IMO then why are you asking us you get what you get fromHD they probably for starters are not getting the same size slabs . Maybe your granite slab was oversized compared to HD quartz and forget saving the backsplash even if you can find the same tile it will not be the same dye lot. Did you actually see the slabs at HD I doubt it.

If I'm guessing your cabinet sizes correctly, you'd need a 9' stretch, a 10.5' stretch, and a 4.5' stretch to do diagonal seams across the corners. Jumbo Silestone slabs are 63"x128" (5'3"x10'8"). While in theory that means they're long enough to cut two pieces out of one slab and the third out of another slab, you'd run into vein mating issues unless both diagonal cuts end up in an area of no veining; you'd also have the veining change directions around the U. You can solve the veining issue by cutting out the 10.5' piece the length of the slab, and two ends along the width of the slab, but you run out of width for the stove run and need to seam in another piece (from a separate slab; the chunk in the middle of the slab has the veining in the wrong direction so ends up a remnant). If the 9' run goes along the length of a slab, then to have the best veining match, you'd want to cut the sink run along the widths, which results in a seam in front of the sink, and then the other L coming off another slab. It might be possible to avoid the corner seams on some Ls, so I don't think three seams is irrational for your shape of kitchen when dealing with directional veining; you might be able to have fewer, but it probably wouldn't remove the one you're trying to avoid.

You don’t do diagonal seams in stone. Most standard slabs are 5x9, and every kitchen but the tiny condo ones needs a minimum of 2 slabs. When you have directional veining, and a U shape, you need a third slab, or to be OK with crosswise veining in the center of the U. Home Depot doesn’t care about pattern match, or how the veins run. They cut for yield, not match. And you don’t get a choice in the matter. You get what you get.

I just want to comment on the $200 ( or 500 :0 ) fee to demo that granite. ridiculous.

you and hub get a hammer and do it yourself. takes 10 mins. (protect the floor w/heavy canvas, as well as your backsplash tile and appliances. wear goggles and gloves. Just carefully smash it and throwit in the trash can. (bring in some of the heavier cans) it may take you 5 barrels because it will get heavy.

I demoed my own granite and it wasn't a big deal.

as for that granite, it's rather common. if you want around a stone yard, or look at some remnants, you'll prob fine a piece that will match.

this is the granite, yes? I believe the common name is Giallo Ornamental

take a few of the broken pieces and go to a few diff slab/stone yards. or try a fabricators shop and see if they have any remnants. stand up to them if they try and flimflam you. Ridiculous what some of these sellers do to customers.

if you can imagine putting a cut out of your countertop measurements on top of the slab, you'll get an idea of how they should fabricate it. Imagine this right side is longer like yours. depending on the size of the slab, they may be able to use the middle portion below that L cut, for the right countertop. they could prob do one seam if they're really good. two at the most. (if one slab is enough)

hopefully your seams look like this

"I really had enough of fabricators and slab yards at this point."

Home Depot uses both a fabricator and a slab yard. They farm all of the work out.

Sashadog:

The customers in your second picture were very happy with the seam match.

Like Millworkman says, they farm it all out and you have no say how any pattern or even if the granite will look like the sample when you go to a big box store. And you have no say if there is any patterns how it will lay on your counters.

I tried a few fabricators. Frankly they seem shady as heck. Home Depot's price is 2000 under the 4 fabricators price. One quoted 2600 for fabrication for this small kitchen. It was at that point I went to the big box stores.

Don't be penny wise and pound foolish as my Mom used to say. Meaning the cheapest price is cheap for a reason.

I don't have extra tiles but I think it will be easy to locate a few. Nothing unique about them.

There is no guarantee they will match because dye lots are not always the same. Even whites can be off.

If you really only need to do the left arm of the U, you might consider using butcher block. The colour would go with your granite and the finish would be different enough to look intentional. And it would be miles less trouble and expense.

The HD fabricator that all of Maine and significant portions of New Hampshire and Vermont uses will do a high definition digital image of the layout for the customer to approve. You should ask for it. I would ask why they feel a need to use 3 seams and ask to talk to a supervisor if the answer doesn’t make sense. The HD store you are working should have a Customer Order Specialist who can also be a liaison and advocate for you with the installer. Also, the Specialty Assistant Manager should be able to help you. The kitchen designer(s) may also be able to assist you, particularly if they helped you place the order.

You wrote: "I would be open to keeping my granite but a piece is missing."

