Thought I'd take a shot asking here. Posting this because I've lost confidence in our design team. Anyone have thoughts on this edge seam, good or bad? Looks off to my untrained eye. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Is the Ultimate Decision making "Yours"?!...a design team "Suggests", if the final design is NOT to your liking....Whom is to blame?!...In regards to your edge, "I" personally, Don't like sharp edges, I will say , the marble color does an Excellent job of complimenting the cabinet main color & insert edging color, also like the Farm Sink. Did the Design team incorporate a "Swing Arm Pot Filler"?!...Alex
Agree completely on responsibility for the ultimate decision. My question is as follows: the marble top has been doubled at the edge to give the illusion of a thicker slab. I have always previously seen this done using a mitered joint, with the veins matched perfectly (or very close). In the example in the photos, the seam runs horizontally along the face of the edge and is quite obvious. I do not understand why a skilled fabricator would choose to build a faux thick edge in this fashion. It seems clumsy at best, incompetent at worst. But I am not an expert. Thoughts? Thanks.
Looks like nice work, but: If you are talking about the mismatch in the grain to get the double thickness along the edges, I'm not sure what else they could have done. It looks like they sliced the edges and folded open to try to "open book" match the grains. It just doesn't work all that well for light color stone. On the other hand, for a dark granite, that method hides pretty well.
You answered before I posted. I don't know about a mitered joint in this type of fab. I suppose it's possible but probably expensive to do. What agreement did you have with the fabricator? Did you or he describe the detail?
You have identified what I think is my mistake - I let our builder and designer work with the fabricator and assumed that the only proper way to do the edge was to miter it. I have never seen a seam like this.
No doubt matching is harder with a light stone. But I have seen matching done beautifully using a mitered joint. By the way, thanks to all for the thoughtful responses.
Excellence & Perfection Demand, constant vigilance. Best way to achieve both as in your example, would have been to be AT the Counter top/s fabricators and oversee & approve the joints for grain/color matching. I know on my jobs, owner involvement is MANDATORY as to avoid conflicts as have been out lined. I have this potential problem ALL the time when attempting to "Grain" Carrera Marble tiles. I make SURE to make the Owner/Builder/Designer sign off on the design, take numerous pictures of the design & sign the pictures as "Accepted". In your case, this is the EXACT detail which should have been AGREED upon...Alex http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/532202658/Granite_countertops_edges.html
Interesting, as my wife was given a chart similar to the one in your link, but not showing the miter alternative. She assumed she was signing off on the general shape, not the construction; we don't tell carpenters how to build pretty and sturdy trim and we shouldn't have to tell fabricators how to do the same with marble. We employ an architect, interior designer, builder and landscape architect because we are not experts in those fields and have other things to do; these professionals ought to be experienced and smart enough to know the correct way to fabricate this simple edge. I'm not sure there's much blame for the fabricator here, though I wonder why he didn't bother to ask why we'd choose the ugly solution to a straightforward problem. They "ought to be," but they weren't. Firing the designer and looking for fixes. Very disappointing.
Firing the designer is a good first step. You should also discuss with the fabricator. As you say, he should have known how bad this would be. Unless he was specifically directed to do this by the designer, the fabricator should bear some responsibility. Ask him how this edge detail came about. Was it his or the designer's decision? Ask the fabricator to suggest a fix. One possibility is that an angle edge that only slightly rises above the top surface (as a "drip") and conceals the whole edge might be okay.
Not a big fan of the "look". Mitered would have been much better. Even a piece of a different color (solid white or black perhaps) on the bottom would look better to me.
Again, thanks for the comments. We are meeting with the fabricator as soon as possible. I'm afraid there's no solution except living with the existing look, buying a new slab and starting over, or creating a new, perhaps staggered edge using slab remnants - assuming the lower piece can be removed.
Matching of the veins is critical when stacking pieces the way it has been done. Matching veins is less critical with the mitered edge because you have lighting change and change of direction which makes it less noticeable. This counter could be recut (mitered) along the top edge and then a different piece could be used for the face piece. The veins would not match perfectly but it would look better then what you have now. And if the piece were carefully picked, I think the result could be fairly reasonable.
Hello William; Have you considered the possibility of having a mitered cut to remove the offensive edge banding & using a mitered solid color piece as the new edge banding? Is it possible for you to post pictures of the entire kitchen? I have a GREAT Appreciation for Quality kitchen designs, materials, ( most definitely) will have some thoughts/ideas for you...Alex
From where you are now, you can either replace the installation with new counter tops or try to work with what you have installed so far. 1. To rip out all that is already installed and replace with a new counter top to your liking; considering also plumbing rework and finish, paint, etc. rework; would probably be pretty costly. 2. Alternately, retro fit a new edge band onto your existing counter tops. Maybe consider something like one or the other of the below. The fabricator could field install the new edge, possibly by pinning and epoxying the new edge into the existing counter top. Have him make up a two or three foot length of edge and clamp it in place to see it in real life and decide if you might live with it. Image Unavailable, Please Login
The picture is all wrong. Should be book matched or cut on the 45. Depends on the grain of the stone. That stone should be cut on the 45. Good luck
Should never be done like that At this point it should be covered. How about a stainless steel veneer. Can we see pics of the entire island or counter Is that Carrara marble? We just finished a guest kitchen with 2 inch marble Looks like a similar sink you have Image Unavailable, Please Login
It is possible that with that cut out for sink the slab shop could not have made the mitre follow the shape without putting in 2 seams So, actually you should have gone with 2 inch marble for that look. BTW... We had an island slab 11ft. By 4ft of 2 inch marble installed It took 11 men to move it in house Heavy!
I was thinking the same thing, that maybe they did this to avoid the corner miter, but it still would have looked better even though all the veins couldn't match.
I sometimes wonder whether the thick edge is a bit of a fad? Presumably intended to create the illusion of a thick slab, the illusion let down in many cases by treatment of the sink cutout. Michael, I love that thick slab in your photo. I need to double check the type of marble, calacatta gold perhaps? My wife chose it, and we have very limited access to the house or my files for the next few days.
Update: Our builder informs us that 80% of countertops in Palm Beach are done the way ours were, with the built up edge. All of you are wrong, at least as your advice relates to Palm Beach, where visisble seams apparently are considered desirable.
