To me it looks like Cambria's way of making an engineered stone look like a natural stone... random variation. I have some similar spots (different color but same kind of variation) in my Silestone. After you live with it awhile it won't jump out at you.

EEEK!

Cool looking material though. But that blob seems a little large, doesn't it. Is that the only large one on the whole surface (so that it really stands out)?

I know nothing about Cambria. Do they consider that blob within the normal range of the pattern?

There's just that one big orange blob and it's right in the middle of my top! I wish the samples showed just how orange it would be.

that looks fairly consistent with the rest of the pattern variation, however it is a large amount of orange. The cambria tends to have larger resin spots to make it look more random, so I doubt that would be a defect. It is hard to see that when looking at their small samples though. Next time people should request a larger sample before buying.

That bright orange spot would drive me crazy, too. Did you see anything like that in the sample you chose from?

no! I saw many large samples and an installed counter. I wasn't prepared for the orange at all!

I don't know, old1880, it might be something you'll look at fondly some day, kinda like a birthmark that makes you unique.

My guess is that we all have a seam or a corner or a something that stands out at first when we're looking at everything closely, but once your usual kitchen activities resume it recedes a bit and is less noticeable.

--nancy

That orange blob is just marking the spot where you're supposed to alwaaaays keep a vase of fresh cut flowers. ;)

But, yeh, it is ugly. I'd try covering part of it with some craft paint or something before shelling out big bucks to replace it.

Or maybe have it routed out & do some kind of inlay?

Have you tried emailing a picture of that to Cambria directly? I would be interested to know if that looks right to them.

I guess it is about what you are expecting. I really don't see a problem with it. I think it adds to the uniqueness of it.

WOW. I have cambria (Stafford Brown) and it's pretty consistent in pattern with barely any resin spots. There may be one or two but they are small so not noticeable to me. Also , mine doesn't have different colored resins (which it looks like yours does??) Mine is tan resin with black, brown, clear chunks of "stone". So any resin spots pretty much blend right in.

The orange Cambria island has got to go! It's just so hideous. The $1500 we spent on the Cambria top is wasted and it just kills me that we didn't go to Lowe's to begin with. At least it was just my island and not the whole kitchen! And yes, I did email the picture to Cambria:-(

I looked up Cambria oxford on their website and I don't see orange in it. Something doesn't seem right.

I wish Cambria saw it that way, mygar. I'm out $1500! We're replacing it with granite. Our old house has killed us financially and this just adds to the money misery :-(

That is typical for Cambria. I always warn my clients about the possibility of large splotches. In fact, I even use the phrase, "splotches could be as big as a quarter". Cambria does have the most beautiful quartz in my opinion, but these splotches would not be acceptable to some homeowners. And I do believe that some colors make it more noticeable....like the orange.

I don't think it looks that bad. The orange spot is small and the entire slab has uneven speckling, much the way any natural stone would. I have an entire section of granite countertop that lacks the color depth I have in other parts of my kitchen. At first it bothered me, now I hardly know its there. Nobody else sees it the way I do. I'm sure thats how it will be with yours also.

but it's not natural stone. It's manufactured. If I saw samples that looked remotely orange I would not have ordered it. This is my dream kitchen and I don't want to warm up to my countertop or learn to love it. I just can't learn to love something I didn't order in the first place. Is anyone interested in buying this top? I live in Michigan.

It seems to me that if the samples you saw didn't have any orange in it, then you shouldn't have expected to have any orange (and it looks like there's a LOT of orange in that counter). Who did you order it through? Isn't there any way to get a new top or your money back if it was misrepresented? What's the name of the color you ordered?

Divadly - Do you have any pictures of your countertop you could share? Pretty please? How do you like it?

I was very much considering the Stafford Brown. I went to several kitchen stores and one showed me the resin pooling and told me "go with granite... you won't be sorry". It was an Oxford countertop that he showed me. I think it's really only the "Quarry" line that does the pooling though, and Stafford Brown is in the "Classic" line. But the Stafford matches my cabinet color extremely well. I'm thinking of going with Madura Gold granite since that seems to match pretty well, too, and it's not too wild :-)

I am soo sorry, OP, about your dilemma. I totally feel for you as I could really see something like that happening to me, and that's why I was steering away from the quartz.

I don't know enough about Cambria to know if what you got is "normal" but I do agree with rmlanza that if you feel there was misrepresentation, then you should have recourse. How long ago did you buy it and did you pay by credit card - that would give you the most leverage to get satisfaction.

It was installed in Sept 07. Believe me, I tried everything to get my money refunded, Better Business Bureau...everything but small claims court. Even if I went to small claims court there's no way I can get around those small print disclaimers. What's that saying? Experience is what you get when you're not looking for it or you don't want it?