Granite Seam with 90 degree angle

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

In our upcoming kitchen renovation, we'll be having a counter made of highly directional granite that runs around 3 wall surfaces. We were at the fabricators today for the layout, and it looks like there will be seams at both of the corners where the granite makes a 90 degree turn. I'm not quite sure why, but the fabricator said that a straight seam is preferable to a diagonal one (maybe because it's too difficult to match up the patterns?).

During the layout, I became a bit confused as we were moving between 2 slabs, but the fabricator said it would look like one big piece of stone when done. Once I got back home though, I started to doubt how it would look. Here are 3 seam possibilities that I tried (very badly) to sketch out:

In the first sketch, the pattern would match at the seam, but become perpendicular to the cabinets along the side walls. In the second sketch, the pattern would run parallel to the cabinets along all 3 walls, but wouldn't match at the seams. In my mind, neither would look great. The third sketch with the diagonal seam makes sense to me, but the fabricator said it wouldn't work.

Here's a picture of the granite (sorry it's sideways and doesn't show the color very well, but it does show the pattern):

Could anyone tell me how this is normally done, and possibly post pictures of a right angle corner?

Thanks for your help.

Featured Answer

User

8 years ago

A corner seam should never actially be in the corner. You always turn the corner with it, so it's a slight L shape. The cabinets will settle a tad over time, and the stronger seam is the slight L shape, meetingm over a fully supported spot over where 2 cabinets meet. Then, using a Euro miter, which has a curve to it, your eyes will never realy see the seam in a material with good color consistency. In a directional stone, the direction is kept the same, and the seam is inconspicuous. Seams in any stone are never invisible.

Stone isn't laminate, and a diagonal seam is only done by the inexperienced using bulk buy pre fab blanks that resemble laminate blanks found at the local box store. With as good a quality as you'd expect from something prefabbed. That is a seam that will open up over time and be obvious. Which is why pros don't use it.

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Comments (18)

PRO
User
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
It depends of the layout of your CT . Most of the time the turning piece could be cut in the same direction -- laid to follow the pattern -- but the length should fit the requirements .

Sometimes to follow the pattern , the seams should be in a different place than the meeting corners.
bbtrix
8 years ago
Mine is as Eurocerob explains, with the seam 12" to the left of the corner.
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Jeanette Vey
8 years ago
I have Terra Bianca which is directional. Just looked ,no corner seam will post pics!
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8 years ago
Jeanette Vey
8 years ago
Seam is in front of cooktop. Hardly see it in person!
javiwa
8 years ago
We have three corner/diagonal seams in our soon-to-be-replaced granite. Haved moved on to Company #2: enough said!
Errant_gw
8 years ago
My granite is also directional, in a u-shaped kitchen. My seam is in the center of the U, not in the corners. I used book-matched slabs, and the seam is practically invisible.
Bunny
8 years ago
I have a small kitchen with 3 corners. Stove is free-standing. The only seam is in the middle of my sink. Tiny and virtually invisible.
cookncarpenter
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Preferably the seam should go with the grain, rather than across it. And as others have said, not right at the corner. Heres a couple more options...
greasetrap
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks everyone for your input. Here's a bit of additional information: the bottom part of the "U shape" is 176" with a 33" apron front sink in the middle. One side of the U is about 40", while the other is 44" followed by a 36" rangetop and then another 24" of counter. There's also an 84"x48" island in the middle. The granite is expensive and the fabricator is trying to keep the cost down by using just 2 slabs, which necessitates 2 seams.

After seeing some of the pictures posted here and on Houzz, I agree that the best option is to keep it looking like one piece of stone with the pattern running perpendicular to the counter at the sides. I just heard back from the fabricator, who said that they'll have software by the end of the week which will allow me to see exactly what it will look like.

All of this raises another question in my mind though. The current plan is to have the pattern run down the length of the island in one piece, which I think will look really nice. I believe this won't match the direction of the counter seams though. Does anyone see this as a problem? Part of me says the direction should match, but another part of me says they'll be separated and I won't notice the difference.
suzanne_sl
8 years ago
I have two layout software images from when we did our counters that
might help you visualize yours. They're probably similar to images
you'll see when your fabricator gets his software up and running. The
images definitely helped us choose our preferred layout.

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greasetrap
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks Suzanne. That's very helpful. Just out of curiosity, which option did you choose?
chicagoans
8 years ago
Suzanne: cool images. Which did you pick?
greasetrap
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks everyone for your suggestions and comments. After looking through the comments here and looking at some pictures on Houzz, I am more comfortable with the idea that the pattern should stay consistent around the counters. As I mentioned earlier, the fabricator will have software running by Friday which will also give me pictures of how the seams will look.

A secondary question now, is whether the pattern should run in a consistent direction between the island and countertop. Here is a very rough sketch of our kitchen layout with the 2 options I see (I know that not all aspects of this design meet GW standards, but mine wasn't the only voice with an opinion):

I was speaking with our KD/GC today, and we both agree that the pattern should run down the main length of the island. He also feels strongly that the pattern should also run parallel to the longest length of the countertop (Option 1 above) and my wife agrees with him. He's not that concerned that the pattern directions don't match between the island and counter, and my wife actually thinks it's better that they don't match. Option 2 would keep the pattern moving in the same direction throughout the room, but leaves the pattern running perpendicular along the longest run of countertop.

I'd appreciate hearing any thoughts that others might have on this.
mathteachr
8 years ago
I like your Option 2, which is the same idea as Suzanne's first picture. If your drawing is at all to scale, your longest counter doesn't really seem that long relative to the range side, with the interruption in the front of it for the sink.
BirchPoint
8 years ago
Wow, bbtrix, I've never seen your kitchen before --- it is beautiful!
suzanne_sl
8 years ago
We went with the second photo: the "grain" running longways on the peninsula and parallel to the longest wall on the perimeter. The funny thing is, after the toaster oven or coffee maker takes up residence on the counter and the first time you hand wash some pots and pans, you just don't notice the overall directionality any more. I take that back, you'd probably always notice if you didn't go longways on the island/peninsula.