Looks great. You have incorrect expectations if you don’t think that too.

IMO there is no tolerance in book matching it either is or is not bookmatched and if you paid to have it then IMO youshould get it and next time get real stone too.

I would not be happy with it either. It looks they tried and failed.

When your counter area is longer than the slab will cover, bookmatching is the only fix. Yours was not perfectly bookmatched. If “bookmatched” is in the contract, the fabricator needed to do a better job. It’s not awful, but it’s not perfect, either. Is the fabricator/installer willing to give you a discount?

An issue here that people on this thread do not seem to realize is that the material is Quartz, not natural stone. Quartz is much harder to perfectly bookmatch vs stone where you can buy the slabs with the flow they had when they came out of the ground. I think your expectations are incorrect for a Quartz counter, and what you have looks fine.

As above, the important question is could it have been fabricated to match better? I don't think so.

i am a fabricator. Your designer is wrong. It is probably as good a match as was possible given the slabs. Bookmatched quartz is NOT the same as bookmatched granite. For bookmatched granite the factory takes 2 adjacent slabs cut from the block of stone and polishes the front of one and the back of the other. This is what gives you the mirror image effect on the grain in the stone. The only grain variation is however much the grain in the block moved in the thickness of the 3CM slab and the kerf of the block saw.

"bookmatched" quartz is simply not going to be as accurate as the slabs are still produced individually. If you can't live with it pay to have it redone in natural stone where bookmatched can meet your expectations.

Cambria has certain designs that they specifically market for bookmatching. My impression is that those should work for a nearly perfect bookmatch. Is this not the case?

chicagoans - I haven't fabricated Cambria for several years so I don't know if they have developed a process that truly provides a bookmatched pair of slabs. It would be easy enough to determine if you have photos of a pair of their slabs.

When it comes to bookmatching engineered stone, Cambria's got nothing on the Chinese who have been doing it very well for at least 5 years:

Tom:

The only thing your fabricator failed was in setting your expectations.

Here's some nicely "bookmatched" Cambria.

They did a fantastic job especially considering it is quartz.

Our fabricator steered us away from quartz for this reason. I think it looks pretty darn good tho. I dont think anybody elses eye would be drawn to the seam but yours.

Joseph that's a slip match, but it's okay.

I think the fabricator over-estimated what the final result would be, thereby creating a false expectation. It’s their fault for saying they could do a book match but your culpability was in asking how close is a “good book match” in their estimation. I’m sorry this has happened, but ultimately you are unhappy and they need to fix it.

Every time I see posts about quartz seams I am so glad I don’t have quartz.

The fabricator only need to”fix” it if someone pays them for the redo. If the “designers” are who set those incorrect expectations, then they need to get with that paid education and step up to the plate and pay for some bookmatched natural stone. That will teach them to not promise things that cannot be physically delivered. I bet they suddenly find it lot better looking if they have to pay for the redo! Because thats as good as some natural stone, and as good as it gets for quartz.

There are some quartz patterns that have the capability of doing a true bookmatch. However not all the patterns can do that. What you have is about as close to a bookmatch as that particular quartz was able to do.

I have to agree with others about expectations being set properly. If you paid the designer for the top, then it is their responsibility in this matter. Otherwise, they need to stand aside and let you discuss with your fabricator.

I don't think there is an option here that will not cost you. The question is - can you move forward with the top as it looks now?

I think the top looks great, but it is not my kitchen.

Best of luck..

I think perfect bookmatching can be important for a vertical surface like a focal point wall, above a bathtub or cooktop set up as an altar to bathing or cooking...this is a horizontal surface and there is a big hole where something goes, off center, a foot away. Is that the cooktop location? Since you are not really going to be seeing this match from across the room or anything, I think this is a good match given the limitations of the material. Is there literally never going to be anything on that counter? Is there an identically sized object to balance whatever that big opening is in the counter to balance it on the other side of the bookmatch? If not, I think this is a big deal about something that shouldn't be a big deal other than it is not the perfection you were promised. If it were uninterrupted material up on the wall it would be a different story.

I am a fabricator. Joe; thx for the pics of the Chinese bookmatch; I was not aware they'd gotten that good.

re:" Every time I see posts about quartz seams I am so glad I don’t have quartz." you don't need to fear quartz seams if they are done by a competent fab shop that takes the time to manage your expectations and properly executes the seaming at install. I have pics of seams in quartz colors that don't have movement (swirls and whorls) where the seam is tough to see even close up.

OP may have left the building.

oldryder:

I snapped that picture at a trade show in 2017.