Before addressing the two issues, were you present when the templates were placed on the granite slabs?

This is a very important step because you get to choose the level of 'aesthetic' matching you want. The more tight your preferences are, the more bookmatched slabs you have to buy (which costs you more).

If you are the type of person who gets bothered by unfolded clothes, or things in your closet not lined up just right, I think this will bother you every day! While it's disappointing to wait another week for the installation, I think it's going to be such an important part of your kitchen that you should demand they fix this. Having the seam right there at the middle of the sink seems so awkward!

On my monitor I can't see the line you describe. To an untrained eye like mine the seams look okay. The front seam in your photo looks pretty good. I can see some irregular grain differences in the back seam. I doubt if getting another slab would help because the colors might not match or would be very difficult to blend with the section you want to keep. I've been told a product called agar (sp?) will help darken lighter stone and perhaps this could be tried on the lighter side of a seam.

My advisors have always said this about seams - ''shorter and thinner.'' Thus having a seam at the sink makes sense to me. Overall, even without everything totally installed the job looks pretty good - but the pictures are difficult to note the details you are concerned about.

Hope the fabricator comes to see his work before you proceed further. I think your seams look pretty tight and short which satisfy the seam issue. Color blending is another issue, but perhaps this can be dealt with . Can't see the line you talk about.

On my monitor I can clearly see the line you're talking about in the first two photos and I'd get that piece swapped out.

The color match around the sink seam seems poor in the head-one photo you posted, fine in the angled shots, and so-so in the close-ups...so I'm not much help there.

I can see the line too. You're probably right that once you sit stuff back there it won't be noticeable, particularly to guests. They will examine the huge beautiful peninsula slab. But what happens when you try polishing it? I think I'd be doing that 4x a day while it was sitting there trying to see if it could be buffed out? Did you say you had a week to decide?

The sink seam in the back will have your faucet to break it up (did you get a soap dispenser?) and because the sink itself is between the two pieces it "shouldn't" be as noticeable. But your front edge seems wide in the photo (wider than mine but maybe that's just the angle?). Those two pieces being light and dark would bother me if it's really contrastng in person. (I know one can't always get things to show up on the computer).

If there was two areas that BOTH bothered me I think I'd want to try and fix at least one.

I think the problem is with the original slab, it is darker on one side. I think if it were me, I will always notice it and then wonder why I let it be. It seems like the right chunk side of the kitchen sink to the range is out of place, Can they replace that part with another slab, perferable with the darker side? Technically, they are trying to make it work with one slab. If you went with a less expensive granite guy, this is typical, but higher priced persons try not to let this happen. If you do live with it, ask for a discount at least. Good luck.

They are doing alot of seams over the sink now. The seams can be fixed better.If you do not like them. But I, would not accept the granite match. It looks like he, did not match up the flow of the granite, so you would not have this. I, would make them fix this. sharaz

Thanks for the responses so far. I really appreciated the input.

Yes, we were there to loosely tape off a "template". The staff guided us as to what would look good. We ok'd it, but it is difficult to see how the seam is going to look when your slabs are 15 feet away from each other and they are telling you that they will take care of it to make it look good.

I think another thing that makes the seam a little more noticeable at the sink is that you also have the various colors that show on the 1-1/4 inch part that goes into the sink, not just the color match at the top. I am fixated on that black spot at the left-center of the rear seam and how it matches up (or doesn't match up) to the piece on the right, but as my husband pointed out they really didn't know that spot would be there until the cut into the stone. If you look at the rear seam from the top it does not look terrible but once you cut into the stone for the sink that you get whatever is in that slice.

Our front ledge/seam is a bit wide. This is something that I debated...It is about 4.5 inches to account for the sink tilt out. We debated ditching the sink tilt out but decided to keep it at the last minute. I worry that it is going to be uncomfortable to reach into the sink, but I guess I am going to have to wait and see. My husband says it is fine, but he is 6-ft tall. This is nothing I can blame on the fabricator.

Thanks again for all your opinions. Feel free to keep them coming....

I really can't see the line but to me, the color of the slabs doesn't match at the seam. I would be unhappy with that.

