Is my kitchen countertop seam too big? (granite countertops, phone, color)
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Just had a kitchen countertop done. They left a seam and it seems too big. There is also a place where the countertop intersects the wall, it looks like they cut into the wall and pushed the countertop in a little but it has messy edges, how do I fix this? What should I do and do you think the seam is bad enough to take action?
the wall is no big deal, but the seam between the surfaces is very bad if you have not yet signed off on the work don't. Call them back get them to fix it, or get a strong discount. I am not a pro and could have done a better job blind drunk. Did they even clamp it?
The photo is not really showing "scale" (you should lay a ruler across the seam at the outside edge, another at the edge closest to the wall, and another in the middle, ideally they are all the same, but in no circumstance should the width vary by more than 1.5mm, that is about half as thick as standard phone charging cable).
From what I am seeing the seam is NOT UNIFORM and that is unacceptable. The reason that seams are not uniform usually comes down to faulty measurement / poor template. Sometimes there are also issues with the cabinets being out of plumb or the wall having protrusions. In any of those situations the installers should make a decision would whether they can address the problem on site or whether new templates need to be made.
If you went with some low end supplier (or worse, the bozos that sub-contract with the big box stores...) they probably have already blocked your phone and if you don't pay they'll send a collector or file a mechanics lien. Sad situation.
A real quality firm would not have left with the way things look.
If the firm was having issues with a bad crew maybe the owner can be contacted to make things right.
As Chad said, the seam is not uniform. That's unacceptable to me. Is that a quartz countertop? The installers usually have color matched filler to use on the seams, and can make them pretty much invisible.
As far as the wall, that's not unusual. Sheetrock is almost never perfectly straight. Unless the installer included scribing to the wall (a very expensive option), I wouldn't consider that a defect. Are you planning to install a backsplash? If not, carefully caulk and paint.
Just had a kitchen countertop done. They left a seam and it seems too big. There is also a place where the countertop intersects the wall, it looks like they cut into the wall and pushed the countertop in a little but it has messy edges, how do I fix this? What should I do and do you think the seam is bad enough to take action?
You're supposed to caulk the part where the granite meets the backsplash/wall, OR the tile or backsplash covers it. So I don't regard that as a problem. If you weren't planning on a backsplash added, you'll need to caulk or add a small wood molding or such.
The seam where the two flat pieces meet...yeah, that's not right. Looks like it wasn't cut to precision. The fact that it's almost solid color makes it more noticeable.
I would expect that to be fixed, although they wouldn't want to do that. It probably needs another slab cut and part of hte counter replaced, so the seam has a better fit. I doubt they'll do that.
If they don't fix it, enter a complaint with the BBB and Angie's List & Google's Reviews, so that other people will know. I passed up using a granite contractor because he had an unresolved customer complaint with the BBB. He told me the story, and he might've been right that the customer just wasn't going to be happy no matter what, but I don't use anyone with unresolved BBB complaints. I could be the next one. So I just use someone with a clean BBB history.
Many people aren't happy with granite seams, though. Mine wasn't perfect, either, but my granite was very patterned in that area, and it wasn't as bad as yours. I'm just a bit obsessive about such things.
But I will make one other comment- the seam (regardless of cosmetic issues) is not in the right place! This type of seam (location) is always a failure possibility.
Look at the attached image; notice how the seam is a couple of inches beyond the intersecting plane of the other piece? This type of installation eliminates seam fractures that occur with your type of installation.
This preferred method does use a little more material- but the cost of that little bit more certainly outweighs the possibility of seam failure and having to refabricate a whole new top.
Yes, I'd be pissed. Not sure what you can do, or who you can complain to to get it made right.
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