Unavoidable without purchasing a second bookmatched slab (if it were even possible).

As your reading has taught you, this is a common issue with veined patterns. Your fabricator is not liable for this, or for the fact that you didn't ask to see a mockup of the seam placement beforehand.

Does it bother you enough to pay to have them redone? If not, just look for something to put there to distract from it... a cutting board, a crock of utensils, a coffee pot. It's not ideal, but neither is forking out thousands for new countertops, either.

I'm sorry you're disappointed. The countertop is beautiful, so hopefully you can come to terms with it.

I am a fabricator. The look would have been better if the small piece had been rotated 180 degrees; then at least the grain would flow. Additionally; I'd have to ask why a small extension like that is seamed. If the piece on the left is countertop depth then the slab would've certainly been tall enough to eliminate that seam entirely.

I think we would need to see the whole kitchen layout to make an assumption about the placement of that piece.

It’s a pretty good seam for a lower priced fabricator trying to stretch one slab to cover it all.

It's fine. Move on with your project.

I'd spend the money on redoing the floor.

The seam itself is so well done that this wouldn't bother me for long. It's a bit disappointing in the moment because it's new, but eventually will just read as a natural end to that vein.

Also remove the 4" back splash before doing the entire back splash.

So it will be removed I guess?

@Angel, it's nothing to be removed. It's a white wall under the old back splash. I assume the OP will cover it with a new back splash tile.

got it tx.

While I think the fabricator could have done a better job, I think once everything is in place the vein being cut off will be a lot less noticeable. The seam itself looks very good.

I would just put something flat, like a coaster that could be used to rest a spoon or spatula used in cooking, on the counter that wouldn't get in the way of the toaster oven in order to hide the break in the vein. I did that after my cat's vomit stained my parents' fireplace's marble hearth. There is a basket resting there now.

Thanks for posting the photo, Maria. After seeing the issue with the vein I opted to pay the extra &600 for a bigger slab to avoid mismatched pieces of the vein. I chose the Calicatta Gold quartz by Silestone (yours looks just like mine) bercause the veins mirror the tree branches outside my windows and one of them is a broken limb. For that reasson it really wouldn't bother me, but who knows what would happen when the pattern is laid out so I'll play it safe.

This is not acceptable. I especially mark up my countertop shop drawings after temple to approve or disapprove seam locations. Everything is signed off before fabrication begins so there are no surprises.

Manju:

What is unacceptable is not properly setting customer expectations and charging accordingly. It appears a jumbo slab may have eliminated that seam. If the customer is unwilling to pay for the larger slab, they get a good quality seam like the one pictured.

Let's not blame fabricators for the parameters set by materials and customers.

@Joseph Corlett, LLC

Manju here.

I am not blaming anyone. I'm pointing out an extra level of precaution/customer satisfaction/coordination that designers should address to avoid situations like this. I am a designer and I make it my responsibility to make sure this doesn't happen. If this happens on one of my jobs, it means that I haven't done my job right. With that said, I learned this valuable lesson once in my first few installations and never repeated it. I also know that fabricators are especially mindful of patterns with flowing veining and will let the designer know if there is a possibility of a mismatched pattern. If the relationship between the designer and fabricator is good, these things don't happen.

If every kitchen was like a patient on an operation table and I am the surgeon, I will make sure my patient doesn't die during surgery. So, these situations can be avoided with teamwork.

Teamwork can only avoid these situations when the team properly sets customer expectations.