And there you have it.

In this industry, the larger and the more complex the project, the more common it is for things to go wrong. There are many moving parts to a renovation and when things do go wrong, how the vendors and manufacturers respond along with the team pulling the project together is a true test to the kind of company they are. Things do happen and it seems like they are making it right. I have to cringe on the harshness of this post as it does not appear to be a very fair assessment to Cambria. I expected something to the effect like " Cambria is ignoring our calls" or "Cambria is refusing to replace our product" I read further in and you wrote Cambria is replacing the slabs. There is also a level of coping a homeowner has to assume during a renovation. When you go into a renovation thinking the process and the results must be perfect than you are setting yourself up for disappointment and it will leave a bad taste in your mouth. If you go in with a positive outlook and an understanding that it is a "project" and also a "process" the end result will be better than what you expected.

Please reconsider this post....this does not have to do with Cambria as a product. The fabricator maybe!

We purchased over $10,000 in countertops from Cambria with a warranty against defects. We were the first people to purchase Cambria's newest quartz pattern, Annicca, in our area. Within the first 7 months of owning the countertops, a crack occurred in the quartz while I was using an appliance on the counter. The appliance had legs that were at least 3 inches in height as recommended by Cambria. The crack started in a vein, which seems to be the weak points in the counter. This seems to be a manufacturer defect more than user error, but they won't admit that. When their investigator came to look at the countertop, he found the crack to be our fault due (no surprise there) to the use of the appliance even though we followed Cambria's recommendation. They repaired the crack in the counter by drilling a holes on either end of the crack to prevent it from spreading any further and sealing it. Less than a year after the repair, the crack has spread to the end of the counter and all the way through. We called to complain and they sent their repair guy. The repair guy said that his repair is as good as it gets. The company is not standing behind their warranty. They are trying to find loopholes to get out of honoring their "lifetime" warranty. In addition to this crack, we have found numerous chips in the counter in an area that never sees appliances. The counter looks awful and it isn't even two years old. We want Cambria to stand behind their warranty and their product. It is ridiculous that I am afraid to use appliances on our kitchen countertops.

If I ran Cambria's warranty department, we would have never touched a repair of this nature that we ruled customer abuse. The second you touch it, you own it. I'd sure like to see some scientific evidence that the drill-each-end-to-stop-cracks trick works. The movement and particulates in Annicca may lend itself to such a repair.

Chipping is much more the fault of the person who selected the edge profile than that of product selection.

Put a straightedge, preferably a 4' level, over the cracked area please. Are there any dips or humps? How far is the top out of level? If the top was installed improperly, it could get torqued.. That would indicate fabricator/installer error, not customer abuse.

People forget that estone is 35% resin. When resin gets hot, it expands. When the surrounding resin isn't hot and expanding too, something's gotta give and that's the crack. Was the finish affected? If it's different, that's heat and heat is customer abuse.

Get an Annicca remnant, put the allegedly offending appliance on it, turn it on high for 20 minutes, then measure the temperature of the remnant. Unscientifically, if you can't plant your palm on it, it's too hot. Let Cambria try. If they can crack it with your appliance, they owe you nothing. If they can't, they do. (I had a customer give me a large candle for testing that he said damaged his DuPont Zodiaq. Impossible. His teenagers blew up a battery charger and etched the top.)

As an independent contractor, I've done warranty claims for major solid surface manufacturers. From my experience, it's fabricator/installer error 45%, customer abuse 45%, and manufacturer defect 10% of the time. The shop where I worked years ago installed a Corian top with bubbles once and had to replace it. So rare an event I still remember it.

If the Cambria is defective, it should be replaced, but let's not blame Cambria for something they didn't do either. My money's on customer abuse. Again.

There is no defect in the finish. The crack didn't start at the edge. It started in the middle of the slab and eventually worked its way to the edge.

When the crack occurred, I removed the appliance. My husband and I were able to touch the countertop with our barehands. The counter was warm, not hot. And not even warm enough to melt a bread bag. That indicates that it wasn't hot enough to have cracked.

When the counter was installed, we were instructed to not use any appliances that didn't have air circulation under the appliance. The appliance being used had legs that were over 3" in height which left a lot of space between the appliance and the counter.

