carrara marble seam

15 years ago

I am going to try and get a photo today but I need some opinions. The carrara marble went in yesterday and I really like it except on the large countertop/island where there is a seam runnning down it three quarters of the way across. I was not aware there was going to be a seam there and I understand if there has to be one but it is so obvious to me. Maybe I am being too fussy but I saw it immediately I walked into the kitchen. The slabs are quite different. One is lighter than the other so I am not sure if it is the seam itself or just the colors being different or both. Should I be able to see this? I feel like it looks messy and sticks out like a sore thumb? What should I expect with carrara? Should it still be fairly seamless and not noticeable?

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Comments (6)

janefan
15 years ago
I don't know if this will help, but here's my carrara seam...
mindstorm
15 years ago
Are you serious? They've tried to line the grey runs on most of the most prominent streaks there; they've got the direction of the movement to correspond very well on both slabs used to make the countertop. It doesn't look disjointed at all - in fact, I think they paid a lot of attention to selecting the slabs and the run directions.

What am I missing?

That said, I don't think your seam is the finest/thinnest in the world, but frankly, I'd have said that they did such a good job with marrying the two slabs that I wouldn't make too much of a fuss about that.

What is distressing you in the pictures above? What would you have preferred?
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Well if it's any help when I was putting in my granite five years ago, they cut mine incorrectly. They put the seam in the middle of the counter and not at the edge of the garage cabinet. Mine wasn't a simple granite but a very busy typhoon bordeaux. We went searching to find more and found it in a competitor's stoneyard. Our yard called the competitor to find who their distributor was and ordered another piece. Upshot? The match wound up better than if they had cut the first piece correctly! Go find another slab and make them redo it on their dime.
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Oh, that's pretty, and so is the faucet! myersamyl, you sound just as I did a few years ago. We bought a used, polished carrara mable-topped dining table, and my late husband modified the base to make an island/work table. I honed and hand polished the top to a silky, satiny sheen. It's never been sealed, and it has no stains. My grandson once spilled a tube of red drink powder on it, and even that didn't leave a stain. He's managed to get blue ink on it, which came off with a poultice, and IIRC, there was also an incident with a yellow marker. I took care of the stains right away, but there is a deep etch where he left his metal lunch box (vintage Ramones) setting on the counter overnight. Leaking fruit juice left a large etch, with a deep 'crease' where the rolled edge of the metal reacted with the acid in the juice. I polished out the etch, but the crease will be there forever--at a certain angle it just looks like a bad seam. I have a few star dings--one has my name on it, where I knocked a claw-hammer off a paint can on which I'd carelessly left it, and a few more where one of my DDs dropped a handful of hematite 'chatter stones' she was juggling, while she sat at the island. The first year or so, I polished out every little etch with a smooth sanding- sponge, but I've relaxed. I don't think I've done any maintenance since the fruit juice debacle. We've made a million pfefferneuse cookies on that slab, lots of arlettes, puff pastry, pie crust, bread, pizza dough, and noodles. Maybe some day I'll re-hone, but probably not. I still love the marble, and as you have heard, it has stories to tell of my loved ones--someday I hope I'll be able to show a great-grandchild where his dad left the leaky Ramones lunch box. :)
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malhgold
15 years ago
mindstorm - the pics posted aren't those from the OP. She said she will post pics later. The pics above are from janefan's kitchen showing what her seams look like.
janefan
15 years ago
But thanks for the vote of confidence in my slab matches, mindstorm!! I was actually very impressed that they matched the veins up so closely. I was fine with my install--though the seam could probably be narrower, you really don't notice it unless you're close--those pix are pretty close!
petra_granite
15 years ago
Carrara Marble has heavy movement: no 2 slabs will ever look a like. Seam placement is 'suppose' to be gone over with you at time of template before fabrication. (oops)
slabs size is around 114x70. So, if you don't want seams: depending: you have to buy another slab.

*Make sure you really really really seal that marble! wipe up spills immediately (especially alchohol and citrus juices, tomato paste, spegetti, grape juice)- don't place hot, wet or abrasive objects on the surface- employ the use of trivets and mats-beware: when white marble is hit with a hard object (a pot, or a can falling from the shelf), the crystal structure changes in the struck area of the stone. You get opaque spots that cannot be repaired. Be careful! I know 'Martha Stewart kitchen' look is in! Well, Martha Stewart can afford to replace or resurface her countertop if they get stained! (only my advice)
*if you have a scrap piece from your kitchen of the marble: do test with it using different things to see what stains the marble.
Speaking from experience:
I stained my own ROSSO LEVANTE purple/red marble computer desktop with an apple juice ring; and I KNOW BETTER than to leave a cup on my computer with juice that ran down the cup!!! I was being lazy! WILL NOT COME OUT:(tried several agents)& I basically etched the marble. I will have to have the 16x16 top resurfaced. right! not!
mindstorm
15 years ago
Oh god! I'm such an idiot. Sorry Julienpete and janefan. I should have guessed - even the backsplash is up in those pictures, the counter install couldn't very well have been just done!

Janefan, your kitchen looks magnificent. While you can surmise my love for the countertop, I think the kitchen looks fab too. The carrara subway mosaic for a short backsplash is genius. I've never before seen it done and it is really gorgeous.

I, too, don't think your seam looks especially pronounced or overly large at all. I looked very hard at those pictures trying to give you/julien something to complain about since you/they weren't happy with what I was seeing (evidently!) in those pictures. That was the closest I could come up with something to engender the disdain. ;-)

carrara marble seam

Comments (6)

janefan

mindstorm

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