Is it possible that it was cut correctly, but the installer accidentally put the wrong end against the other one? Maybe it really could be flipped? Never mind, the finished edge would be wrong then too...that guided them which way to fit them together.

Luckyblueeye - that’s my hope! I don’t think so though

I completely disagree with Felizlady. Of course natural stone is bookmatched all the time, in high-end installations. This is the problem with getting advice from the internet. Anyone can respond whether they know the answer or not.

While our island is huge, the size can’t be changed. We had the island custom built to be a prep/serving/eating space and we got rid of our eat in kitchen. I could handle shaving an inch or so if it matched perfectly. I won’t be happy but that would be an easy solution. But the contractor and fabricator were all well aware this is custom design; we took our entire kitchen down to the studs. The island is the show piece of the room (and our living area because part of the remodel included removing the wall between the rooms). When we were searching for danby in Dallas, we had three slabs here but they weren’t bookmatched. Fabricator (and me) insisted on bookmatched slabs For the island.

Felizlady has it totally backwards. It's manmade quartz that cannot be bookmatched because of the way each slab is produced--a unique, one-of-a-kind slab, like making a marble cake. Natural stone is the one that CAN be bookmatched, and it seems someone goofed.

Now the issue is what to do. I would think you have a case if there is clear documentation on what you wanted. And if the fabricator or your contractor admits the error. Then it's on him/her to make good. You'll still be in for a long delay just to get the new materials from Vermont to Texas. I know that Vermont Danby is in great demand and can be backordered--my stone yard said they are gone as soon as they come in.

If no one takes responsibility, then you have 2 choices--live with it or pay for 2 entirely new slabs. Installed by someone else.

I met the fabricator in person and we walked through stone placement on the island. I had him line them up and we talked about the cuts. But I don’t have it in writing unfortunately. I kind of hate myself right now. The contractor said he would make it right. So we shall see.

Well then you are lucky if he's on your side. The only thing you lose is time.

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@dianabierineriors - does the fact that the "river" is not centered on either slab from the center also show they didn't cut it right? Just curious. That is what is making me think that flipping the slabs probably won't have anything line up better. But this isn't what I do for a living. My contractor knows I'm really upset and this is not what was discussed. But he definitely pushed back, saying "this is why a lot of people take a designer to the fabricators". My feedback to him was you never recommended that I take a designer/hire a designer for this part of the process or that this would be a necessary/recommended step. And this the fabricator you selected and you said they are amazing and works magic. The same fabricator that insisted at least two of my three slabs be bookmatched specifically for the island.

Here are zoom ins of the warehouse and install photos. If you look at the dark tones along the seam, it looks pretty close to the same in both photos. I think the problem with the bookmatch started at the warehouse, i.e., the slabs were not cut to a perfect bookmatch in the first place.

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pghjen, don't be hard on yourself. How were you supposed to know? You discussed what you wanted and were reassured it would all be taken in hand. You don't know what you don't know.

I think it was a fabricator issue. The slabs at the warehouse are bookmatched. And although the stone is gorgeous, those aren't the best choice because of where the "river" in located on the slab. If you get new slabs for the island, pick ones with the "feature" near the center.

It's really hard to tell for sure from the photos, but suzyq and armstrongcarolyn bring up a good point. The most prominent feature, the "river" as we're calling it, is towards the top of the slab, rather than in the center. It is possible that they cut the slab incorrectly and that's the reason for the mismatch.

As far as your contractor's comment about bringing a designer to the fabricator--why didn't he suggest that, seeing as you mentioned having a designer for the layout?

I don’t know why he didn’t suggest that. We are over budget but I certainly would have paid $500 for that type of consultation if he said it as necessary. It never came up.

Thank you so much for your help, especially Mamagoose and Diana. We met with the contractor and fabricator today. They are going to see if flipping the slabs will fix the issue; if not they are getting us two new slabs. The fabricator initially said I approved the island cuts/seams but then said the marble was damaged and this was the best he could do. Over the weekend, I had emailed the the sales guy at Vermont that sourced the slabs for me - he confirmed they were indeed bookmatched and I reiterated that our expectation was bookmatched. With the pics we printed out of the original slabs plus mamagooses’ edits, the contractor was on our side and fabricator is also agreeing to fix. Sooo big lesson learned here but I think it will end well. Phew. I feel like a 1,000 weight has been lifted from me.