If you read my statement, I said that the drill trick didn't work. The crack is now 12 inches long. The chipping did not occur at the edge of the counter either. The chipping has occurred on the flat surface on an area of the counter that is rarely used. And, when it is used, it has a bread bag on it or a piece of fruit. How does a bread bag or a piece of fruit chip a counter?

We do not have children in our house, so I can assure you none of them were exploding batteries on our countertop surface. This countertop cracked due to the fault of Cambria, NOT USER ABUSE. You sound like a contractor that would be doing work for a countertop company, quick to blame the user and deflect blame from the manufacturer of the product. I would expect nothing less since they are paying your salary!

Marks Laura:

I assure you I have no connection to or receive any compensation from Cambria. In fact, I've documented substandard installations of their products here (not directly their fault) and they even threw me out of their trade show booth several years ago. lol.

Your additional information is useful. I can't imagine getting engineered stone hot enough to crack without damaging the finish. That's why I asked and that's why you should ask Cambria the same thing.

Were I you, I'd Google "internal stress in engineered stone". Estone has internal stress "baked in" so to speak during manufacturing. Sometimes the stuff blows up on the saw while being fabricated when the stress is relieved. Perhaps your slab had internal stress that relieved itself spontaneously.

If the cracked piece has to be replaced anyway, I'd send a chunk to a forensic testing lab to see if the slab met the ASTM standards. I've used these guys and they're quite good. If you have proof the slab didn't meet ASTM, it's a slam-dunk win.

Chipping on the flat is very unusual; I've never heard of it and I've been in the estone business since its inception.

I've got no dog in this fight; I'm only hoping to provide useful information that can be used by either side in a fair resolution. Feel free to PM me please. Good luck.

Too bad estone cracks can't be as easily and inconspicuously repaired as Corian. I'm betting fabricator error on this one, but I didn't check it out since the homeowners were paying anyway. My repairs apparently stay fixed; I've gotten one callback in over 25 years.

@Joseph Corlett, LLC What does this mean? "Chipping is much more the fault of the person who selected the edge profile than that of product selection." Are you saying the design of the edge of the counter can make it chip easier? I'm getting Cambria counter tops. I'd like to minimize any issues. If a specific edge is more sturdy than another I'd like to know that. I like we have a 1/4 round edge chosen right now.

I would think twice about Cambria. Their own regional manager told us that he wouldn't recommend quartz in a kitchen that is used. I only wish he would've told us that before we purchased. Also, our chipping is not occurring on an edge. It is occurring on the flat surface of the quartz. You should seriously consider granite. It is more durable for kitchen use.

"Are you saying the design of the edge of the counter can make it chip easier?"

Absolutely. You can follow the advice of your designer or the advice of the guy who gets the calls to fix chips. More round, less chipping.

A 1/4" radius edge should be fine, but that's the minimum I'd have on any working countertop, particularly at the sink.

laurajmarks:

Fortunately deck chips are fairly easy to repair inconspicuously. Overfill with super glue, scrape to flush with a razor blade, and polish a bit.

What edge would you recommend? Thanks so much for your input.

Melty:

A full bullnose is the least likely to chip, but whatever floats yer boat. Anything but that damn pencil edge all the cool kids are so enamored with these days.

This is our Cambria Queen Anne waterfall peninsula and backsplash that we have had for over 2 years now, along with the countertops. We chose Cambria after a long and careful research and cannot be happier with the looks, quality of material, and the customer support we received from the Cambria people.

Cambrıa become worst over the years ım a fabrıcator for cambrıa brend but theu never stand behand theır slabs ıfnthere ıs a defects they are readynro blame fabrıcator and try ti charge more for bew slabs think about it if they are not supporting fabricators they not goingbto cover end users i just pay them over $6000 for 2 slabs and ine has crack line defect we discover after cuttingbthe stone you can tell its defect and they blaming my company i been saling cambria last 10 years this is how i get treated i cant emagin what the end user goes teue with this company feel like bigger they get wuality gies down im very sad to say this but we are stop saleing cambria any more with my 2 showrooms we cant take the lost every time they have defact slabs i onlybtelling my experience here notting more then that

safe your money with better company then cambria i guees this is what happens when milk farmers become wuartz campany they dont care about their small business that who help yhem become bigger !

westhampton stone works .

