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Remodeling Kitchens

Issues with quartz installation - advice please!

mary_anne_todgham

5 years ago

I'm having trouble posting, so will try without the pictures and then add them in the comments....

Looking for advice....We had our granite removed and new quartz installed a few days ago and I'm now noticing some issues. I'm trying to figure out if these are a big deal and which to ask the fabricator/installer to fix. We are not using a general contractor, but got the quartz through a tile store that provides demo and installation of quartz and tile. The tile isn't installed yet, and we've paid 65% so far.

1. The island hangs over further one one side of the pony wall than the other. It seems like it was a fabrication error because the plywood is shorter than the quartz on one side. The asymmetry looks really bad to me and it is not what I asked for. (First three pictures)

2. The counter hangs out past the fridge and other cabinets. They insisted that it had to be this way, but it hangs out further than the plywood, so I'm not sure why it would have to hang out this far. How much past the drawer and door should the cabinet extend? (Pictures 4 and 5)

3. The pony wall was damaged during demo or installation. The counter also doesn't line up neatly with the pony wall. You don't really notice unless you're down lower, but it just looks really shoddy when I bend down to pick something up or clean the floor. (Picture 6)

4. There is a gap between the counter and the cabinet that holds the oven. Now, we had originally planned to put a side splash there because the installer told me we had to. I've decided I would rather fix the cabinet. I'm not sure if he should be responsible for making it fit properly if he had thought there would be a sidesplash to cover the gap. And can caulk fix this? (Picture 7)

5. The invoice said they would replace the plywood, but they just turned the old plywood upside down in some places. The wood is splintered and has old glue on it, which has a terrible smell and I'm worried about the off-gassing.

I'm probably being too picky about some of these things....I'd love advice on what you think is fair to ask to fix and what I should just live with. Thanks so much for reading and your thoughts!

Featured Answer

millworkman

5 years ago

last modified: 5 years ago

"I'm probably being too picky about some of these things"

In my opinion yes, you are being too picky about all of those things based on the pictures. The assemetry on the first pic is tough to tell as we are looking at both from an angle. How far off is it? That damage is to be expected somewhat and would not be considered abnormal in my opinion. Reusing plywood, why not if it is salvagable. Off-gassing? If it hasn't off-gassed by now its not going to.

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Comments (7)