We have a granite that has a lot of movement and have the seam at our corner sink...while one of your slabs definitely seems darker than the other, this is a question really only you can answer, and it depends a lot on your pesonality. I loved our granite so much but I knew it would be a hard match because of the movement. The seam at our sink is very noticeable but honestly, after all this time, I can say I never even notice it. But I do notice the beautiful slab that is my peninsula and it was well worth the seam.

You can see the split in the front of the sink...from there it angles back to the right (we have a dark splotch in the sink as well between the soap dispenser and the faucet).

You have to be kidding! Anyone that thinks that granite is 'OK' does not appreciate quality work. For what you are paying you expect and should get much more. I'm sorry lnersesian, but your counter looks terrible and I would not have accepted it. Merimom, you have a serious problem and I doubt you will ever be happy with it. Your supplier should have known better (and probably did) with his attempts to cover it up. Get it changed.

Geeze splais, that was charming. You could have just said "a seam like that would really bug me" instead of "your counter looks terrible". She wasn't the one looking for seam advice here.

lnersesian, Thanks for posting your photo. It is great to have a reference point as to what other sink seams look like. Sorry you got thrown under the bus for just trying to helpful. You love your countertop so that is all that matters. Now, whether or not my self-diagnosed OCD is going to allow me to love mine is another question!

Anyone else brave enough to post a pic of their seam? ;-)

Stone is natural and expecting perfection from something natural, especially when you're choosing something that has a lot of variation, is expecting too much. If you actually purchased sufficient granite so that the pieces on each side of the sink could have matched in color, then you have a legitimate complaint but that might have meant you needed to purchase a lot more stone than you wanted and even then it's not necessarily possible. Your fixing on individual spots of color -- in addition to the overall shade -- indicates you're not being realistic about what to expect out of natural materials. To me, this is similar to people who think they can avoid etching on marble without accepting that is part of its essence. If you want perfection, go with human made materials.

Ha ha, no problem Merimom. I think it helped that we knew from the get go we were going to have seam issues, but it was a toss up I was willing to live with. I had two very high movement slabs and two seams. The other seam is not as noticeable, but the only way we could showcase the movement I wanted on the peninsula was with this seam at the sink. We were at the fabricators for a couple of hours working with the template and slabs and this is what worked best for us.

Obviously, what works best for you could be different. If in your heart you are not happy with your results, I really hope you get it changed or else it will bug you every time you see it.

Merimom, your seam looks fine to me. Your granite has a flowing movement to it, and the movement is going in the same direction on both sides.

Remember that when you are deep in the weeds of remodel, these things glare out at you and seem like life-and-death! Others won't notice anything but your beautiful new kitchen. Later, you won't notice these mind-numbing details anymore.

:-)

ah...inersian - I looked at your pic and loved your granite (what is it called???) and I saw nothing wrong with it - had to finish reading your post to find out what you were talking about. only then did I notice. then laughed at myself 'cause when i first looked at it - I loved that part about it - thought it was natural that way. I still love it!

it's one of the best looking granites I've seen. I'm picky about granite.

I can't see the line you mention in the first couple of pics either, but if it is noticeable to you then I would ask the fabricator to give you a written promise that they'll come in an repolish the surface for you after the install. It's a bit of a messy job but it will get rid of any issues there.

As far as the sink seams go - they look pretty good to me. The more noticable difference is in the rear of the sink and I am pretty sure that very few people are going to spend a lot of time looking at that part of the room.

I am not sure if you're going to find a better match short of having a custom set of slabs cut from a block of stone, and even then there are no guarantees. They can never tell what they'll find when the stone is cut.

Personally, when I see perfectly matched colours in a counter I immediately assume it's synthetic. If someone wanted that look, I think they'd purchase one of the quartz agglomerates rather than granite. Natural is never perfect but it is always beautiful.

When the stone gets sealed it often darkens a bit and details become more noticeable. Perhaps you could wet the pieces there and determine if the colours are too different for you or if the alignment of the grain makes up for it.

It's very nice stone and I'd think twice before dumping it!