6318493605

We just built a 5500 sq ft home with two kitchens, laundry and 6 bathrooms. There isn’t any Cambria quartz in our new home! I hope Cambria goes bankrupt for the way they treat their dealers and consumers. The dealer we used does not sell Cambria because of their refusal to stand behind their product. I hope the big wig from Cambria that called us reads this. We swore to you that we would never own Cambria again and we meant it! We have over $40,000 worth of granite and quartz in our new home. Your loss! We are sure to tell EVERYONE of our horrible experience with Cambria.

Frank:

You said you would tell everyone about your horrible Cambria experience, then didn't.

I am confused. Cambria says not to use appliances, but I see it installed as a range backsplash.

Kathy:

Never believe pictures in brochures. The photographers never coordinate with the appliance manufacturer's installation instructions, but you must.

I do not quite understand what appliances you mean, but we have had Cambria for over three years on countertops, island and gas range backsplash with no issues. We are going to install it in the bathroom next, on countertop and the walls. We love it!

BEWAREOF CAMBRIA. We spent $9000 on countertops and were in love with them. We spent the extra money because of the warranty and of the it being billed as best in class. After the install, a crack began at the edge of one of the sides. I called the installer and they stated that Cambria would warranty the work. Talking to Cambria is like talking to a parrot. They say the same thing over and over and over with nothing new to add to the conversation. It usually goes something like "The product had no defects when it left the plant. Our repair technician determined that it was not a manufacturing fault. We will do a courtesy repair for you." I asked how this could not be a defect as it was just installed (we had it installed for 3 weeks) Reply was repeated. I asked how we could have "damaged" it. Reply was repeated. I asked it if was due to a cut as it is an end piece and it could have been dropped. Reply was repeated. They called to ask how our experience was with the repair. I stated that I was less than happy and stated that I can now feel the crack and it is darker than it was originally. Reply was repeated.

The countertops were beautiful. If they stood behind their products I would be preaching from the mountain tops about it. I really regret spending this money on them. I should have have just gone with Formica tops.

HU: Pictures please. You may have a crack due to fabricator/installer error meaning this isn't Cambria's fault.

Is that a dishwasher below the top please? If so, is there a mechanical fastener through the dishwasher into the top at the crack? If so, this is fabricator/install error, as Cambria prohibits the installation of mechanical fasteners.

I'm not saying you did it, but that crack is consistent with heat damage. I had a lady who ironed on her estone and cracked it just like that.

J-,

Thanks for the response!

What you are seeing next to the countertop is a stove. Are you suggesting that the crack is caused by being next to the stove?

The only warnings/cautions I was given was to not put any hot pans onto the countertop.

I would assume that a countertop would have been designed to be next to a stove and be able to be neat a heat source. Do people not install this counter top next to a stove?

I do have dishwasher on the other side of the sink. It appears that there are metal brackets that are epoxied to the underside of the countertop and screws are screwed into those brackets. That appears to be ok.

Thanks again for your insight!!!!

That is heat damage. Someone used a pan that was to large for the eye, which directs the heat downward on the counter. That is not a manufacturer's defect, or a defect in installation. That is adefect in customer use. Heat damage is never covered by anyone's warranty. And heat damage is always customer abuse.

A top doesn't crack for no reason after it's been installed for 3 weeks. The material is not faulty.

Five years after the original post here, it is still Beware of Cambria! Cambria does not stand behind their product or their warranty, so all I can do at this point is warn others.

I spent $15k to replace all my kitchen marble with Cambria’s Matte Inverness quartz, which is white with black veining, mainly because I wanted it as a gorgeous backsplash for counters and range—as shown on the Cambria website. Within a month of infrequent oven use, the area behind the range started yellowing. I constantly washed it, but within a year it was permanently yellowed. When I asked for it to be cleaned or replaced under their much-touted lifetime warranty, they said it was not their fault but the fault of the installer for installing it behind a range.

The rep said Cambria has “a love-hate relationship with heat” and cannot in fact be used behind a range or stove. When I later pointed out how many many times the quartz is shown installed exactly like this on their website, and how the site explicitly pushes it as the perfect statement for your kitchen walls behind a range, they never answered another email or call from me.

Turns out they have a lot of Better Business Bureau complaints. And similar complaints on review sites prove they are well aware of the problems with Cambria and heat but continue to sell it for use behind stoves.

