Picture. Finger is where the seam is. It rises after the seam to the right about 1/4 inch in 2 feet.

I'm betting your cabinets are seriously out of level and out of plane across the stove opening. Pull the stove and place a 4' level in an "X" fashion over the opening. Place the level against the back wall, butt a framing square to it and check the stove cutout sides for square. They should be parallel also. Place the level over the seam; it should not rock nor should there be any gaps.

You must get this resolved before tile, or your eggs will be sliding to the side of the pan for the next 30 years.

I'm with Joe on this - the problem is most likely the cabinets. Are these cabinets new? Who installed them? Regardless, the stone people should have 1) noticed the out of whack cabinets and 2) said they'd be back when they were fixed. Do you have a GC? This is the guy who needs to resolve this problem.

The cabinets are level. The stove is perfectly level. I probably didn't write it very well to explain. The granite is only not level from the seam and two feet right to the stove. All within a two foot span. A marble will sit in place anywhere but in the two foot section. That is what makes me believe when they epoxied that two foot section of slab on they slightly tilted it up to the right. I talked with the owner tonight and he said he couldn't explain it and said he would refuse to do anything about it. Its his job to know. It was their job to make it right. He refused to even try. A quarter inch rise in 2 feet is big. I nowbmeasured the gap between the slab and the rear wall where the tile backsplash will go. Up to a 9/16 gap. Holy crap. If the tile goes up there will be a large gap from the granite to the tile that should be 1/8 inch like it was with the previous backsplash. Over a half inch. Hebtold me I'd never be happy and just want to complain. I'm just asking questions and for stuff to be fixed. I've discussed with folks at work and they said he should address. Now keep in mind. I went with this guy who was more expensive because he said it would come out correct and that I was paying the extra so it will cone out perfect. He won't even try or answer questions. What do I do now since he hung up on me? Bipolar liar is what I see.

No GC. Cabinets are from 2009 I believe. Put in by the builder I imagine. Just putting granite in so no other remodel going on that would need a GC? This granite guy works with his own fabricator. Plumbers and Tilers. They take care of it al for putting the granite in.

I can't trust this guy now sowho can I find that can concretely identify the issue without being biased. A carpenter?

old cabinets....tear out of old surfaces? and trying to leave old cabinets? There is risk...question is what to do.....you've discovered a problem....it's possible none of the parties will take responsibility because there really isn't a fault here...it's a situation that you wanted as opposed to new cabinets and complete remodel.....therefore no one is really to blame as such. Make a mini kitchen somewhere and redo your kitchen. A kitchen has a life span.

2009?? the cabinets look older than that....Have you checked the carcasses...the integrity..I'm suspicious....were they used previously? installed improperly? red flags

call your state registrar of contractors and check if he is licensed. and ask about any complaints or law suits he's involved in. this should be done before hiring anyone.

remind this guy about what he said and why you paid more to have him do your job. he'll lose business in the long run with an unsatisfied customer.

If there was a problem with your counters the fabricator should've said something at time of template. Don't let him bully you. He should come and inspect the work himself and go over it with you so that you can come to an agreement to what is exceptible.

" The granite is only not level from the seam and two feet right to the stove."

Your video appears to contradict this statement.

Cabinet issue. Stone fabricators don't own cabinet issues. The GC does.

This is a picture of the exposed shims at end of a cabinet run on a recent bamboo countertop job I did. The tops have to go in on plane minimum and level is best if you want a nice looking tile backsplash.

It is not my job to reset cabinets; I can do it but it's extra. This homeowner can caulk or call her cabinet guy to install trim to cover the gap and shims.

YOU are the GC when you hire the contractors.

She said the cabs were level. She can see the shim under the counter right next to the stove (pic included) and that makes it higher than the stove. Why would it be shimmed and why won't Bubba return and remove the shim? Instead he gets angry and actually hangs up on her??

Maybe your hubby needs to call him and get medieval on his hiney.

I think there is more to this story than what we're getting.

This is a little off-topic, but PLEASE do not refer to someone who may be difficult to work with as "bipolar!" Bipolar disorder is a serious mental illness that has nothing to do with your countertop guy hanging up on you. My daughter has schizo-affective disorder, which is an unlucky combination of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. She is the kindest, sweetest, most generous person I have ever known, and the cruel stigma she endures when some people find out she has a mental illness is heartbreaking. If she had installed your countertop and you complained, even if she was not at all at fault, she'd move heaven and earth to make you happy. So you can call your guy mean, unreasonable, nasty, a liar, whatever you think he is. But not bipolar. Thank you. :-)

As regards your countertop issue, I tend to agree with Joe. I find it difficult to believe someone would appear to be that unreasonable unless there is more to the backstory. Has there been prior conflict during the installation process? How did you approach him? What else went on? Did you call him during business hours or late in the evening at his home? Have you called him other times during the demo (if he did the demo) and installation to bring something to his attention? How many times?

Please understand--I'm not saying he's right and you're wrong. You may have a perfectly valid complaint. I don't know. I'm just trying to figure out the whole story. The fact that he said "you'd never be happy" leads me to believe there has been prior conflict. But I could be wrong. I just think before we all pile on the contractor, we should hear a little more of the background story.

