We had granite installed recently, and there are several issues we came upon that we wanted to clear up.
1. The seams are very tight, to the point that you can feel it when you run your finger over it, as opposed to our previous granite which had caulking or something between it. The installers said that tighter is better, and that they are proud of how well it fit.
2. The installers did not put plywood underneath the granite. They glued it right to the tops of the kitchen cabinets.
3. The pieces were a bit oversized, so the installers cut gashes in the drywall right at the countertop level to accommodate the excess without having it show. They say that is done regularly and that the tile backsplash will cover it up.
4. Just a professionalism question. The installers did not pull out the kitchen faucets from the old granite because they said they didn’t have the tool to do so. They also informed us that they would not reinstall the faucets or the dishwasher hookup, and that we needed to get a plumber here to do that.

Marie

Hello Marie,

Granite seams should feel smooth when running your finger over them. Yes, tight joints are nice, but if the granite is warped or if the granite is not perfectly in plane across the seam, then the seam will be noticeable to the touch. If the contractor had opened up the joints to 1/32 or 1/16 in this situation and used colored epoxy in the seam, the transition could have been smooth across the seam I am sure they meant to do a nice job but now they should have a professional come out and finish the job but sanding and polishing the seam so that it is not so noticeable to the touch.

Although this is not easy, there are professional refinishers that do this kind of work and usually most shops have someone that is capable as well. I would just ask them nicely to have someone come out and “smooth-out” the seam because you are extremely unhappy with it.

Regarding the plywood, if you have 3cm thick stone, then you do not need plywood. If it is 2cm thick stone, plywood should have been installed under the granite.

Regarding the cutting of the drywall. This is fairly normal within reason because walls are not perfect. If it does not show, then it is acceptable.

Regarding your plumbing question, there are many granite companies that do not handle plumbing because of license issues. This really is a question that should have been discussed before you hired them. It is not a professionalism issue, it is a scope of work agreement issue.

Best wishes,
Tom Cordova

This entry was posted on Monday, September 25th, 2006 at 4:05 pm and is filed under Answers to Granite Questions..., Installation Issues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.