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I have granite with a lot of movement and quite a few variations of gold, silver, cream, white and black (the granite is called gold and silver) - you cannot see the seam and can only barely feel it....a good fabricator can do this.
I have granite with a lot of movement and quite a few variations of gold, silver, cream, white and black (the granite is called gold and silver) - you cannot see the seam and can only barely feel it....a good fabricator can do this.
Yes that is most certianly true. A good fabricator can make any seam unable to feel and barely able to see.
But...........
Not very long ago nearly all granite fabricators belonged to labor unions, and were expensive, Granite was considered only for the elite among us. Today there are few fabricators who belong to any labor unions. Most are recently trained ***Mod Edit*** and are not very good. Granite prices have come down from $60-80 SF to as low as $21 SF which I see all over town. Of course Home Depot and Lowes dont know this as they still charge $60 SF. I sell any standard granite for $26 SF and everyone beats my price. I dont really care because I just offer it as a convenience.
Last edited by Ultrarunner; 09-20-2009 at 01:23 PM..
Reason: remarks...
There are still plenty of installers that know what they are doing and modern tools make it much easier. In the old days installer would have to come forom quite a ways at times in many areas because few installed it.Even the materials used at joints has advanced a long ways.
If they won't come back out, get some black grout. Just lightly grout the seam. I have pink granite 12x12 tile (on a budget) with yellows, grays and browns in it. The primary background color is brown so I grouted with this brown and you cannot see the seams until you are close enough to use the counter.
There are still plenty of installers that know what they are doing and modern tools make it much easier. In the old days installer would have to come forom quite a ways at times in many areas because few installed it.Even the materials used at joints has advanced a long ways.
I agree 100%. We had a wonderful fabricator in So. California that even matched the backspash to the counter top granite formations.
Because of the configuration of the granite counters in our new house in Kentucky, we have one seam - you cannot see it and you can barely feel it - another great fabricator.
We actually went to the granite showroom and looked at the seams on the granite in the display kitchens....they were nearly invisible and that is the fabricator we chose.
I'd say that with a good installation, you should only be able to see the seam if you know exactly where to look. It will be there, but only you (the homeowner) should be able to spot it out without getting up very close.
My kitchen had two pieces for our longer wall. We had it placed where we keep our coffee/espresso maker (it's about double the size of your average coffee maker), so that the machine covers most of that seam anyway. But you have to really know where you are looking to see the seam on the counter, they did a great job and spent a lot of time polishing the seam and leveling it perfectly. Our granite color is Volga Blue, so it's mostly black as well but rather busy.
I'd try to place some small kitchen appliances or maybe some decoration in that area to draw the attention away from the seam. However, it should be barely noticeable with a good installation. Make them come back if it seems like unreasonably large gap.
Unfortunately.. the mom and pop store guy wont come back (REALLY cheap price..)
Its Ok, wife just put a toaster oven and some utencils there.. I will have to find black grout and do "something" it is clearly visible.. for the price for black galaxy I cant complain!
It is very easy to hide. Just palce your toaster, microwave, a decorative plate or sculpture or any other loarge object over the joint and forget about it.
I also just had a granite countertop installed and am unhappy with the seam. I have been researching this online and feel that the installer used an epoxy that was too light for the stone. The counter has already been sealed. Can the installer do anything about this seam now?
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