Merimom, We had our bathroom granite installed last week and because of it's length & our stairwell, they insisted on putting a seam in at 1 sink. :c( Here are some photo samples to help you compare. Personally, it doesn't sit well with me when installers are not honest about the slabs and their flaws. Add the poor seam job and there's no question about it, I'd be insisting on a new slab(s). Why with all the money you're paying for that granite why should you or would you compromise? I hope all turns out well for you. Please keep us all posted on your progress. -- Lukki

Front of sink
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Back of sink

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Full view of sink

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OP - I think the back seam would bother me more - but I don't see a black 'spot' there. maybe I'm thinking it's a shadow...
the front I thought bothered me when I first saw it - after looking thru them, reading, looking again, reading, looking again - well, it wasn't bothering me so much anymore. so maybe that's what it'll be - stands out like a sore thumb now, in a month, 2 months you'll be wondering what it was that did bother you...
I think I'd ask them to try to smooth them out a bit (maybe it's the angle I was looking at tho).

as for the big piece - I don't see a 'line' - is it that one side is darker than the other? that i think is the way it is. it's nature. and surely looked like that at the shop? that wouldn't bother me.

Thanks again, everyone. My husband met with the fabricator and after going back and forth a few times, they have agreed to do something about it. He acknowledged the straight line where it is lighter (I know you can't see it very well in photos, but trust me, it's there). He admitted it is sun damage from the stone being outside. He said he should have cut around it, but he did not notice it at the time.

The consensus is that the granite slab used for the right side of the sink was lightened by the sun. They think this slab was laying on top of the slab used for the left side of the sink (except for that 4 inch section that was left exposed and lightened from the sun). So, this protected the piece on the left and kept it dark. The fabricator thinks that if they take both pieces back to the shop he can polish them which will take off the top (lighter) layer and the pieces will match better. I have no idea if this will work, but I am willing to give it a try bc we are just not happy with it the way it is.

When we first went to this granite shop they told us they did not quote granite in per sq ft prices...They only quote the entire job so that they can use whatever materials necessary to produce the best job possible. So, we are paying for a quality product and that is what we want. I know it is not the worst seam ever to exist, but it is not to the level of quality we were promised. This is one of the most expensive places in our area, so we just can't feel good about paying a higher price and not be thrilled with the end product. Granite isn't something you change every 5, 10, even 15 years. This granite will be a part of my HOME for a very long time and I need to love it.

Thanks again for ALL your opinions. I will keep ya posted!

lukkiirish...Thanks for the pic! I think your seam looks pretty good! The seam at the back of the sink is nearly impossible to notice.

I am really hoping some polishing will do the trick!

Well,

By the time I got to the end of this post, it seems you have a resolution, and you've made a decision, ie. you're not happy with how it looks presently.

I think the fabrication is really good, looks like tight seams and fitting the wall really well. I like how the granite flows on both sides of the sink seam. The issue of the colour is the stone itself, and if they can fix the bleaching, then you should be good to go. Otherwise, you may be back at the starting block. As we are in year three of our reno (trying to catch up to Igloochic- :>), I totally get the feeling of wanting it all over with, but I think you may have to accept a delay if the polishing doesn't work.

Interesting to me that we all (Or nearly all of us) realize that wood has varying tones, and accept the difference, but somehow some people seem to insist that stone be close to perfect (not referring to you merimom, but to the poster who was so rude to lnersesian).

Anyhow, sure hope it gets resolved to your satisfaction- sounds like your granite guys are good people.

raehelen put it very well ... I too have never understood the schitzophrenia when it comes to natural stone. On the one hand, people pooh-pooh the artificial surfaces for being, well, artificial, but then they expect perfect matches, perfect symmetry, perfect grain alignment, perfect surfaces, perfect colours etc. when it comes to the stone.

Inersian's stone is gorgeous - and the dissimilarity is to me a reminder of the variations that the same stone can have. It is gorgeous. Merimom's stone is gorgeous too, and frankly, I can't tell that there is much dissimilarity in her seam from likkurish's - the same variations in colour exist at the seam in both: in fact merimom's fabricators have done an even better job of lining up the dark grains.

Anyhow, I hope you are pleased with what the fabricator is able to do next. You have a lovely stone there and it would be a real shame to have to toss it.

I'm glad they are gonna attempt to fix it for you. if you paid a premium price for it, they should. none of us have to live with it, nor did we pay for it! lol! let us know how it turns out. and again, don't accept it if you aren't happy with it!

