of your life" comments but none of them have actually used the big box stores. So I wanted more of an unbiased opinion. Sometimes people don't understand when you live in a semi rural area, you don't have all the options a big city has.

I am going to ask about the black splotch and if it can be worked around. The slab is pretty large and its just this one spot. I did take pictures and I had the warehouse hold that slab (just in case). The fabricator is about an hour and half from me. I will drive to see them if possible. Again thank you everyone. Maybe I will start to relax now. ha ha. I will also ask about taking the counters off. Our house is about 15 yrs old but I know that walls are never straight no matter how new the house is. I will live without counters it means perfection.

Boxerpups ROCKS!!!

In most markets Home Depot is highly priced. Boxerpups knows their stuff.... But I would not put much weight in the idea of stating your expectations to the designer at the show room. A fabricator is sub contracted by Home Depot for all the installations. That designer does not write them their checks. The relationship is not that close. I have known several fabricators in the DC are who have had the HD account and lost it for various reasons.

It should be a good install but you can not assume you can get extra attention most of the time by being special in some manner. There are to many people involved in it from the corporate structure.

We are using HD and the fabricator we have here won some of national fabricator award. I am a little type A, as most of us here on GW are, so I really tried to manage this well to ensure I got exactly what I wanted. Here's what I did:

1. I picked out the granite slab - in my market, it happened to be Daltile and they had a massive selection. I made 2 trips (1 hr each way) and had them hold my slab for me once I picked out "the one". I took pictures of the slab, copied down serial numbers, made sure Daltile wrote it down on my invoice that I hand-selected, and relayed it myself to the fabricator, etc. My KD at HD spoke to Daltile to make sure everything was taken care of too

2. I asked HD if I could be there for the layout. They said yes and the fabricator set up an appointment with me (& even called to confirm with me). As it turns out, I was not able to be there in person due to a work conflict, but they asked if I had email (of course! ;0) ) and offered to send me a pic of the work and do the layout approval process virtually. This is important to me beccause of the rivers in my granite, I envisioned it in certain areas of my kitchen

3. Going back and forth right now on the final approval of the layout and so glad I had a say, because the 1st layout they sent over was backwards from what I wanted. Luckily, I had my own pics to refer to and send to them to show exactly what part of the slab I wanted my lovely prep area and what part of the slab to be our sink area. I spent a lot of time previously at Daltile thinking about all of that. My fabricator project manager is going to send me the updated version of the layout for my approval tomorrow

4. The fabricator has been very timely. They picked up the slab from Dalitle when they said they would, came to do the template at the prompt time, and already booked me for the 14th for my install. Our fabricator is VERY well organized, which makes me feel good

5. So far, I am quite pleased and cannot wait for the install next week. I actually had shady feelings about the non-HD fabricators I spoke to and felt so much better that HD would stand behind the work.

6. You didnt ask about this, but I got an amazing deal on my Bianco Antico (class "e", I believe) by waiting to purchase when they had a free color grade (so paying at the "d" level), they gave me an extra 10% off with a Lowes coupon I had, and then I purchased gift cards to HD via ebay and plasticjungle.com to save an extra 7% off of face value. Ended up paying about $59/sq ft for the granite. Definitely try to work the deals if you go with HD

Good luck.

Home Depot contractors did our quartz composite counter. It was perfect, they were friendly, and we're happy.

Thanks again everyone for the replies. I have to say my uneasy feeling is not going away. Here's the latest. So please chime in if this appears to be red flags. At this point we are thinking of canceling the order.

I had only talked to the fabricator once. This was when she set up the appt for the template. I went to the granite warehouse (2 hrs away) and only saw 2 slabs that were not really to my liking. I did tag one as the warehouse wasn't sure when they would get more slabs in. They said I could tag one and wait so I did that. I was told by the warehouse that more granite would come in. First it was a few days, then they said no, its more like a week, then its 2 weeks. So I have called every few days to see if more granite is in. I can tell they are getting annoyed with me and now have been told "they will call when they get a truck." At this point, I have no idea when they will get more granite.

