Marble counter edge seam question

HA! Not happy at all, amused but not surprised that the builder insists all is as it should be, everyone does it this way, etc etc.

And, really, this is not the builder's fault. My wife relied on our designer; obviously we both should have been directly involved. I have not had time to micromanage the details that are so incredibly important in this type of project.

Meeting with the fabricator Tuesday to discuss options. The fabricator supposedly is the source of the quote that "80% of people in Palm Beach use a built up rather than mitered edge." Quite the meaningless statistic, really, as it seems to me the built up technique may be perfectly appropriate given the type of profile or material selected.

The builder has assured me that the fabricator is "the best in Palm Beach" and regularly "works with international designers." I actually get a kick out of this. We are well into the zone of protesting too much.

I will take and post a better photo when I again have access to the house.

Your comments have been very helpful - and, in coming to this section, I discovered the jazz thread, a nice bonus.

 

An update - we met with the fabricator, who insists that the "laminate" approach is widely used in Palm Beach, even with light colored marble with lots of "movement." He tells us he can do nothing with the marble without removing it to his shop and having it for approximately two weeks. He cannot begin work until after Christmas. He also says that the marble is too thin to use a mitered edge in any event.

Lots of good ideas here, but I keep thinking that the best way out of this, though a certainly expensive choice, would be to write off these tops, using the salvageable marble for other items around the house such as tops for other bathrooms, table tops, etc. If we undertake a repair/re-do, we pay thousands to have appliances removed and then reinstalled, live two weeks without a kitchen, and pay for repairs, only to end up with something my wife would never have chosen.

I personally find the obvious seam ugly. I'll post another pic in the next day or so, but because of changes in direction in the veining, the seam is obvious from across the room. Ludicrous to me to argue that any decent designer or even moderately discerning client would want a stripe along a counter top edge. Bizarre CYA IMO.

Blame? The designer, completely, I believe. Poor communication between the designer and my wife. My wife assumed she would get the mitered edge, and no one asked her what she wanted. The fabricator did as he was instructed by a designer; I think he should have questioned the approach. The builder really wasn't involved in the process, so I find it hard to find fault with him; he has offered a credit, but I personally find it hard to accept money from someone who isn't to blame.

Yes, I know, it's nice when fabrication of calacatta gold marble is your life's great problem ....

Can't thank you guys enough for all the responses.

 

Builder has refunded his markup on the stone and fabrication. All involved still insist no mistake was made, which infuriates my wife but doesn't much surprise me.

Michael, I don't know why construction has to work this way. We had a similar experience when we built a home in 2002.

On this project, to give only one example: a 5' high stucco wall is located two feet inside the property line. I tell everyone, from the first time I see a survey, that I want the proposed wall extension built on the property line. By "everyone," I mean the builder, the architect, the landscape architect and the builder's superintendent. I repeat this.

A couple weeks before the wall extension is built, I walk the property with the landscape architect and contractor's superintendent. We come to the wall, and I repeat my instructions. Landscape architect jokes that, given land prices in the area, moving the wall should increase the value of our property. We all laugh.

Two weeks later, the foundation for the wall extension has been poured two feet off the property line. I tell the superintendent that the wall is supposed to be on the property line.

The next day, 5' of cinder block is built on the mislocated foundation.

So that one the builder is fixing at his expense, maybe $8k or so, completely avoidable.

It just goes on and on, so much waste, disorganization. We are using a very experienced builder, architect, landscape architect.

This guy Murphy you mention - I think he may be our superintendent.


Edit - Today's mistake, the fireplace. My wife gave the builder a photo and told him to copy it, tweaking proportions if absolutely necessary only for scale. They actually changed the style of the piece, incredible. The child in me wants to send them all home.

 

The fabricator's, builder's and designer's insistence that the edge was done properly enraged us at first, then we decided to simply ignore them. They just have to know better. I suspect it's too expensive a mistake to admit?

I assume one point of the thick edge is to suggest a thick slab of marble - having a seam down the middle of the edge certainly undermines the whole effect. And is ugly in any event.

 

Thanks for your comments, Alex. I think they are throwing out any justification they can think up, and we have stopped listening.