Merimom,
I sure do feel for you, I just had my granite installed today and I almost cried from the built up tension worrying if it was all going to look right. I'm sorry that you didn't get your stress relief but you will, I am sure of it. I used to wall paper alot and couldn't help but focus on any mistakes or mispatterns BUT when all was put back together and decorated you could hardly remember where the mistakes were. I think when you get your faucets in and are put back together, some of the things that bother you will go away. Like all the others who posted their seams. I was quite fortunate today that I don't really have any seams (except two very small behind my rangetop) but I even looked at those two, I think it is just our nature. My granite guy surprised me with extra Ogee (he knew I was going back and forth with the price). After he knew I was thrilled he said "Oh I am so glad I thought you were going to make me take it back and do another for you". It made me realize that they really do want you to be happy, and they have extra granite._Bottom line is you do need to be happy. But I do think that everything that you are focusing on now is because that is all you have to look at. Your granite is beautiful!

Merimom - glad to hear they are going to fix it. Hopefully it will be just as you envisioned. Post pics when they are done!!

Desertsteph - our granite is Persian Brown (or that's what it was called at our yard). It was love at first site! In order to get that one slab for the peninsula, we had to have our seam at the sink, which was fine for us, as I wanted to showcase the movement of that slab.

Inersesian, that granite is beautiful!!

Mindstorm - ummm, no offense but's Lukkiirish (not likkiirish). And to clarify for you my seams and pattern actually ARE matched perfectly. We only purchased a half slab which is pretty hard to screw up. The counter was first cut as 1 piece 93 x 23. Then cut outs for the sink were cut and then the seam was cut. If you compare the slab to pictures from before it was fabricated, the marks match IDENTICALLY to the way they do now and boths sides are the same color/shade. Regardless of movement in the granite, if you have mirrored slabs (or 2 slabs from the same lot #) and the fabricator does his/her job properly, the seams and pattern should match up fairly well, they won't be 100% invisible, but from the look of her pictures, there is a problem. Installers are used to people complaining and are notorious for making quick excuses in an attempt to silence the consumer. This isn't our only granite installation, we also used mirrored slabs (as in 2 slabs from the same lot #) in our kitchen. 2 seams and they look as good as our bathroom seams. No movement in the granite, different fabricators, matching seams. Merimom has every reason not to be happy with that job, and has every right to expect it to be fixed. This is not a cheap endeavor, why should they compromise?

Merimom, you're welcome for the pics, I hope the polishing works but if it doesn't please don't settle or buy into the excuses. -- LUKKI

Merimom-

IMHO - the work looks good, the seam does stand out a little, but this
happens in many Natural Stone products.....

As far as a "fix" - there is a potential that your Fabricator can diminish the
visual impact of the two stones meeting and having some dissimilarities,
but the seam will never be "invisible" - since you already know it's there,
you'll always be looking for it. However, with the aid of enhancers - Tenax
Ager or Tenax Ager Tiger - your Fabricator should be able to achieve results
that are much more acceptable to you.

Just remember that the Stone was made by God, and that God has a sense of
humor when it comes to the stone matching up at the seams...

HTH

kevin

I was hesitant to post again after my first foot-in-mouth post. I do owe, and apologize to lnersesian. I think what I was trying to say, was badly said. My intent was not to denigrate lnersesian personally. It is clear from reading all the posts that there are two lines of thought on this seam issue. I'm well aware of the 'abnormalities' and character of natural stone. I have tile and granite in my house. My only poor attempt at making a point was that from my point of view that much variation in both color and pattern did not or should not be accepted especially if you pay a premium. it showed carelessness in the selection and cutting process. But I guess, as has been said many times, it doesn't matter what anybody else thinks; it matters what the owner thinks. I have been in a situation where I accepted something I wasn't happy with. After putting up with it for years until I couldn't stand it anymore and ripped it out. Once again I apologize for my boorish first post.

I'm always surprised and a little taken aback at some of the absolutist comments in threads like these. Personally the granite looks fine to me, so when others say that it's horrid and they'd insist on a replacement it really surprises me.

Probably there's a little fault on both ends. The fabricator may not have explained that you need extra slabs for perfect bookmatched seams. And maybe some customers neglect to tell the fabricator up front that they expect perfectly bookmatched and invisible seams. As for me, it's all part of the charm and attraction of a granite that has a lot of movement.

