That is careless and they need to fix it. I'm sure the installers don't care, but that should have been checked while cutting it. It could have been done on purpose so they didn't have to buy additional slabs. Either way, be picky and make them fix it.

Oh, no! I don't believe this.

It's been a pain for you all these months of waiting, but really, you do not have to settle for something like that. You might want to be done with it, but you'll hate that countertop forever.

Nobody, not even a rank beginner, would have granite with a pattern run horizontally in one place and vertically in another ON A STRAIGHT RUN of cabinets! Don't let them glue it down. Dang!

They did it wrong - don't accept it - they need to do it properly.

If the seam was at the corner I'd say, OK. Not great but OK. But THAT is no good, none at all. Send it back!

Neat stuff, though.

There is no way you should accept granite in your picture. There is an obvious error in fabrication. Stick to your guns. Take clear pictures. Record your contacts and document, document, document. Refuse to accept the counters as they are and INSIST that your KD back you up. Post pictures on StoneAdvice forum and get more advice from professional fabricators. They will tell you straight forward what you should do.

Hope you paid by credit card and can stop payment until the stone is fabricated correctly. Your pictures show an error that is one of the worst I have ever seen on this forum or other forums.

JB1176

JB,

Thank you for your blunt words, have to admit, I had to go take some Tums, cuz my stomach is protesting! I will go on to the StoneAdvice forum also.

Good news (?) is I haven't paid for the granite or installation yet. Bad news is the KD (IN picture, but face hidden to protect the innocent/guilty?) IS the fabricator, and teedup, he is a rank beginner, this is the first counter he's done. I had a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach when there was one delay after another that something was seriously wrong. They actually arrived after 5:00pm on Saturday to deliver the pieces (plus 2 long narrow ones for my LR pony wall). It was cold and granite was all fogged up, there were five men in my small kitchen- so I was both indimidated and prevented from closely inspecting the granite. Guess I should be grateful, the long piece was the wrong width, and they couldn't glue things down?

I'm not looking forward to tomorrow's conversation... :>(

I hope the guys and gals on Stone Advice help you with their sage advice before you have to speak with your KD/fabricator/installer today. Surely common sense will rule out and the individual you are dealing with will realize that he wouldn't want that direction problem in his own kitchen.

I apologize for the fact that my wording was too blunt and I certainly didn't intend to give you a stomach ache. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings. I just feel that you have been treated very poorly by your professional who should have faced you honestly and said "we messed up, I'm sorry, I'll do everything in my power to find you another stone as soon as I can." A fabricator's reputation is his biggest asset and a quality fabricator would not let this countertop be an example of his best work for others to see in referrals.

You have the power here. Give a copy of what the professionals say on Stone Advice to the fabricator. He will surely recognize that they are speaking from years of experience fabricating stone. They know what is right and what is wrong with stone fabrication. You are in the right to insist that the job be redone.

Courage! Is there anyone else in your family who can support you when you have your conversation with the fabricator? I'll be sending positive vibes to you today. Again, my apologies! By the way, the stone is beautiful. What is it? Good luck.

JB1176

You should not be in the least bit afraid to talk to him, he should be mortified by his work. Next time please hire an experienced fabricator to do a big job like this one. It needs to be done over and make sure they use all new slabs so the color matches. Prefferably book matched. Be there to tape the slab out the way you want it installed on your countertop this time around. They did this to save themselves money instead of using another slab.
Donna

Not acceptable so don't let it be. I feel for you because of the delay but they should do it properly. Good luck.

Thanks again,

I don't know what is wrong with me, and why this is so difficult. We had almost as many delays with our windows, and it was obvious to me that they needed to be replaced, and so they were.

Perhaps it's because I have built up a rapport with 'Allen', my KD, and I know (or I think I know) his heart is in the right place, he's just not competent enough!

JB, please don't apologize, I REALLY appreciated EVERYTHING you had to say, and Yes, I did receive the good vibes- they helped. A good friend is about to come over, offer moral support, and then we're going for a good long walk- DH will come home early from work, and we'll talk with Allen together- please send more good vibes- everyone- I'm going to need them- have already had a mini-cry. Oh well, it's only time_ right? What's a few more months in reno-he..?

