Here is a closer view showing the color difference.

The seam is good and tight and will be a stronger area than if you had a single piece of stone there. Don't sweat it. Talk with the contractor about him having a cleaning service come in and get rid of the granite dust. And be happy! It looks like a great fabrication.

"The contractor had agreed that this would be one full slab. "

That's what you agreed to and that's what you should have received. If I can see it in a photo, it must be quite visible in person. Anyone looking at that will think they mismeasured. Redo or negotiate a discount.

I am a fabricator.

thats a mistake and should have been redone by the fabricator. sucks for the fabricator because he probably did this because remaking the part properly required the purchase of an additional slab. unfortunate but his problem, not yours.

such a compromise is marginally acceptable if there was no more matching stone AND the fabricator admitted the mistake and consulted with you before the install.

IMHO its deplorable that some fabricators try to sneak an obvious mistake by their customers.

I agree with mayflowers. That is not what you purchased and it was not their decision to make. I think it looks odd to have a section be just a few inches with a seam like that. Most definitely like some sort of mismeasurement, an afterthought patch, oops we ran out of stone.

Good luck having the situation resolved to your satisfaction. Hopefully there is another slab that will fit.

If you have to use a closeup photo to show the problem, it's not a problem.

They might have found some flaws that prevented doing a 1-piece top - that's what happens with natural materials.

What did your contract say - was it specified that that area be seamless?

Oldryder, you start every post with "I am a fabricator". I think you should change that to "I am an ethical fabricator who takes pride in my work".

"IMHO its deplorable that some fabricators try to sneak an obvious mistake by their customers."

Bravo, odryder!

It would drive me nuts seeing that yellowed strip of granite every day. That repair is entirely too obvious to be acceptable ... IMHO, of course.

The seam looks great! It sucks that they didn't realize they would need 2 slabs in first place, but it looks great. I would maybe ask for a discount, but I don't think you are going to see a better job if they redid anything. I would be happy & move on.

I am curious if you went to the fabricator/yard and layed out the templates on the slabs before they were cut, or at least marked out the tops on the slabs to that you knew exactly what you were getting?

In your sales agreement does it say one piece?

I agree that the yellow in the piece looks lousy, which is too bad because they did a wonderful job on the seam itself

And I have to ask, was the range in place when they came for template?

I can hardly see it in the photos and I hope that in the end, however you handle it, that you love your kitchen. Sorry for the stress!

The direction of the stone goes the wrong way! Sure it's speckled granite, but it DOES have a grain.

detroitola:

I can't see the seam in your first photo and that says a lot for its quality.

The bottom line is your satisfaction. I hope you make a satisfactory deal and live with it.

"The direction of the stone goes the wrong way!" ...my thoughts exactly, it looks like a big chevron!
If you paid for a solid slab with no seams, that's what you should get, simple as that

""The direction of the stone goes the wrong way!" ...my thoughts exactly, it looks like a big chevron! "

I was wondering the same thing. It looks like they butterflied it, making it more obvious.

Bravo Old Ryder is right! A true pro with high standards for himself and his trade.

They actually came out and took all the measurements themselves. They also measured the range which was sitting between the cabinets.

The estimate that we signed shows the 110" slab for the piece around the sink and 98" for both the main peninsula countertop and the breakfast bar. They ended up using a 96" slab (plus the awesome 3" yellow piece) for the breakfast bar. The longer countertop was done with one piece.

I gave the range installation directions to the lead man and brought them to his attention several times. After looking back, I think that he may have been illiterate because he never looked at them. I still told him I needed a 30" width cutout just to be clear. It ended up being 29.5" at the front and 29.75" at the back.

I think these guys are great if you micromanage their installation every step of the way. I wish I would have done that. Although at some point I might as well just install it myself.

Now its time to decide if I want to negotiate a discount or have them do it the right way. All this time off of work is costing me too.

