It looks to me like you are being overly picky about the work which looks quite good to me. I would be concerned more about redoing something like this making it much worse. Why cause yourself unnecessary problems?
Renais

Looks like the resin in the stone straight from the quarry immersion. Nothing the fabricator did.

The seam on the other hand, although it looks tight and within MIA guidelines, is a bit chippy. Can't tell the scale of this though. Can you post a picture from further back and include a coin as a scale?

That is definitely grout in the stone, not resin. I know so because used a razor to scrape a glob of it off right next to the area in question. There were several globs/smears of grout just left of the stone when they were finished. Also, there is no other place on the entire counter that looks like this.

What do you mean by "Chippy?"

Here is another picture with a dime for reference.

I wasn't actually expecting him to re-do anything. I had called to ask him if there was a way to clean it. At which point he said this was "normal" but I've never seen any seams with grout 1-2 inches off to the side. Then again, I don't make it a habit of going around closely examining seams. Hence why I posted this.

Thank you!

" My question here is, is it normal to have grout in the veins of the granite on 1-2 inches of either side of the seam?"

No. I think you may be using the term "grout" when you mean "seam adhesive". I've seen granite seams done with caulk, never grout, but there's always a first time.

"And is there anything I can do to remove this?"

It depends on what it really is. If it is in fact grout, it could probably be stained or dyed. I'd try a permanent magic marker in an inconspicuous area first. If it is silicone, you can buy silicone remover. Tenax has a product for filling the micro cracks that your stone has. I'll bet your tops will look much nicer with an application of this stuff:

Here is a link that might be useful: Tenax

" My question here is, is it normal to have grout in the veins of the granite on 1-2 inches of either side of the seam?"

No. I think you may be using the term "grout" when you mean "seam adhesive". I've seen granite seams done with caulk, never grout, but there's always a first time.

"And is there anything I can do to remove this?"

It depends on what it really is. If it is in fact grout, it could probably be stained or dyed. I'd try a permanent magic marker in an inconspicuous area first. If it is silicone, you can buy silicone remover. Tenax has a product for filling the micro cracks that your stone has. I'll bet your tops will look much nicer with an application of this stuff:

Here is a link that might be useful: Tenax

Totally not the same color as the fill in the seam. Ergo, not fill.

She had the seam corrected with gray, not the original pink.

Yes, sorry, I do mean seam adhesive, or whatever it is they used to do the seam. It looks like grout to me, so that is what I assumed it was, but you are probably correct in that it is seam adhesive.

"Totally not the same color as the fill in the seam. Ergo, not fill."

@Hollysprings- please re-read my post. I had them re-do the seam with a different color. The original was the more pinkish color you see in the veins of the granite.

Thank you Trebruchet. That is helpful information.

If you have to use the camera's ZOOM to photograph some flaws the size of a dime ... perhaps your expectations are too high.

Unless your guests and family are walking around with magnifying glasses, this is in the "de minimis" class of defect.

A. I did not use zoom. The flaws are much bigger than the dime (that was just there for reference). As stated before, there is obvious seam adhesive all along the sides of the seam, up to 2 inches out on either side. It looks bad.
B. This is much more obvious in person. even my color blind husband picked up on it.
C. When you lay down thousands of dollars on something, yes I expect it to be done correct and professionally.

Yet still no one has answered my question. Regardless of whether this should or shouldn't bother me is not the question....Is this normal or not?

I expect you know what you're looking at, that it looks worse in person and that it looks bad and is not typical. Have never seen this issue come up before, and it would, so it would seem abnormal.

What to do to remove it? Maybe oldryder will respond.
.

Are you not bothered by the granite having fissures large enough to hold enough adhesive to bother you? Is the entire slab covered in those fissures?

Deleted double post!

This post was edited by springroz on Fri, Dec 19, 14 at 21:02

snookums2- thank you.

springroz- is that not normal? I just figured it was part of having "natural stone." Clearly, I'm not a granite expert.

My granite is all smooth.

My granite is all smooth.

"Yet still no one has answered my question. Regardless of whether this should or shouldn't bother me is not the question....Is this normal or not?"

I did answer your question. It is not normal. I can't imagine why a fabricator would mix/spread polyester around a seam instead of separately. There should only be a bit of squeeze-out at the seam that is scraped to flush after it sets.

A granite countertop should feel more or less like a sheet of glass. If yours feels like your grandmother's elbows in February, you've got a problem. Did you see this slab at the stone yard?

Hi Marcolo- It feels pretty smooth to me for the most part. Except around where the seam is, that seems a little more rough, but it could be my imagination. Yes, I saw it at the stone yard.

Thanks Trebruchet - sorry, i misread your comment the first time around, but now I see where you answered me. The next question is do I bother to bring this up with my fabricator? There are a few other issues I wanted to address too, but so far he has seemed rather dismissive of my concerns. Now that I have paid him, I doubt I have any leverage so I might be in for a losing battle. This makes me sad because he wasn't the "cheapest" guy either. I feel like most of the time you pay for what you get, but it doesn't seem to be the case here.

mam9fc22:

I'd type a letter with your concerns. Send him a copy first and ell him you'll be posting the letter all over the internet if you don't get some resolution.

The key to this type of leverage is reasonableness, which is one of the most difficult things to convey whey you're angry. I've written several columns about this advising contractors on how to respond to unfavorable reports. The best thing you can to for this guy is sound like a nut. I've gotten a few of these myself. If you sound crazy, his potential customers will feel sorry for him, not you.

Hi Again Trebruchet - are you a contractor?

"Hi Again Trebruchet - are you a contractor?"

Yes, I'm licensed in Michigan and Florida and am an author and columnist.

Would you object to me emailing you a letter to see if I pass the "crazy" test?

lol!

"If you sound crazy, his potential customers will feel sorry for him, not you."

I doubt it. A sloppy contractor is enough to drive anyone crazy.

Really. Nice try. They will know something crazy went on.

Snookums2- I'm not quite following what you mean by that comment?

Mail away, please.

I was following in agreement to Jellytoast's comment.

"If you sound crazy, his potential customers will feel sorry for him, not you."
I doubt it. A sloppy contractor is enough to drive anyone crazy."

jellytoast:

Don't ever doubt it. I've shown up for jobs and had customers say "I read your reviews. What's with the lady with the caulk?"

I just shrug my shoulders, roll my eyes, and get to work without saying a word.

Customers are much more sophisticated than many contractors give them credit for being. They worry to death about a poor review and shouldn't. I wouldn't remove a single poor review I have; they are pure gold as far as credibility. The customers I want have a fully operational kook detector.

Trebruchet- did you receive my letter?

"I've shown up for jobs and had customers say "I read your reviews. What's with the lady with the caulk?"

I just shrug my shoulders, roll my eyes, and get to work without saying a word."

So?

I do agree on the kook detector, but bad reviews do not spell kook nor are they invalid info, an upset or kooky sounding individual with poor communication skills{{gwi:807}} or not. Wanting more details is valid but the contractor is surely not an objective party there, which of course they know when they ask. They are also a red flag for those who have become contractor shy, hesitant to take another chance.

This post was edited by snookums2 on Tue, Dec 23, 14 at 13:40