mary_anne_todgham
Original Author
5 years ago
Asymmetrical overhang on island
mary_anne_todgham
Original Author
5 years ago
Counter sticking out past cabinets
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Mechanical support with sink support brackets, or some other custom metal support underneath, screwed into the wood sides, and not screwed into the countertop material anywhere. Then, the counter is not affected ever by any future adjustments happening underneath it. 2cm quartz doesn't need plywood underlay. You prefer flexibility and would like a sink installation that could be removed "without destroying the counter" and I guess that means also without cutting into the wood sides at all, not even to make room for a sink that might need a bit of shaving the wood down. Then, 28" width will be just right, and at that size, installing brackets only onto the sides will be a small challenge for whoeever does it. It IS a big sink already at 28", so you won't gain much by looking for a special sink one inch wider, and not at that price level. A wider sink would require the lip on one side to rest on a cabinet side, and then you have a small challenge putting spacers onto the other cabinet sides to match and raising your counter slightly. Not a lot gained.
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The fabricator has made all the errors here. First he measured wrong. Then he didn't let you see the second slab but said you'd get the same results - which you did not. Third, your sink isn't centered. You haven't don't anything wrong as the customer... This guy obviously needs to take this as a lesson learned and either replace the slabs or knock off WAY more money... Ask yourself this, if he knocked off lets say $1000, would that make you happy and could you move on with the kitchen as is? Only you can answer this. Don't take this the wrong way, but if you come across as too nice or a pushover this guy may be using that to his advantage to get out of this mess as quickly as possible. $200 off is a slap in the face if you ask me given the details. Of course, he may think the new counter looks fine. That doesn't make up for the off centered sink or promise to match the old slab. Honestly I would describe to him exactly what you have said here. You seem like a nice person who probably would like to avoid conflict. This guy needs to do way more than $200 off. It's a good thing you only paid half so far. That first slab he measured wrong isn't a total loss either, he can use it for remnants (ex- vanity sink tops). I'm just throwing this idea out there so you know that he has the possibility to turn some of that first slab error into $$.
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Yes, @Fori, that's what I said to my husband about the molding there--he's a bit of a perfectionist!! I was like, you don't need that there! But he can be a little obsessive about some things! I will pull out the range later and look at the space for that pipe. In figure 3 it looks more centered than to the right where we have it. We'll have to see what we can do about it. Better yet, I will just pull it all out and redesign it. No worries. Lots of time during COVID. Thank you for letting me know @JuneKnow. Although, it's such a little space, not much can be redesigned as there are only the two walls! Better yet @User, I can just leave the backsplash until it scorches too--then pull it all down and put up something else. No different than pulling it down now. Same money and time. :)
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This looks so ugly and breaks our heart after spending thousands of dollars on the slab and labor. The GC says that is not a big deal and we can just add another piece of trim. He says that most times walls are not straight and trims hide it. To me it seem unacceptable as there should not be a trim in the first place and the backsplash should be the thing hiding any gaps. The trim solution looks ugly. Your enemy here is the concept of perfection ... and Pinterest. Saying they have "ruined thousands of dollars" of materials is going overboard, making a catastrophe of something minor. This is not a horrible thing, and once the kitchen is finished and filled with all the accessories, you won't see this like you do today. I cook every day and I bake, I deep fry, I broil. There is no sign of heat damage to the Formica after 50 years of use. We all know that Formica is plastic and not exceptionally heat resistant. Eh, look at these two pictures, taken from this thread ... what difference do you see? The second stove has a back, which protects the formica from the worst of the heat. That can make a big difference in whether the backsplash becomes discolored. Believe it or not, laminate tops are a lot more durable than people give them credit for. Folks had them in their homes for many years. Eh, I think maybe it used to be better than it is now. When we moved into this house 20 years ago we had the original laminate /formica ... the pattern was hideous, and some of the edges were torn off, but the main work spaces were in perfect condition ... and it was over 30 years old. We replaced it with new laminate (because the kitchen is huge, and it's what we could afford then), and it is now badly scratched up ... you'd think we use knives directly on it.
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mary_anne_todgham
Original Author
5 years ago
Example of damage to pony wall
mary_anne_todgham
Original Author
5 years ago
Gap between counter and cabinet
PRO
Joseph Corlett, LLC
5 years ago
What does Mr. Tape Measure have to say about the dimensions of the island, please? Pictures can lie, he can't. Measure from corner to corner diagonally. If the dimensions are the same, the top is square.

Standard tops overhang cabinet fronts by 1 1/4" - 1 1/2" generally. Mine overhang 2" and I like it.

The pony wall looks like it got a hammer kiss during demolition, not installation. Push a little mud in the cracks and it will paint up just fine.

You may be able to save the cabinet side if you soak the adhesive in lacquer thinner (careful, it's flammable) and scrape at it with a credit card which is stiff enough to remove adhesive, but not sharp enough to cut the cabinet veneer.

I'd get the last of it with a sanding block by hand so you don't sand through the cabinet veneer, then refinish the side. The caulked gap will look great.

Reusing your old plywood was fine, splinters or not. It's done off-gassing and is probably more dimensionally stable than new.

If the tops are level and square, yes, you're being too picky.
mary_anne_todgham thanked Joseph Corlett, LLC
mary_anne_todgham
Original Author
5 years ago
Thanks so much millworkman and Joseph Corlett for the feedback....it is a big relief that I don't need to worry about these things! The overhang is 1 3/8", so I guess it had to stick out past the other cabinets.

I do think the glue is off-gassing now....it was covered by the old granite for 15 years, so there was no opportunity to off-gas, and the whole kitchen had a strong smell the week between demo and installation. I couldn't figure out where it was coming from at first, but I narrowed it down to the old glue that hadn't been exposed to air for all those years. I smell it when I open those cabinets, so it is being released into the air. If I had noticed they were reusing plywood during installation, I would have asked them to change it out; however, they didn't reuse it in all the counters, so I will let it go.

Thanks again!!!

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