Sorry for the whining. Thanks for the comments. I'll post an update later.

Posting pictures of problems and asking for comments and opinions is not "whining" so no need to apologize.

I can see the seam in the first photo easily, especially towards the bottom. The chevron pattern where the pieces meet doesn't really help matters.

If it's going to bug you every time you see it, a discount won't make you feel any better. Your level of tolerance for that sort of thing is very personal ... what is minor to others may be major to you and vice versa. Only you can decide if it's worth it to compromise.

They offered us $500 off and we promptly said no thanks. I'm wondering how they will remove the granite without damaging the pony wall and supports its on and still minimizing dust.

Its attached to 3/4" plywood with silicon. The problem is that the plywood is screwed down to the wall. Can they pry the plywood enough to cut the screws with a recipricating saw? It is shimmed with several visible gaps that are larger than 1/16" I'd hate to have them break the granite causing dust to cover everything. I'm sure the wall will be toast if they simply yank the plywood off.

Any recommendations will be much appreciated. Thanks.

Whoops, hit submit twice.

This post was edited by detroittola on Fri, Dec 6, 13 at 23:24

detroitola:

If the granite was installed the way solid surface and estone manufacturers specify, dime-sized dabs every 12-18", it should pop out without too much trouble. Unfortunately, many installers believe if a little is good, more must be better. This is why I never run continuous beads of adhesive to install stone; it needs just enough to hold it in place.

I don't understand what Green said....how could a 1-2" seamed strip at the end of a run be stronger than a complete slab?

Kudos to oldryder for being honest and fair to his customers....that should be the norm, not the exception.

please post the name of the fabricator to keep someone else from making the mistake of using them.

I have had three kitchens with granite done in Detroit metro area, two with big box store discount fabricators, one with a local stone artist who also installed counters.

The big box granite contract shop had me come and do the template with their rep. She called me back a second time when she noticed a flaw in the slab the day of cutting. They held off cutting and offered me a different higher priced material for no extra charge, but I liked the flaw, and it is now a bath vanity top. We discussed all seams, and placement of seams, they told me what to expect. After our discussion, they had me initial on the slab with the layout taped to it and they photographed the signed slab.

The artist did the most incredible job, and gave me almost full control over seams, etc., but I paid 2x the price per square foot for this luxury.

What was done in your kitchen is a thin slice on the end to make up for a short run, likely to let the fabricator buy less material and make more money. It is important to have an agreement to pre-approve the layout to prevent such a thing. The fact that you are being offered $500 to shut up about it is interesting to me - they are at least aware that it is poor workmanship.

I often wonder why a contractor of any sort would walk away from a job poorly done knowing your neighbors and friends would never use their services.

"I often wonder why a contractor of any sort would walk away from a job poorly done knowing your neighbors and friends would never use their services.",-

No, they donâÂÂt believe what they did was wrong, especially there are people who back up those unethical contractors with ridiculous, idiotic rationals such as " The seam is good and tight and will be a stronger area than if you had a single piece of stone there. Don't sweat it."

OP, you are not whining, you should get what you paid for.

The SEAM itself appears to be a good one. It appears to be tight and flat...so, kudos to them for that.

BUT, the granite grain is going the wrong direction, so that's certainly an "oops". And if it was supposed to be one piece and not have a seam at all, at the very least, they needed to consult with you and explain to you your options if it came to the point where they needed to do a seam...and with just a few inches away from the end, it really looks like a piece cut too short and then another piece put in.

To me, the $500 off that they offered wouldn't make me keep the slab - I'd need a redo. :( At least with your granite, it appears to be one that is pretty uniform, so it's not as likely to have "unique" characteristics (swirls, etc.) and hopefully can be replaced fairly easily.

Another thing I notice is the caulk stands out as a bright white. This is a tacky looking feature like the patch.

snookums2:

Clear latex caulk dispenses as white until it cures. This may be the case here, but if not, I'm with you.