That is awesome news! I'm sure that it will all turn out beautifully--don't forget to post photos when it's done!

I am a fabricator. This was a botched job. Either the bookmatched seam objective was not communicated to the saw guy or he screwed up. It should be remade correctly.

good for you OP!! i would have needed therapy if it wasn't fixed :) Ugh, that's a lot of $$$$$

enjoy your new slabs and post pics when completed!!!!

Glad to hear that you stood firm and that the fabricator is standing by their installation and making it right for you!! Post pictures please

The fabricator tried moving the slabs around and the only way they will line up is if they cut way too much off of one slab, so that will not work. I kind of figured that but wanted them to have the chance to try the most cost efficient option. So they are going to have to get 2 more bookmatched slabs at their cost. We are hosting Christmas so I hope this can be done by then. Especially since Danby is hard to source.

This thread has been so helpful, and I appreciate you sharing your experiences, pghjen. I'm just finishing an article about bookmatching for the Natural Stone Institute, and your situation helped me warn people about the unexpected ways the job can go wrong.

I'm so glad they are going to re-do it and I hope it works out perfectly this time!

Karin - please post a link to the article! I would love to read if!

Will do! It'll be about a month from now.

I'm so sorry this happened to you. Keep us updated on what the installer says. Hopefully, they can make things right for you.

So this is kind of a mess. There is no Royal Danby to be found in Dallas. Well, there are 2 slabs that are bookmatched but they aren't anything like our original slabs and also have a huge space in the middle of each slab with hardly any movement (kind of like a big white space). So - we had a designer work with the fabricator to see if we could do anything with our original slabs. She gave us a version that I kind of like - but it will result in our island going from 50" deep to 47.5" deep and the contractor will have to redo the end panels of our island and shorten them 2". I was talking to the contractor yesterday and we didn't have a great conversation. I asked him why the fabricator didn't send a template for us to sign off on; we sign off on cabinetry.

Contractor was really mad and said, "this is why I don't do fabrication. Because I always end up eating #$## when I do fabrication. You were supposed to do the fabrication with the fabricator".

I said - "why didn't you tell me that you weren't going to be involved at all and suggest i use a designer? That would have been good for me to know what to expect and I would have handled things differently"

A whole heated and ugly conversation later -

Contractor - . Your choices are you can choose the option the designers put together and we will fix make the adjustments to the island on our dime and have your kitchen done next week. and give a credit to you. Or we can order new stone from Vermont on our dime, have it shipped here and fabricated and it will be 1-2 months before you are done. And I won't make any money on your house.

good times.

Thoughts on our options please

ugh.

my thoughts:

a) not one single #$% is given whether the contractor makes money on your house. If he can't learn from his past mistakes that's on him.

b) I am fairly easy-going so I would be comfortable rolling with it. I would never miss the 2 1/2" in a million years.

c) I also really hate waste and the thought of trucking in new slabs would make me feel really guilty.

d) If you don't have the same priorities as I do, 1-2 months isn't such a long time to wait in the grand scheme of things.

e) either way you are not out any money.

You should decide if you will miss the 2 1/2" enough to wait 2 months for them. That's ultimately what it comes down to.

Does the match look good? It’s worlds above what was originally done. Which really pisses me off because this could have been done properly from day one.

Also - if we had done what the fabricator wanted to do when he flipped the slabs at our house it would have been a disaster

Yes, the match looks good. It's not the perfection you had hoped for but the overall impression is very nice imo.

I understand your anger. I would be angry too. Now I'll put on my Mom voice and say that the quicker you can move away from that anger and toward acceptance the better off you'll be. It will be hard for you to make a rational decision as long as you're still thinking in terms of "if only..." and "what if..."

Lindsey is right with the above except it's not just about the missing 2 1/2" - it's about the bookmatching. The compromise suggested by designer is...a compromise. :/ You "kind of like" this version, OP. Will you be disappointed every time you see it? Only you know that. It's your kitchen, your time and money, your choice.

I don't think there is a bad decision here. But you have to know yourself.

