New home, horrible granite slab (Houston, West: lawyer, buying a house, buying)

[cheryjohns]

Originally Posted by astrohip

I'm in this industry, I would expect myself to side with the builder. I used to be in the countertop biz, so I really expected to side with the granite company.

But I don't. That is so noticeable and different that it no longer counts as "character & nature", but falls into the defective slab category. Do NOT give up, tell them it is unacceptable.

Signing a piece of paper acknowledging that granite has imperfections does not mean you should accept defective material.

And putting the ball in the supplier's court is not fair. They have no skin in the game, and will say no. Only if the builder insists they replace it will they be pressured to do something.

Memorize this for when you talk to the builder - good wording.

[texsn95]

Wow, that seam is ****-poor. Fight the good fight.

[lhafer]

Originally Posted by cheryjohns

Memorize this for when you talk to the builder - good wording.

Originally Posted by astrohip

I'm in this industry, I would expect myself to side with the builder. I used to be in the countertop biz, so I really expected to side with the granite company.

But I don't. That is so noticeable and different that it no longer counts as "character & nature", but falls into the defective slab category. Do NOT give up, tell them it is unacceptable.

Signing a piece of paper acknowledging that granite has imperfections does not mean you should accept defective material.

And putting the ball in the supplier's court is not fair. They have no skin in the game, and will say no. Only if the builder insists they replace it will they be pressured to do something.

^^^This 100%!!

There's a big difference between going to the builder and saying...

"Hey, this granite is not what I picked out, and it is defective. Can it be replaced?"

Versus

"Hey, this granite is not what I picked out, and it is defective. It needs to be replaced."

This YOUR home that YOU are building and paying with YOUR money. You need to get what you like. Not saying it will be easy, as we've been down that road when we built our house as well. But in the end, we got what we originally paid for, and were very happy with the end product.

Good Luck!

[TravelFeedsTheSoul]

Thanks all. I'll try to remember to post an update here once everything has settled.

[Even Further]

That seam is horrid. That's not professional work IMO. Personally I would not accept a seam like that, positioned that way. The slab should either look like one piece at a glance, or actually be one piece.

[LynnKrause1]

Have it changed. You will never be happy with it....who would?

[dendrotriton]

If it's a standard design in a track home they can just take it away and put it in someone elses house if they feel it's good enough. Ask to see the model home and tell them you want that kind of quality in your home (1 piece etc.).

[fumbling]

yes it looks defective to most people including me and they're probably trying to pass off on someone .... actually maybe eventually they'll pass it on to someone who appreciates it.

[Bike4Life]

I would definitely have them to bring out the sledge hammer because that is just awful. Every party guest is going to keep asking you what happened?

When my new countertop came in with a bullnose edge cut, I mentioned that this is not want I ordered. So, we went through the paperwork and tried to fix this. They end up having to toss out the entire kitchen Caesarstone and buy new ones with the standard edge cut for our contemporary kitchen. I felt bad having to do this but it has been much appreciated afterwards. We were all professional about this and it got resolved. My hats off to American Countertop Fabricators for the owner's integrity and customer satisfaction.

[Sampaguita]

Another fan of movement in granite slabs but that looks like a very flawed slab - like a diamond with a lot of inclusions/carbon. Also, good fabricators should be able to do better with the seams.

You've already received excellent advice here and I hope you can get it resolved to your satisfaction.