Is that a wood shim? If so, anything else aside that would be unacceptable as it will compress over time.

You are correct. The cabinet should be shimmed not the countertop.

I think it is a wood shim (it looked like those wedge shim sticks not something random). It will be a major battle with both the cabinet and granite vendors. Is this a question of, 'it sucks but will be fine' or 'oh my god it will definitely crack'. Again - I believe I'd be fighting against standard practice for this area and likely to be an uphill battle.

So, yup it's wrong, but how wrong?

Any granite fabricators out there want to weigh in? Or people who have had their granite snap?

It wouldn't be "good enough" for me if I could walk into my kitchen and have shims visible under my countertops. I wouldn't care if it were made of wood or composite or whatever. It looks wrong, regardless.

Sooo wrong

So the granite people tell you the cabinets are "very level" which implies not "perfectly" level, my question is - is the counter perfectly level now with the shims?

Either way, I think I'd rather have "very level" without shims, then "perfectly level" with shims....

We've had two granite counters installed in the last 5 years, one in S. CA, one in N. CA. Neither of them had shims. They were set directly on the top of the cabinets (which were perfectly level). The only thing under there is dabs of silicon to keep it from shifting.

I have a few shims under my counter from a highly reputable company who otherwise did impeccable work. They checked everything very carefully and my custom cabinetmaker/installer had also previously checked all the levels (and showed me as they did it) but still ended up with a few shims. I'm not too worried about it. However, mine are not as obvious as those in your picture.You have to really hunt for them and get down under the overhang.

I am curious as to why it makes a difference to shim the cabinets vs the countertop. Seems to me like the shims would compress in both scenarios and moreover might compress more with the added weight of the cabinets and contents as well.

If the cabinet is properly shimmed the cabinet top sould be level so no point of the granite carries more stress/is more likely to break. Granite supported at certain points may break. The key word is "may".

Composite or metal shims should be used, under the cabinets.

You can have dead level cabinets and still have to shim; the stone is not always a consistent thickness and the top of the top must all be on the same plane.

I'm not a fan of wood shims; too often they're too green to even break cleanly. When they dry they may shrink. I prefer the plastic composite shims or plastic laminate ripped into strips and hot melt glued into stacks.

These are the state-of-the-art.

I just made this granite seam last week for a mold remediation company. They had to pull the tops, replace the cabinets, and have me reinstall the granite. I had to shim the cabinets a bit. Although the tops are level and on plane, a straightedge placed over this seam will rock a teeny bit. Why? The granite to the left, while level, is bowed. Nothing I could do.

You absolutely can't see the shims unless you get down on your hands and knees and look up - the first pic of it is where the stove will slide in so it will be hidden. The granite itself not being level is an interesting point I hadn't thought about, although my guess is it's the cabinets. It would have been nice if they had used composite instead of wood shims, at the very least. Sigh.

It would have been better if I'd known and asked the cabinet guy to come back before install.

A different company is doing my bathroom vanity top (they carry remnants and my counter people essentially do not) and I asked them and they said it was perfectly normal. I don't know how I could get anyone involved to change it at this point, when it is locally an accepted practice.

The granite company's policy is to receive the balance of the payment at time of install, which seemed fair, so I don't have an outstanding balance with them. I know people say, "withhold final payment". Have people had the experience where the job is done but full payment comes at a later date?

It blows my mind how far behind the times and lacking in best practices the majority of vendors are around here.

zellycat2:

Be glad your installer used shims at all. It means your top is evenly loaded and much less likely to suffer from stress and cracking. A level top has just done your backsplash installer a huge favor too.

For future Googlers ... I asked the alternate company that installed my vanity granite to take a peek at the counter and they said it was a good job. Also, the kitchen designer at home depot said, "while it's possible to get perfectly level cabinets, if it's level within a quarter inch, they usually shim between cabinet and granite".

So, yeah, I wouldn't win a re-do battle around here. If anyone out there doesn't want shims between granite and cabinet I'd suggest making sure your cabinets are perfectly level yourself after they are installed and before your installer leaves.

Had they spent 5 mins and caulked the gap with a color matched silicone, you probably wouldn't have noticed.

As a side note ... I actually asked at the time and they said, "we're not allowed to silicon because you might want to paint the cabinets and you wouldn't be able to get the silicon off to paint." Sounds weird to me but ok.

Find something like this in white. Those gaps will disappear and you'll be able to paint it down the road if you want to.

can we put shims on the brackets to support the granite countertop? the granite installer installed the granite and knew the top would not sit on the brackets. Granite contractor said the cabinet guy that installed the brackets could fix the brackets afterwards. Help! Whose responsible for what? Seems like the granQatarite guy should have made sure the brackets supported the granite counter top before installing or is this a normal occurrence? Sincerely a woman that has no idea. HELP!

caj:

Your brackets are junk and doing nothing. If you shim, they will continue to bend.

That’s a design and build failure from the cabinet end. Those will rust out in a bit, and no one should lean on the stone in the mean time.

Thank you. what can I do at the point to retify?

Install triangulated brackets.

That is what's there. They are 30" long under the stone. They granite bar top just didn't sit flat on them so that's why the shims were put in.

Those brackets aren't triangulated, they are junk steel-on-the-flat.