If you choose fixing the current situation as shown above, will it eat away at you or will you stop obsessing about it because you will no longer be in kitchen reno mode, but in real life mode, so who cares about the minutia? If this will bother you beyond this time of hyper-focus on the kitchen, then go ahead and get the new slabs. A little extra time is worth it for your piece of mind.

I am sorry we all have the same advice. Know what you can live with and move on.

Once you christen this kitchen with family and friends, this will be a distant memory.

If I was the decision maker, I would go with the island redesign and get this project finished. I understand that it isn't my responsibility to make sure the contractor makes a profit but spending his profit on fixing the fabricator's screwup is going to lead to a very unhappy contractor. I would be concerned that if something else happened before the new marble is installed, the contractor might really cut some corners and try to run away as fast as possible and then ignore your calls if anything needs fixed after the project is finished.

Mistakes happen and I can understand the contractor's frustration with the situation too. He hired someone and trusted them to do the job correctly and he is left eating the cost of the mistake. It sounds like he wasn't being entirely honest with you (and with himself) about the whole topic of fabrication back in the beginning of the project, and hopefully he will approach the topic differently in the future. At least the guy is willing to give you a choice of options and not trying to disappear, even though at this point, he is probably just as ready as you are to move on to another project

I think the book matching looks lovely. I know it’s frustrating, but I would go ahead and lose a couple inches on my island and gain a functioning kitchen.

Your designers solution is good, but how long will you own this kitchen versus how long you would have to wait for it to be correct? If you are selling the home in April approve the fix and move on. If you plan to have the house for several years screw some plywood down as a surface on the island and wait for it to be correct. This is not your fault- you paid for book matched, two people seem to have dropped the ball.

It looks like your designer has a great solution. Much better. You won’t miss a few inches being taken out of island.

Apart from the 2.5 missing inches, have you actually seen the new order slabs to see if you like the pattern? I would want to know what I might be getting...

We have seen the slabs and it’s ok/fine. Honestly, this has thrown my anxiety through the roof and it’s making it difficult for me to have clear judgment on this. My contractor dressing me down yesterday didn’t help because I’m such a pleaser by nature and he is blaming this on me now and making me feel guilty he’s losing money. And my husband is OVER it. I think he would have kept the original configuration to just have our house back.

Our kitchen is pretty much done - we are on the punch list. It’s functional. We have plywood on the island. It’s really a matter of -are we ok with this configuration or do we have the contractor spend $9k for new slabs (we would approve via pics).

The more I think about this, the more I think you should accept the solution the designer gave you. Losing the inches on the island should not feel like much and I think you have indicated the book matching now works.

I don't appreciate your GC trying to make you feel badly about his mistake, but its the Holidays and people are super stressed.

The contractor and the counter company should share the burden- why should the homeowner accept it the way it is? The contractor sounds like he is guilting the homeowner into making a decision that benefits him financially.

There is no perfect decision just as there is no perfect marble. Don't try to please anyone but you and your husband. It's going to be gorgeous. You've done the tough work and given yourself good options. Make your decision, move on and enjoy the holidays!

I would never compromise. I want exactly what I pay for. If someone mismanages their business its on them to rectify regardless. That's how they stay in business or not.

Update: after driving to about 10 different places to look at other Danny Marble, consulting with a designer (paid) and a few architect/designer friends, we decided to go with the original stone. Slabs in Dallas either weren’t bookmatched, didn’t have a pattern we liked or weren’t the right shade of white to match the Danby on our perimeter which was already installed. The option the designer provided is pretty good; we felt there was a bigger risk in ordering new slabs because we wouldn’t be able to see them in person and weren’t sure if they would match what was installed. We ended up taking a big discount and here are some pics

And befores

thanks for the update....

Beautiful!

Wow! That beautiful kitchen belongs in a magazine and you got a discount! That is awesome! Win win!!

I agree. It was a win/win since you got the book matched slabs fixed and a big discount. Beautiful.

Looks beautiful, sorry you had to go through all of that!

Going thru something similar here with a waterfall island. Quartz 3cm bookmatched. the island size is the size of the slab. we had a session with the fabfabricator and they showed us the layout and we took pictures. install day came and it did not line up as we agreed. that vein is the one shown in the pic. looks like someone cut 1 inch from the vien side of the waterfall piece . any ideas folks? i am going to make a big deal and not pay them tbe balance due and will settle till they change that waterfall side.