Granite is cracked at my undermount sink!

16 years ago

Our New Venetian Gold granite was installed in July by a shop who came highly recommended.

Our backsplash was just installed & grouted and we noticed a crack at the back of the undermount sink--from the wall to the edge of the sink which is a piece of granite 2 3/4 inches wide. (While getting the quote, I had given the granite guy the specs of the prospective sink & faucet as well as the cabinet depth and I changed to a smaller sink than I had originally wanted based on his advice so I am hoping this is not the issue.) The crack is right along the edge of a 1 inch cluster of garnets and we figure we didn't notice it until the grout residue settled into the crack and then showed up white. I gently removed the residue and the crack is now barely visible. But it is definitely through the entire 3 cm thickness of granite as I can feel it with my fingernail.

What's working in our favor is that we haven't paid for any of the granite yet ($6000 job). But......is there a way to not have to replace the granite that is acceptable? And, if so, how much of a price reduction would be reasonable? I felt sick when I saw it but am now really hoping that it doesn't mean that the entire piece has to be replaced as that would be a daunting job--to match it for one...and especially now that our backsplash is done. Can extra support be put under the sink and somehow the crack be sealed? (There was apparantly adequate support for the granite when the cabinets were installed and everything was level.)

Backing up a bit.........right after the install we noticed a crack about 7 inches long a few inches away from the edge of the 2 cm thick granite that is above our sink area in the garden window. It's only noticable in certain light but unfortunately, being towards the edge at the angle of the window, I can't really place anything over it to hide it as it would look out-of-place. Any thoughts about that crack or should I just be worried about the one at the sink? The granite guy is supposed to be coming back to look at it as well as some other pitted areas but he doesn't know about the crack at the sink yet as we just discovered it.

Any help dealing with this (especially the crack at the sink) would be most appreciated. Thanks.

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Comments (5)

organic_donna
16 years ago
I'm not an expert but this is what I have learned from reading.
You have to first find out what caused the crack. If you repair the crack without fixing the source it will crack again. The crack can be filled in so you will hardly notice the repair. The installers must come back and find the reason for the crack.
Donna
stonegirl
16 years ago
Hi Many Hats :)

What Donna said is true. Get the stone guys out there to find the underlying cause of the cracking. Those cracks should be easily - and virtually invisibly - repairable.

Once the guys have solved the underlying problem (normally one of insufficient support) they can fill the cracks with a penetrating glue to bond and stabilize them, grind them down and polish them back out. A capable stone guy should have no problem making the cracks just totally disappear.

Check with the stone company to see if they are capable and comfortable doing such repairs. If they are not, have them employ the services of a stone restoration professional to repair the problems to your satisfaction.
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First I would like to thank you for the time you have taken to draw up the schematic. As you can see from my first photo there is a white marker line towards the back of the sink. You can see how much of the back flange had to be cut away. Take notice of my faucet how I had to put part of that flange back up there to get my faucet to stand true. Also notice where they put their brackets in reference to where the sink outline is. The brackets are on the inside perimeter of the sink. My biggest concern is the structural integrity of the sink. The manufacturer of the sink will not warranty it so if the sink was to fail I would have to get another sink to fit the same opening and also modify it to fit. Which again will affect the structural integrity of the sink according to the manufacturer. My biggest concern is that there was plenty of room to install the sink without modifications had the hole been correct. There are six brackets holding the sink in place two on each side and two in the back corners nothing in front. We sent to sink & template to the fabricator and still it wasn’t correct.
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azstoneconsulting
16 years ago
I concur with my esteemed colleague & SFA sister - Stonegirl

she said it all with no real room for improvement or dissention....

well done Stonegirl!!!
many_hats
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks so much for your replies organic donna, stonegirl and azstoneconsulting.

You don't know how much better you have made me feel to know that such capable people have told me that the problem is fixable. I look forward to having the issues resolved properly--and especially knowing what should be done to remedy them.

Thanks again for such timely responses; it's *very* much appreciated!
koko2007
16 years ago
I hope it all works out for you. I have a similar problem. The larger of two cracks runs from the left front corner of the sink & goes all the way through. There is ore of a surface crack that continues along hte same line at the back of the sink. The installer was here today & tried filling it, treating it w/ a UV sealer & polising, etc. He spent about 1 1/2 hours & there's not much improvement. I can still feel & really see the front crack. When I look from underneat, I see it as well. Should I have him replce the entire slab? I'm afraid he will just cut out 1/2 & then replace with a new piece leaving a seam at the front & back of the middle of the sink.

Granite is cracked at my undermount sink!

Comments (5)

organic_donna

stonegirl

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Granite is cracked at my undermount sink!

Comments (5)

organic_donna

stonegirl

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azstoneconsulting

many_hatsOriginal Author

koko2007

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many_hats
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