I really loved working with Bilotta, especially the particular KD with whom I worked (Tom). I also interviewed a couple of others, including NYKB and Atmosphere. NYKB carried Rutt and Signature which were the two lines I was looking at, as did Bilotta. I chose Bilotta because of the KD. gearing Atmosphere, they carried Signature and one other brand which I don't remember. Their owner was knowledgeable and responsive but their showroom was not quite as appealing. Maybe not the best reason to cross them off, but I had two other good choices, and I preferred Rutt anyway.

Hi Pedimom, Wondering if you have had any luck with the grantie seam problem? I am shopping for granite and started to think about your seams. They have been just terrible to you. I am so sorry you are going through this. While learning all I can about granite I found some links on my search. Maybe this will help you on your discussions with the granite people. Thinking of you and hoping the installers fix this for you. Good luck. Boxerpups ............ http://boards.hgtvpro.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/5081053852/m/7061072093 Better place yet is in middle of sink. short seam on each side of sink easy to hide. Other then that pick the end which is not seen as easy from outside the room. The lower the angle you look the easier it can be seen. so when your farther away the seam will stand out more because of the reflective nature of the stone. But any good counter company worth their salt should be able to seam this with little effort and is should hide quite well. Black is a fairly easy color to seam. Its the lighter colors that oftemtimes is harder. ............ http://www.stoneadvice.com/forum/search.php?fid[]=1 ..... http://tomcordova.com/24/seams-in-granite/ Granite countertop seams should be smooth to the touch and no more than 1/16ÂÂ wide. There is no written rule about this but this is the quality standard in the industry. The joint should be filled flush with epoxy in a color that best matches the general granite color. If you are not happy with the color, ask the installer to redo it. This is not difficult. Sometimes the joint can be made smoother with the epoxy as well. If the joint is still rough, then you will need to have the seams professionally ground down and re-polished. This is not easy to do correctly and even impossible with some homogenous colors. Best wishes, Tom Cordova .................... Q. How can I get the smallest seam possible where two slab countertop panels meet? A. Well obviously a good fit and straight cuts are key. But here are a few other tricks of the trade. Get some large soft rubber suction cups of five or six inch diameter and some turnbuckles eight or ten inches long. Attach one cup to each end of the turnbuckle. After you butter the edge of the seam with the epoxy that you have tinted the color of the granite stone you are using set them in place and squeeze them together gently. Then take your assembly of turnbuckles and suction cups and straddle the seam placing one suction cup on each side. Then spin the turnbuckle to gently pull the two panels together. You don't want to apply too much force here or you will break the suction of the rubber cups to the granite. Wedges are also useful in achieving a tight seam by forcing the panel in the direction of the seam.

if there is one thing that has been done correctly thus far it's the cabinets. there is no rear wall behind the range, so they have to go off the cabinets.. regardless, the cabinets were in and they laser templated everything-> twice for that matter. I asked the guy if there was issue, he says no, but I was on his drive home and he wanted to make sure it was done right before they cut the stone. if there was an issue with the cabinetry install or the drywall those issues where never brought to my attention. I even asked the installers about the cabinets and they said they were installed very well. Whatever is going on, it doesn't take away from chipping the stone by rushing a repair... it doesn't discount cutting a piece short from the dimensions I received. FWIW, they started with the large piece on the near side of the pics when they installed. In my novice opinion, they should have setup around the range and sink and set that piece in last to ensure everything looked as it should around the appliances.... if there was something that was going to 'have' to be off, it should have been that large piece. It wouldn't have an opening/reveal to catch your eye. I feel they rushed the install without laying out the pieces and making any needed adjustments before seaming. they seamed the main seam and behind the sink before knowing where they were going to be when they got the range. By that time they were up a creek with half a paddle

" I don't know why they don't do it differently but it probably saves on product and is easier. I was upset that they did it that way at my mom's." They did it that way because they had to. Where else are you going to get pattern matching material? You must make the miter out of the immediately adjacent material to get a match. Look at driftdown's drawing again. Even if you could somehow stop the miter cut before you get to the "should not have been cut" area, from what material are you going to make the small mitered edge for the "SNHBC" return? The matching material to make that small edge has been used to make the "L" miter. It can't be used twice or be in two places at once. Mitering the top from corner to corner doesn't solve anything either, for the same reason. The only thing that could have been done differently and may have looked better is to have run the seam with, instead of against, the grain of the stone, but you're still gonna lose the 2". It is impossible to avoid.