I'm glad you have some moral support. There will be a good outcome to this situation and you will be able to move forward with your kitchen completion. Just remember "it's a rock" and that is all it is. It is not a fatal illness nor a family tragedy. The fabricator can't help but see the mistakes in fabrication. Hopefully you can get a different fabricator in who can give you a quality countertop. Let us all know how it works out.

JB1176

My advice -

To avoid the same thing happening again, insist on supervising the templates being placed on the granite slabs in their workshop. Bring the kitchen layout with you so that YOU are satisfied with how the grain will run.

They will try to talk you out of my advice saying that customers are 'not allowed in the tile saw area' due to liability blah blah...

then find another fabricator!

As a KD, I cannnot even imagine doing something so stupid as experimenting with granite fabricating---especially with one of my customers as my first victim. This really horrifies me. It took a LOT of training and experience for me to be able to design a kitchen, and I demand the same type of training and experience in any stone fabricator that I work with for a client's kitchen. My clients deserve no less. You deserve no less.

If this idiot wants to experiment with granite fabricating, then he should apprentice himself at a stone shop and start at the bottom and work his way up and gain the experience set necessary to one day be allowed by the shop to fabricate scrap pieces before even being sent to a customer's home to template and fabricate. I know of no true professional KD who would even think of doing hands on stone fabrication. This is extremely unprofessional of him, and I wonder what else he's had his fingers in that he has no business or skillset to do. It makes me fearful for you about his skills and experience as a KD.

I would demand my money back and engage a true stone professional for the job. And, I'd closely examine any design or other work he's done in your home. I have a feeling that this guy isn't any more of a KD than he is a stone fabricator. And if he's had a hand at touching any of your home's systems (electrical, plumbing) then I'd engage a secondary inspection from a true professional and contact my munipality's codes enforcement.

Sweetie, stop payment. You should NOT accept this granite. There are so many posts here in this forum about how to select a granite fabricator. Have them remove this granite. Someone was trying to save a buck and not cut into a new slab. Even if they cut you new granite, there is NO WAY they can guaranted that it will match what you have installed. START OVER. THEIR LOSS IS JUST THAT: THEIR BUSINESS. They can reuse some of these pieces for smaller jobs. DON'T YOU WORRY ABOUT THEM. YOU NOW KNOW that this is UNACCEPTABLE, so CALL THEM ON IT NOW or forever hold your peace.

Let us know how this works out.

OK,

I'm back from a LONG walk, I'm going to take a LONG HOT shower, and mentally prepare myself for this afternoon's encounter.

Live wire oak- technically, he probably isn't a KD, so I should apologize for using that term loosely. He is the manager of a building supply place (not going to give the name yet until all is resolved), and I truly don't know what his qualifications are. I ordered cabinets (that issue is still not resolved, another long story and he is also in the middle of supplying & creating those missing pieces), and my Tigerwood flooring through him. I got what I thought was a good deal on the granite ($50 sq ft installed + $$ for extras, sink, faucet hole, plywood, etc)because of doing the whole package deal through them. I just use the term KD, cuz I really don't know what other abbreviation to use in this case_ it's not fair to really qualified people like you- see shows you how little I know about all this---though I am LEARNING!!!

I guess I am going to resign myself to the fact that both kids will be coming home for Christmas ( my son this weekend), and the house will still be in a shambles, and kitchen will still be in basement. Oh well, I will definitely update in an hour or so, when it's all over (assuming he arrives on time...)

Thanks again for all your input_ feeling sort of like a schmuk_ why am I feeling guilty? Cuz I am the GC for our whole house renovation, and it seems like it has just been one giant problem after another.... :>(

Just for further clarification, not only is this seam atrotious, finishing and polishing on other edges is also a mess!

oh no, clearly that doesn't' work. I hope it went well when you talked to him today. We're all here for support if needed!

Oh my,
I hope you get a new set of countertops and it gets done immediately. You should not be put to the end of the line and should be treated as the highest priority. I would not have the same person even breathe on the new counters. Make sure he uses any pull he has to have someone really good get to work on fixing his mistake with the minimal amount of hassle to you.
You deserve better and he should bend over backwards to make it up to you.
GL and please keep us posted how you make out.

I also know NOTHING about the rules & regs on granite fab, but that just does NOT look right.

Go get him girl! Do not feel guilty about the confrontation (I am the same way, LOL)! This is YOUR kitchen & you are going to be looking at it multiple times a day for a long time... he needs to get it right or you really should be prepared to walk & find someone else who can.

