MizLizzie;

the most important thing is that you're happy with the outcome. Congrats on your new kitchen!

Good post. We have Torquay and did not see slabs in person, I was told the same thing about consistency. Fortunately, ours turned out well but there is definitely a difference between the different locations (kitchen, perimeter, island). Now about those pictures you haven't posted yet, would love to see....

My kitchen is just finished, too. The Cambria I chose is Praa Sands. Absolutely lovely! A couple of blotches, but I'm the only one who notices them. The installation was flawless and the company that did the install was greatl. I'm very, very happy with the Cambria!

I don't understand why the shops say you don't need to see the slabs. The same thing happened to me -- I bought it, the fabricator came and took it back to his shop. Then he told me there was a scratch in one of the slabs.

Luckily he cut around it and didn't need to use the scratched piece. But these things can be fixed by taking 10 minutes to look at the slab.

I got Pental Quartz in Coastal Grey and they were installed last week. Very happy with the result so far (of course, I haven't actually used them yet).

Lizzie
Congratulations!

I lucked out- I didn't see the slab(same song and dance) and even if I had, the first slab had an accident en route to the house.
They had a new slab cut and installed in a week.
The install was great! I can barely feel the seams.
Ours is actually buckingham but still in the Waterstone family.

I think it is even more important to see the flowing Cambria patterns than the standard versions.

Cryptic from iPhone

How huge is the resin pool? That issue made me hesitant to buy quartz. I had odd white thumbprint marks on my Caesarstone Buttermilk. When the fabricator damaged my slab on install, I switched to Pentalquartz because their warehouse is nearby and we were able to pick our slab. Otherwise, you just have to take what the quartz companies send out.

Sorry to be AWOL after my post. Have been in the UK for the kiddo's college graduation. (Whoo hoo! No tuition this year -- so we got a kitchen!) Anyhoo, here is a picture of the island as a whole. Look to the left of the prep sink and you'll see what I consider very bad patches of resin. I'll post the worst spot in another photo since I have (sadly) not mastered the multi-pic technique.

And here is the BAD spot. That said, it is in the least noticeable place it could possibly be, short of being under the toaster oven. LOL. But I do think Cambria and the fabricator are at fault on this one. I am not that picky -- and maybe someone sensed it -- so I do not want the inconvenience of re-doing the tops. But caveat emptor, folks, if you are considering Cambria!!!!

And a2gemini, forgive me! Just had a brain spasm. Your counters are unmistakably gorgeous. And I think mine are, too. Just saying . . . look at this blob.

I am a fabricator.

IMHO thats awful. REALLY awful. I showed the pic to three other people in my office and everyone was amazed that a fabricator would include such a massive blob of resin in an island.

That slab should never have been used by the fabricator for an island particularly when the slab could have been used for other parts and the big blob could have been left in the waste.

If they object remind them that they could've used ANY other slab for the island.

On the plus side overall the counters look very nice in your kitchen.

You should insist on a replacement. you paid too much to accept such an obvious mistake.

Would someone kindly fill me in ( pun wasn't intended, actually!!) on resin...is this from the adhesive or is it something inherent in the slab?
I ordered Silestone ...will I have to look out for resin blotches, too?
Thanks!

Yuck!

Thank you for posting. I am probably going with quartz and hadn't heard about the resin issue. I'm pretty laid back too, but I think that blob would bother me. Then again, maybe I'd forget about it in a couple of weeks.

Maybe you can get a credit from the fabricator and use it to redo your bathroom vanity or something. :) Anyway, it looks great overall!

@Boone, resin is binder that holds all the crushed stones together. It is part of the slab and in this case, the resin wasn't distributed evenly through out and formed a large pocket of resin.

lilymila: Thank you for your kind reply.

From the photos,the cut at left side of prep sink is crooked. done by subpar workmanship.

Island counter should be the focal of a kitchen where its countertop should be perfect. From the photos, they delivery an island counter top made of defective material and poor workmanship.

Your kitchen is beautiful, this island counter top has to go. you should ask them to send you a perfect replacement.

Here's the thing -- the spots bother me far less than the thought of further disruption in my life. I set aside enough time from my work schedule to get the kitchen done. And it's done. Real life returns, and with it, a work crisis. I really feel my kitchen guy would rip it out in a minute if I asked. But I just don't want people back in the house. If it bothers me after the first of the year, I'll ask him to handle it.

That said, I did want folks to see the issue with Cambria, and to make others aware. I would not use a Waterstone pattern from Cambria without supervising the process very closely.

MizLizzie,

It is very nice of you to share the issue with Cambria since we are thinking about using man-made hard surface for kitchen counter in the upcoming kitchen remodel.

The incompetent fabricator messed up counter top edge and sink cut out in our hall bath. I have no confidence in him of redoing the counter top, I worry if he would make things worse by damaging connected backsplash, cabinet, faucet and sink. It has been two months; the poor work still bothers me so I know I would never be able to accept it. We too have demanding jobs and frequent business travels. We are trying to find the best time slot for the rework.

Congratulations for your childâÂÂs college graduation. Ours finished his graduate school last May. After the ceremony, we parents congratulated one another and jokingly shared the tips of calculating pay back rate for the bailout loans we provided. It was a lot of fun.

This post was edited by azmom on Thu, Jul 4, 13 at 12:31

You really should have the fabricator come out and see this. Since they already have done the measurements, they should be able to fabricate another one. I would ask to see the slab before it is cut and be adamant that you discuss and approve where the cut will be in the slab.

We have Cambria Canterbury and due the length of our counter top we had to have 2 pieces seamed from 2 slabs. The fabricator was very accomodating in showing us several pieces so we were able to get the color dominance we were looking for (more browns/less black) and how it would look next to to each other. They did a good job with it and it is very hard to tell where the seam is.

That is a bad spot. I think I would ask for a new piece--but totally understand wanting to be done with all the renovation hassle.
I knew from this forum and from my sample piece that there would be resin pools. In my case, the color I chose made it seem like it was part of the design. I have several resin spots--and they are some of my favorite parts of my new counter! A couple of them look "deep" like you can see dimension in them (don't know how else to describe it.)
But for your color, or specifically that spot, looks like a mistake.

Heidihausfrau - what is the name of your countertop? It is beautiful.

Thanks Minuca. We love it, too. It is Bradshaw. From the moment I saw the sample, I knew it was the one.

Yikes. Totally get your wish for no more disruption. I'd also be inviting someone out to look at that and ask for something like a partial refund at least. Put it on the college loan ;)