Forgot to add:

You can see the glue on the underside. I was hoping maybe they weren't finished and it wasn't glued down, but alas. This seems permanent :(

The stone appears to be tapered. I don't think it's an install problem. More like a problem with the QC of the slab. Although it looks unusual that it is happening at each end. You may have to talk to the fabricator.

ainelane: I just posted to your other thread. Is your stone macaubus (or calacatta) quartzite? The edge shots look just like my stone. If there were any small gaps between stone and cabinet tops, our guys inserted shims:

After installation, the owner walked around the kitchen and gently pounded on the corners of the tops: you could hear the stone rattling if there was a gap that needed shimming. Am assuming this is in keeping with best practices.

"I don't think it's an install problem" - that depends on what you expect from your installer. Someone, presumably someone with experience, glued this stone into place and left it there as is, an example of his finished work. To me, whatever else it is, it is also an installation problem. No surface is perfect. The installation guys are supposed to make it look perfect. That first gap is easily 1/4" and leaves a significant portion of the corner of the stone unsupported. Thats definitely an installation issue.

Thank you all.

The installer was just here. I showed him the gaps, and he said this is normal. He's not going to do anything about it. He said this sometimes happens with large slabs. He said, "if you want, I can put in some silicone in a few of the gaps, but it's not needed". He can't reach all the gaps anyway he said, because the panels are in the way.

javiwa, thank you so much for the pics of the shims. That makes sense. I will ask the cabinet maker to come have a look and hopefully he can tell the fabricators to shim it. I would feel much better with that.

eam44 is right - some gaps are at least 1/4". This worries me because the stone is not supported there.

By the way, this is Sea Peal Quartzite.

Yes, of course but that's too out of flat, imo, to be corrected by the installers is what I should have said. I wouldn't accept it.

"Why has this happened?"

Your cabinets may not be level or on plane to each other. Your stone may be cupped. One or the other or both.

"Is this normal?"

Unfortunately in this day and age, yes.

"How can it be fixed?"

I'd want the top pulled and check the cabinets for level and plane. You can't leave tops unsupported like that; they must be shimmed. These guys will probably squirt a little color matched caulk in the gap and call it good.

Thanks guys. At this point it seems I'd be lucky to get colour matched caulk. I'm hoping my cabinetmaker will come over Tuesday and then fight to have these gaps shimmed. I just am amazed that they call this "normal" and see no problem with it. And sadly, this issue is not the worst one I'm having with them.

Geez, ainelane, I feel like we're living parallel lives with this -- you don't by chance live in the Houston area, do you? ;)

Hope you don't mind the slight hijack, but maybe this extra information might help.

Joe: I just took another peek under my stone. They placed two shims within 12" of each other in one area:

But to the right of this space is a 36" span where the gap is the same as above (1/8") between stone and cabinet, yet left unshimmed -- I guess the span is actually 5' if you calculate that stone doesn't rest on cabinet again until it reaches the right side of the dishwasher. (Par for the course with these guys, who won't be setting foot in my house again.)

MIA says maximum spacing between shims is 2'. Can I myself insert shims...and/or should I? TY.

" Can I myself insert shims...and/or should I?"

Yes. Use a composite style shim, not wood. Push it in until snug, mark it, trim it, then reinsert it flush with the cabinet with a dab of silicone. Do it now, please.

Thanks as always, Joe.

Really nice to see you back, oldryder.

Is this normal? Only if shoddy half as**d work is normal. If the cabinets were too far out of alignment he should have told you the consequences before starting.

Wow it just amazes me what some companies try to get away with and try to make the homeowner feel bad for asking about the shoddy work. I realize how fortunate I was to find such a wonderful guy Matt at Cypress tile and granite that took such pride in his product. He supplied my cabinets and installation and my fantasy brown quartzite countertops and installation all perfection. I don't understand how those other companies continue to get business with those results. Pride used to be an important component, not so much anymore.

Thank you everyone for the helpful feedback.

The lead installer came out last night to have a look. He thinks the gaps are normal and don't need anything. He said he can't even put in caulk because the cabinet panels are in the way and he wouldn't be able to reach. (???)

I insisted that I felt it should be shimmed. He said it's never going to break, that I could have an elephant stand on the corner of the island and it wouldn't crack. He pressed down on it to show me, and I could see the countertop moving as he did that. When I pointed THAT out, he finally agreed to shim it, but was still insisting it isn't needed.

So, it looks like this gap issue might get solved. On to the other 5 issues with these guys.

Thanks again everyone.

He said it's never going to break, that I could have an elephant stand on the corner of the island and it wouldn't crack.

This is meant more to enlighten your 'lead guy' than to freak you out, but share this with him: Sick to my stomach....corner of granite countertop broken.

javiaw - oh man, that makes me feel worse than before! (But thank you for sharing it, this is the kind of info I need to know). The corner of granite in that picture looks like it had more support than what some of mine have :(

Ugh, dealing with these people has been the worst part of this reno so far (I'm in week 12).

It makes me cringe to think how they are treating this very expensive piece of stone.