JoAnn

FWIW - I should have commented on how great the material itself is. I think that when installed properly, it will be simply stunning!

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

I just had to let everyone know, that I am going to rest easy tonight. My kitchen guy came by, and totally agreed that that peninsula piece is not-acceptable. He is also going to replace another piece by the stove as it also runs the opposite way to the adjoining piece (even though the stove is in between, so technically it's not adjoining). He also offered to replace another piece which is totally independent (for the beverage centre), but I actually like how the grain goes on that one even though it will be opposite the way the new peninsula piece will go. He is also still offering a free granite backsplash (but I don't know if I even want that- so I've asked him to bring some pieces for me to test).

He is going to take digital pictures of the remaining 'good' counter, and if that's not enough will courier the sink cut out pieces to make sure the quarry can match up the granite. So, looks like it will take a month or so till it's all resolved, but meantime, I can move back into kitchen. Yippee!

He is going to secure the peninsula and other pieces temporarily so I can move into kitchen, and will do it permanently when the new pieces arrive (he's all out of Butterfly Blue right now). I do think it is going to be gorgeous, and I really believe he has my best interests at heart, and is working hard to resolve all the issues so that we are happy.

Phew- heavy sigh of relief- did you hear that?

I am glad that you are happy with the outcome.

JB1176

Great! I have my fingers crossed for a speedy delivery of that Butterfly Blue for you.

Oh My! I just finished reading Stone Advice! Pretty hard to take I imagine. I have such faith in that group to give wise advice that I steered you there. I understand your reaction, however when the dust settles and after the holidays it might be a good idea to reflect on what they said (rather than how it was said) so that you have a set of reasonable expectations for your beautiful butterfly blue granite.

There is another thread somewhere here posted by Stonegirl that talks about what a consumer should expect from a fabricator. It was something like "Granite 101", or "Fabrication 101", or something like that. There are some excellent comments in that thread that consumers should read. I think Stonegirl, as a fabricator, was really being honest about what one should expect and not expect from their fabricator. If you have the time and the interest you might search for that discussion before your new countertops arrive.

Remember, no matter how much you like your kitchen guy, you deserve the best possible countertop.

JB1176

What was interesting to me is I tried calling a few installers off the Stone Advice Forum and they blew me off - one had his wife working with me and we spoke once, she promised to call me back and never did ... great customer service that they brag about. I forget about what happened to the other two. I'm sure some of those guys are great.. but some are all talk at least with their customer service.

I'd like to share a few thoughts on this topic and
some of the most recent posts - both hear and on
the Stone Advice site - of which, I am a moderator...

(and theses are just My own opinions, as a regular guy)

First - As a professional in the slab business, I feel
that is the duty of all of "us" in the community (the
Stone community) to "make sure that our customers KNOW
what they are getting, so they won't be shocked when
it gets there" - Obviously, in the case of raehelen/FinaMom,
her Fabricator perhaps - did not take the time to educate
her in every aspect of what the finished work would look like
aka; seam size & appearance, vein trend, etc.

Second - Consumers have a right to get the best product
for what they are willing to spend their money on.
That said, If you're paying for a Maybach, you should be getting
the "Maybach" experience. Conversely, if you are paying for
a VW, expect fewer thrills and frills.

Third - I don't know to what context some of you have had
conversations with some of the SFA members that you are
refering to, other than saying that their customer service
was not as good as advertised - and again, I don't know all
of the facts on this situation, but... this is the busiest time
of the year - the five most popular holidays that drive
the stone business (in my opinion) are:

Thanksgiving,

Christmas/Hanuukah,

New Years

and...

Superbowl.

In all fairness to my SFA Brothers that may have given
the appearance of "blowing anybody off" - it's hard to spend
alot of time on the phone right now, when you have the
bulk of your work out in the shop waiting for you to
get back to work on... I'm not saying it's OK to not
return a phone call or "blow off" somone's inquiry...
just remember that these guys - just like me - are real busy right now.........

If you want to bounce questions off of me - I'll take
your calls, try to help you with your questions, and
and I won't blow you off...go to my website to get
contact info

I'm busy too, but I also believe in making a positve
impact on the Natural Stone Industry.

Kevin M. Padden MIA SFA
Fabriator, Trainer & Consultant to the Natural Stone Industry
www.azschoolofrock.com

Here is a link that might be useful: AZ School of Rock