I put in a call to the fabricator to find out what happens if no more granite comes in and if they could work around an undesirable spot on the slab I did put on hold. No return call. After 3 days Im getting peeved. Each time I call it always goes to voicemail. On the 3rd day I left a message stating I really wanted to hear back. When no call came my husband called HD to complain. HD manager said she would contact the rep.

So the installer comes to do the template. I ask him about my concerns with the slabs and the one I have on hold that has an undesirable spot and if it can be worked around. He said I need to talk to the fabricator. He just installs. Okay fine. He said he had to take my sink with him. After he left, then it dawned on me. I just gave my new sink to someone that I don't even know where he is from. I say this because he mentioned he works for so and so which is a different name than the fabricator. So it appears so far there are 3 separate companies involved in this process. The granite warehouse, the fabricator and the installer.

Fabricator calls me early this morning. She sounded nervous and a bit frazzled. Im sure she got a phone call from HD or the rep from her company. She apologized and said its been extremely busy and she has had some family issues to take care of. I told her my concerns about everything. She asked me to text a pic of the slab to her phone so she can see it. She said if the undesirable spot is in the middle of the slab, it could be a problem trying to fabricate around it. She didnt sound too encouraging that the undesirable spot would be left out. She said I can come and see it templated on the slab. I don't even know if I want that slab anymore. I feel like I don't have a choice. Not that she didnt say that but if the granite warehouse can't tell me when they will get more it bothers me. The fabricator told me I chose a popular stone, it could be a while before more comes in. I got the feeling she was trying to rush me off the phone. I could hear maybe some kids in the background and then a car horn beeping. Could be just a neighbor or whatever but I got the vibe someone was honking for her because of how fast she was talking especially after the horn beep. She said she would contact the production manager about the undesirable spot. She hopes she can call me back today. I told her that we were thinking of canceling and I wanted to know where my sink was. She said the guy that did the template works for her but he is located in such and such city which is pretty far away. (Great) So I hung up with her and now its back to the waiting game. Now I feel its all just a hassle. I am really leaning toward canceling all of this but now I have track down my sink and more than likely go drive to get it. Well so it happens my husband has to go to that particular area for work tomorrow (a complete fluke) and he said he could swing by where that installer is located and get our sink. He is leaving it up to me to cancel and I am on the verge. If this is how its gonna go before I even have the work done, what happens if we end up with a problem?

What you do think? Red flags? Is this how it goes? I mean I understand its a process but I got a bad feeling. Thoughts?

As I see it, the main issue here is the slab - if they can't work around the spot you don't like, you will need new slabs. Granite is a natural product, and it's not surprising that new slabs are not showing up on schedule - some people have had to search granite yards in multiple states. Personally, unless you have a deadline for cancelling, I would hang in there a bit longer and see if more slabs show up or if the fabricator can work around the bad spot - make sure you show up when they lay the template out on the slab. If you need to cancel, you'll have to start the whole process all over again. Can you check references and see previous jobs that this fabricator has done?

Thanks Weissman. It appears they only work with this particular granite warehouse. I personally think the warehouse has no idea when my particular stone is coming in and that is why they keep shooting me various time lines. I did call them today and said to take the tag off the slab I had them hold. I didn't really care for it much and felt obligated to tag it just in case. The more I look at it via the pictures I took, the more I dislike it and the fabricator didnt sound too convincing they could avoid the bad spots. I don't have a deadline so I have time, I just get the feeling that since everyone is so busy I will be forgotten. Fine if they didnt have my money already.

To add a little insult to injury a granite yard we had visited weeks ago shot us a very high price. They called today to let me know they have some remnants that are really beautiful and if we wanted those they could give us the same price as HD. Sigh. I guess I will wait it out. Thanks for the feedback.