Do you still have the piece of granite that the plumber broke off? Maybe just see if you can hire someone to attach it. Even if the plumber won't take responsibility for it. It seems like a lot of work and expense to replace all the countertop to just take care of this one problem. Your granite is lovely, and so is your backsplash. And as Jennifer K suggests, maybe use a different material for the left arm of the U, such as butcher's block. This could be a very fun feature.

Save yourself some money and headache, plus working what you have whenever possible is better for the earth (something I really believe we need to keep in mind).

I like your granite and your backsplash. In fact, I really like your space as it is. Any chance you could just have the counter it repaired? Can you show us an image of the damage?

I second eam44. However, I would also say you haven’t found the right fabricator - keeping an existing splash is so much more complicated with the install and you will need an experienced fabricator to get it right. The extra seams may be due to trying to manage smaller pieces based on keeping your splash. I don’t know - but your experienced local pro will know and yes it will cost more than HD. But if you end up having to replace your splash where have you saved any money? Circling back - repairing the granite might be doable and should be explored. Good luck!

I have ordered quartz from HD too and have had a similar issue with local fabricators as this poster. I think I went to 4 local fabricators and did my research. I have a large U-shaped section, and the HD kitchen designer did factor in the oversized slabs in to the design.

We aren’t at the template phase yet, but I am researching local handymen to remove and haul away my old counter and backsplash. My local HD does not disconnect your plumbing or gas cooktops (apparently), so need to find a trade to do this ahead of the counters. I found someone to do the sink, counter, faucet, cooktop, and downdraft (vent) for $400. This included taking the debris away. I thought that seemed reasonable since it would take a few hours, since it is two rooms, including a butler’s pantry. He is supposed to come this week when he finishes my neighbors bathroom (fingers crossed).

The first thing you can do now is locate the tiles you'll need to match your backsplash. Don't 'leave' that for after you've spent a lot of money. Get samples. Once you know you can match you're OK. You don't have to buy all of them.

"HD subcontracts out to fabricators who have no stake in the game, since their name isn’t attached to the work, and also don’t appear to be able to get business on their own and have to go to HD to get work, and why is that."

HD offers a large volume of steady work to their fabricators and usually in chunks of 20 stores each. These fabricators are making $10,000.00-a-month payments on $300,000.00 CNC machines, so they have plenty of stake in the game. Losing a HD contract could be catastrophic economically. These fabricators have no problem getting their own work.

I agree! I just called HD and found out the name of my fabricator. It is one of the high end ones in town! I had a bid from them originally for my kitchen that was 2x the HD price when I walked in off the street. I know I am not a contractor or a designer, but obviously there is a benefit for them dealing with an in-store designer that does all the color selection and pre-measurements. They just follow with the on-site final measure and install. I am actually relieved they are going to be handling this job and glad I selected quartz, instead of the less expensive granite.

I was told by my fabricators that the thin portions of the sink cutout and the stove top cutouts are prone to breakage in transport. I had seams in the middle of the under-mount sink and they didn't show until you got down at eye level about a foot in front of it.

Amy, @Joseph Corlett, LLC is professional in this field. I'd follow his advice on this.

"I was told by my fabricators that the thin portions of the sink cutout and the stove top cutouts are prone to breakage in transport."

True but irrelevant.

I did go to HD to clarify why I would need three seams and it appear most of you guys are right.....they do not do diagonal cuts because of wastage. I could pay more I was told. So I am back to square one. I did find some cream colored taj mahal at a really good price at a slab yard. I really just hate dealing with the shady fabricators. i really do!!!!!!! Do you think Taj would go with my colors?

The granite slab that was broken was trashed a month ago. It really was beyond repair.

Then put in some laminate. You can grab it off the shelf at the box store, cut it to size yourself, and install yourself. No need to deal with “shady” stone professionals whom you repeatedly malign because of your refusal to understand the process. Your approach to the situation is combative, which is what is creating your issues. You are setting yourself up for unhappiness no matter the outcome, because you just are are not happy about having to do the project.

So, skip stone all together. Put in some sweat equity yourself. Paint some plywood or install some laminate. Tile it. Create a butcher block. Yourself.

I am a combative person that's true. That's my nature. I will readily call out anyone that is giving me false information or trying to pass off an inferior product. I found amazing workers to paint my house, build cabinets and repair my stucco and resurface my hardwoods and many other remodel jobs for the last few months. But I had to wade through the sludge to find them. Replacing the counters has been the tip of the iceberg. Regarding laminate. No thanks. My kitchen is very high end. I know the photos look like a hot mess but the house is expensive. Only quartzite or quartz.

