I have the seams in 3 places - one in each corner of a horseshoe kitchen, and one in the middle of the sink (yes faucet is in the middle of the seam).

Honestly I do prefer having it by the sink - it's a small seam and you can't notice it. The other two were tucked in discreet areas so you can't really even tell there's a seam. The only other option was SMACK in the middle of each long run, which was more obvious than the sink.

Good luck! What color stone are you using? Darker is usually more forgiving for seams.

Straight runs here, but they are in the middle of the cooktop, at a column (has to be a seam there), and middle of the sink.

One near each corner of my sink, but I have a corner sink.

One 45 degree seam in the corner to join the 2 pieces of my "L" counters and no seam for the island. This required us to find slabs a bit longer than what we had been originally looking at (and almost bought). After the kitchen measurements were taken - and before we purchased the granite- we had the conversation about seams with our fabricator.

So, if it's feasible and you have a strong opinion on where you do or don't want seams, I recommend having the seam discussion with the fabricator to get their expert opinion/ recommendations prior to pulling the trigger on a purchase.

We see too many posters here don't even realize they did have a strong opinion on seaming until they see what they got. It's great you are asking now!

I have seams at the front and back corners of my cooktop. My fabricator put them there because the run was almost 12ft long and the granite slab wasn't. Putting the seams at the corners allowed the seams to be only a couple inches instead of one seam of about 25 inches in the middle of the sections on either side of the cooktop. The seams at the corners are almost invisible.

We were not too keen on the idea of having seams at the sink. We wanted a specific granite, and the slabs we liked were a little smaller than most of the other granite around. The counter for the sink run is a long L shape. Because of the size of the slabs, it was either have a seam at the sink and another one in the corner of the L, or just have one seam between the sink and the corner. We chose to just have one seam. The fabricator did a good job and matched the pattern pretty well. Location of seam is shown by red arrow in photo. No regrets on not going with the sink seam. Be sure to discuss options with your fabricator.

Mine is 4" from a corner in my U. Also behind the cooktop. I have a solid-colored quartz, so you can barely see the seam.

Scroll down in this link to see oldryder's post. I have found him to be always behind the customer when there's a bad countertop installation posted here. You might search for other posts of his too.

Here is a link that might be useful: seams

I think it really depends on what kind of stone you're using. Mine is light with a lot of veining. I have one in the middle of my cook top and one in the middle of my sink. So they're both about an inch long. Because of the veining, the seam at my cooktop is virtually unnoticeable. The sink seam is a little more noticeable because there is less veining in that area.

In my L shaped kitchen, the seam is continuous with the edge of the longest side. My granite has linear movement and that is parallel with the seam. The L shaped granite was actually one piece - they just made a seam for ease of transportation. I don't love how the seam looks, but I'm pleased with the location and how it works with the look of the stone.

Mine is U-shaped, as well. The fabricator was able to make an L-shaped piece out of each slab and put them together so that the seam was in the middle of the U. It came out great :)

One seam at the sink. I would never want it anywhere else. Part of the seam is hidden by the faucet being in the middle of it and seam at the front of the sink is not noticeable as your eye is drawn to the sink and the faucet.

Exactly what debra said.

I needed one seam in my G-shaped kitchen. When my KD suggested at the sink, I howled in outrage. I'm very glad I came to my senses. The seam in the back, under the faucet is virtually invisible. The seam in front is less than 3 inches long. My counter's dark, so I hit it with a black Sharpie maybe every 6 months. I may see it, but it's not something that even registers as a flaw. I do not care one iota that it's there.

It's important for countertop consumers to know that they can pick their own granite, but they can't pick their own math.

Competition among fabricators and customers put constant downward pressure on countertop prices. Depending on the math you are dealt, you may get to pick tradeoffs on where seams are placed, however, those choices may result in higher prices if the different location affects the yield of the slabs.

badgergal:

From what I've read, your cooktop requires 2 3/8" or 2 7/8" clearance between the rear cutout and the combustible wall (tile). It's hard to tell from the pictures, but I don't think you've got it.

If it's wrong, it's your fabricator's fault and he should fix it without charge. I'd pop it out and check; this could be a serious fire hazard.

I have a u shaped kitchen as well. My seems are in both corners of the u. They curve in from corner. I can badly see them.