I do certainly agree you shouldn't tile before the issue is resolved. Are you 100% certain your cabs are level, as in did you do as Joe suggested and actually use a level to double check?

Please take this as a person who wants to help you get your beautiful counter top perfect. :-)

I got a call to repair some Corian that had heat damage. As usual, I begin each job by checking the tops for level. They were out a bit and I thought "What kind of hack put these in?"

It was me.

It took me a minute to remember, but I had installed these tops in this new home several years earlier when I was an employee of a local fabricator. Those tops/cabinets were shimmed to dead level when I left that job, I'm positive. The only explanation is that the house shrank/settled. That may be the case here.

The way I understand it is:

There is a seam in the counter top. The granite piece to the right side (right of the seam) is 2 feet long, ending at the stove. This right side has been shimmed, which now results in it being 1/4" higher over the 2 feet. This means that the counter is not flush with the top of the stove. It also means that if you put a marble left of the stove, it will roll towards the seam. And because of momentum, it rolls past the seam to the sink.

So, the question is why is the counter shimmed on the right, making it too high.

What you see in the video is from left to right: sink --- piece of granite (level) --- seam --- piece of granite that's 2 feet long, which is shimmed and not level, i.e. it is 1/4" higher at the stove side --- stove.

What you see in the video is the tape rolling from the left side of the stove "down" over the seam to the sink.

Also, I recently had a laminate counter replaced with a piece of granite on pretty old cabinets that were still in good shape. It never, ever occurred to me to worry about the levelness of the cabinets. I assumed that the counter guys would address the issue, or if there was a problem, would raise it with me. It turned out beautifully.

"I assumed that the counter guys would address the issue, or if there was a problem, would raise it with me."

This makes sense!

What doesn't make sense is, if the cabinets were out of level, why would the granite installer NOT raise the issue with the homeowner? Why would he go ahead and install countertops on out-of-level cabinets, leaving the Homeowner with even more problems to deal with?

Nosoccermom. You stated it so much better than I did. Thank you. There was no previous conflict with the guy which is why I described him as bipolar. Sorry about that usage of the word. I didn't mean to be insensitive. I borrowed a level and the granite top is not level. The bubble is off slightly but that is what is causing the issue of about a quarter inch. that is why when you go another 30 inches to the right on the other side of the stove that slab is even lower than the left. The granite guy sees this as too small to deal with but I can see it and the disparity between the left and right slabs in height. I think it should be addressed but he refuses to do so. I just don't get it.

Brook, do you have any of "his" money -- maybe he won't be so quick to refuse to fix the issue when you refuse to pay.

Yes. I have only paid him a third so far. He left me two voicemails last night. 30 minutes apart. First was that he would send my money back and he will walk away and to never ever call him again. The second he was cordial again and said he was wrong now and to call him back. the turn around within 30 minutes after what he has said I just don't understand. I'm afraid to have him even come back a little if I do.

Don't call him back. Have your conversation with him via email. No more angry hangups.

Post a picture with a level (the longest one you can put your hand on) on the top.

Post another picture where the top sits on the cabinets at the seam.

"What doesn't make sense is, if the cabinets were out of level, why would the granite installer NOT raise the issue with the homeowner? Why would he go ahead and install countertops on out-of-level cabinets, leaving the Homeowner with even more problems to deal with?"

Dear Houzz:

My granite installer refused to install my stone today. He said my cabinets were too far out of level. My brother-in-law, who installed the cabinets (he's a bartender but moonlights as a carpenter), says the cabinets are fine. My granite installer wants a trip charge to come back! Where does he get his nerve?

So as a fabricator you don't see whether cabinets are level when you see the old counters?

Also, I'm not sure I understand what you are suggesting. That it's ok to install sloped counters lest a customer complains if the fabricator warns against it?

Sorry, as a professional, it's your job to educate a customer and do a professional job, not to make a sale against better judgment.

"So as a fabricator you don't see whether cabinets are level when you see the old counters?"

You may, you may not. The old tops may be plastic laminate with a lip-over edge hiding shims.

As a professional, it is my job to balance satisfying customers and making money. The end of another guy's job (cabinet installation) and the beginning of mine (top installation) can get tricky. If the cabinets are found to be out of level at template, I can tell the homeowner or GC to have them fixed by the time I install or there will be a trip charge and payment in full due immediately.

I have enough problems of my own. The homeowner's/GC's/cabinet installer's inability to do his job properly is not one of them. You don't get countertops and a free lawn mowing, you don't get countertops and a free cabinet fix. You get free shims.

Agreed, but based on your postings, I am sure that you also provide professional advice as part of your service --- and not, "all I do is put counters on, no matter what the substrate 'cause that's not my job."

Also, thanks for answering my question about assessing old counters. Seems to me that if the old counters were level (with shimming or whatever), it should be possible to get new counters level, too, with shimming.

"Seems to me that if the old counters were level (with shimming or whatever), it should be possible to get new counters level, too, with shimming."

Getting the counters level with shimming isn't the hard part. The hard part is covering up the exposed shims.

When I fabricated Corian, I used a 3/4" underlayment. On a 1 1/2" built-up front edge, that gave me 1/4" of lip over the cabinets to hide shims.