Gosh, I think a lot depends on the granite that you pick. Mine is very busy and so I really can't see the sink seam. I had 2 slabs and used every bit of it and so there was not a lot room for being perfectly bookmatched. I think maybe your fabricator could have done better but again, it depends how much of your granite your using too.
Here is my sink and the seam is just left to the center. Can't see it in the back, as there is no room. That is a temporary faucet as my beautiful Grohe would not fit. (not enough clearance).
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Just wanted to add that they ended up using parts of 3 slabs to do our job because when it came to taping off the template they could not fit the whole job on 2 slabs. I think they failed to factor in the bump out at the sink. So, they had plenty of material to work with. I think the fabrication is good except for the fact that they failed to take into consideration affects of having 1 of the slabs sitting out in the sun for several months.

If the difference in color is due to the slabs having been in the sun, then won't the rest of the counter later lighten to match? It is all exposed to light now. I would worry that repolishing the tops in the shop won't produce as good a surface as they have now because the shop doesn't have the tools that are used for polishing large surfaces that they slab producer had.

splais, it looks to me like your foot is still in your mouth - now you are saying that Inerseian was careless in selecting the stone? When placing templates on stone, there are a lot of things to consider - sometimes one accepts less match in one place to get a better match elsewhere or to display the part of the stone one wants in a prominent place. Ineresian's counter looks great and I can understand the choice that was made there.

One leg of our L is almost as long as the length of our slabs and the other leg was about as long as the length plus width of them so the only way to do the L with only one seam was to have the seam at the sink with the lengths of the slabs at right angles - no book match possible there. Also, we wanted to position the slabs on the stone to have a match between the counters of the L's and the backsplash pieces and we needed a couple of other long pieces placed for our window sill and outside counter. We were able to position the two sides of the seam where the granite movement was swirly so the lack of a grain match doesn't stand out but there is a bit of a color shift at the seam. A few inches of not perfect match on the seam was worth it to us to not have an extra seam and to have matches the other places we wanted.

We spent a few hours with the fabricator placing the template on the slabs and getting all the pieces to fit.

This is by no means a reflection on you, but when we were having our counters templated I asked where the seams would be and the rep, who was a no-nonsense guy, said "Off to the side, and you will hardly notice, because only an idiot would put a seam in the center of the sink, it's a stress point due to the possible flexing when loading with water, dishes, pots, etc."

lnersesian - thx! I'm gonna write that down w/ copy of pic here into my idea folder... I wonder how that'd look with purple/lilac etc. maybe I could use a piece of that in my bathroom. can't think of much in there I could drop and break on granite... well, maybe i'll look for a left over piece to put on a side table(top). probably safer for me...

thx for the extra pics of your granite - the movement in it is just awesome!

with those dark 'rivers' flowing on your granite it naturally flows with the lighter and medium parts of it. so that front of your sink fits right in with the rest of it!

Just an update...The fabricator removed to 2 pieces by the sink. He polished them back at the shop and had us come look at them before they brought them back. My DH and I were happy to see that they look MUCH better...or at least they did today in the shop with lots of natural light. I could not even find the straight-line discoloration that was along the wall. The sink seam looked a lot better. One piece may have still be a little bit darker than the other piece, but I think that could just be the "natural stone" variation. They are going to install it on Wednesday and I will update with photos then.

I am so glad we did not accept it as it was. My first instincts are to go with the flow, try to make everyone happy, not make a fuss, but if we had accepted it like it was I would have always looked at those areas and cringed. Yes, it delayed the project a couple weeks, but really, what's a couple weeks for something I am probably going to look at for the next 20 years? I think (I HOPE!) we will be much happier with the final results now.

that's great. Please post a pic when it's finished - I'm sure it will look gorgeous.

As promised, here are some pictures from our granite installation after they took the slabs back to the shop for polishing to diminish the effects of sun bleaching on the slabs. I know some people thought it looked fine from the beginning and I appreciate your opinions, but my husband and I notice a definite improvement. We are satisfied with the results...We feel more confident now that any difference in color is due to the natural variation in the stone. Thanks again for all your comments.

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