Taylor:

Your installation does not meet the appliance manufacturer's installation requirements. This is often local code and supercedes any Cambria sales literature.

I'm all for holding Cambria accountable, but they can't be held accountable when their product is installed improperly.

After looking at the pic again...it's hard to tell. Is that a free standing range? Maybe it was installed too low and the burners and overhanging pans are too close to the countertop material. Can we see another photo farther back?

We are doing a kitchen renovation soon and I am researching Cambria. I'm also considering quartzite. If not Cambria for quartz, can anyone recommend another brand (Silestone?). Thanks.

I am researching countertops for an upcoming kitchen renovation. I am considering quartz and quartzite. If not Cambria for quartz, is there another brand that is recommended? (I see that Consumer Reports rates quartz pretty high but I don't think they give a brand name). Thanks.

jaimed1:

Engineered stone is all essentially the same stuff; the brand is nearly irrelevant. It's not all that complicated to make; the stuff from China and Vietnam is fine.

I am glad i stuck with laminate got pencil edge not some expensive stone. Seems like its a pain glad i can't afford it 😄

Interesting side note. Manufactured stone (Caesarstone, etc) has now been banned in Australia because of the health risks it presents to the stone cutters (silicosis from the dust released in cutting). So, if I want to modify my kitchen in a way that would require trimming the quartz, I'd have trouble getting a permit. .

jmm1837:

A responsible fabricator with the proper equipment can modify your engineered stone safely and virtually dust free on site. No permits required.

Joseph - sorry, but you're wrong. A lot of young men now have a terminal illness because their bosses were not in fact "responsible." So now, you absolutely do need a permit to modify existing stone in Australia, and no new stone is being installed.

https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/esban/faq

I have many issues like urs they say are heat related and they wont cover i wish i had spent less and got granite knowing it doesnt crack chip or fade like expensive cambria. big mistake expensive lesson learned…

How long have you had your Cambria, and can chips be repaired?

Chips in Cambria can be repaired usually inconspicuously. I filled two faucet holes once. Depends upon the color, movement, and particulates, if any and of course the skill of the technician.

Tim:

All engineered stone manufacturers and trade associations of the natural stone industry require the use of trivets, thereby making them essentially equal in the heat resistance department. Obviously natural stone is a bit more forgiving, however, chip resistance is overwhelmingly determined by edge profile selection, not material.

What's the best edge profile for chip resistance?

jaimed1:

The more rounded the edge, the less likely the chipping.

HELP -- is there a reputable, ethical, quartz, co., with good selection of hues, and chip-free on straight-lined, block, edges -- modern? I'm not having any rounded edge/corners. Thanks!

Unobtanium. You won’t be having ANY countertop of any type or brand. You will have to make do with air. All counters will chip on the edge. Even wood. Even Corian. No counter can have a straight 90 edge, or a straight 90 corner. None. All require radiused corners, and eased edges. And the sharper those corners and edges, the more you are setting yourself up for unwarrantied problems.

Get over your physically impossible ”musts”.

I had granite over 30 yrs. and not one chip on the mitered edges. One chip on granite trim above dishwasher but not the edge. Incredible stone but like the minimalist aesthetics of quartz. I'll use granite again to avoid rounded corners - whatever it takes and NO -- won't get over physically impossible preferences -- get over your own issues.

"HELP -- is there a reputable, ethical, quartz, co., with good selection of hues, and chip-free on straight-lined, block, edges -- modern? I'm not having any rounded edge/corners. Thanks!"

abstract101:

I would like my minivan to get 600 miles per gallon, however, I will not base my next minivan purchase on a criteria that does not exist.

You may have stone or estone 90* edges if you can find a fabricator stupid enough to install them for you, however, you are not exempt from the inevitable chipping that particular edge fosters.

This from the guy who made a very nice living fixing chips in countertops before I retired.

Granite cannot do what you want either. No counter material can. And you are quite mistaken about your old granite install as well. Fabrication standards for the stone industry are for the stone industry, period.

Appreciate all the info. I really like the granite -- seems to hold up good, however, love the look of the quartz. Sounds like all quartz is same. My quartz samples don't seem to match up to the actual slabs and not thrilled about that.