Well if your house is that high end, why are you penny pinching on the counters?

Finding good work at a reasonable price is not penny pinching its common sense.

There’s a difference in being an reasonable educated consumer and being an unreasonable uneducated consumer, and then being combative because of that lack of knowledge. The latter usually get the pita tax. Or sent on their way. Life’s too short.

Cost is not value. Knowledge and skill is factored into the cost, but those ingredients are incredibly valuable, and will never exist when someone pursues cost only. The search for the low bid will be rewarded with the low bid. And all of the “help disaster” issues that come with it. Like your cabinets with all those fit and finish issues. Like your low bid plumber who ruined your Group A granite counter and now won’t return your calls or pay for his error. Low cost, low value.

Search for skill and knowledge first. You need more education about the industry and the process if you’re going to try to micromanage something that you don’t have enough knowledge to be either selecting or directing.

Start here.

https://www.naturalstoneinstitute.org/default/assets/File/consumers/homeownersconsumer_countertop.pdf

My kitchen is very high end. Sorry doesn't look that high end to me !

The reason I can afford a high end house is because I am very smart with money. People that do not have money never understand this and they mistake it for cheapness. When we fly to Europe every year and pay only around 600 each for our ticket it is because we have fare alert tracking apps and search aggressively for the lowest price while the person in the seat next to us paid double. if I paid 1500 instead of 600 does it cheapen y seat? I also have a 10 year old Toyota.

**snort** Discernment.

And how much money did you “save” when your bargain plumber ruined your paid only pennies for Group A granite?

I have a 50 year old and 30 year old Chevy. And a 40 year old Mercedes. What do I win?

Ouch folks, I hear a Taylor Swift song in my head...turning off notifications from this dilemma.

Peace Out!

"...all the shady fabricators."

You need to stop talking to shady fabricators. Do you need advice about how to find an excellent fabricator?

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5968330/2-quartz-questions#25850158

High end is a subjective term. I dont know the OP, but I know this forum skew toward high income people. For somebody who can afford a $200,000 kitchen, "your" $150,000 kitchen will not seem as high end. For an area where all the countertop are laminate, a granite kitchen will be high-end, even sold at Home Depot.

This is not a comment on the OP -- once again, I do not know her --.

Taj mahal is not group A. Silestone and cambria are not cheap materials. Whats wrong with you? Because I pay 4200 for material and install and someone else pays 6500 for the same thing does not mean the person who paid less is getting less quality it means they shopped around.

JuneKnow you sound like a troll. Quit trying to stir the pot.

Where do you live? I'm in San Diego area. I know about 10 slab yards with excellent reputations. Some operate a little differently than others. One specializes in bookending, and won't sell a single slab out of a group for that reason. One I know specializes in pre-made counter slabs. In fact, if you really want to save some money, that's what I'd look at). The shop I know has hundreds of unique premades. And, the shops differ in other ways. Healthy competition. We have had 2 stone installs (not really large projects) and I got unique slabs, excellent pricing, and none of the "be there between 12 and 4:00" rigmarole of HomeDepot. I agree with whoever upthread said that HD uses contractors who can't get enough work any way else (especially in our market here).

In this day and age of Yelp, Next-door, Facebook, and other neighbor networks, I'm not sure how an expert shopper like you ended up at Home Depot. And if only all those suckers who got kitchens like these started at Home Depot, they'd be as smart as you are.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5590582/cpartist-s-kitchen-finished#n=117

I have a fantastic plumber who cares for my house, comes whenever there's an emergency, and has even no-charged me once when my "emergency" was solved right when he arrived. He would never bash a corner off my countertop and run away. I don't get how you saved money with that, not to mention who are you going to call when you have a middle of the night plumbing emergency?

You are going to end up with 3 seams, and a counter that may (or may very well NOT) look like the sample in the store. Good luck.

If you can not see your slabs and approve templating through HD then I think you are being penny wise and pound foolish.

Ok, I’m lost again. If HD confirmed that you would need to pay extra for aligned seams, which puts their pricing in line with the others,the price is still in budget and you felt comfortable dealing with them, why not go forward with them?

When I was in college, I was an interior design major...for 4 days. I realized I'd have to deal with people like the OP and switched to my other love, fabric and wallpaper design. I haven't regretted the decision.

Amy,

Take a deep breath. You ordered at HD which for some here is a no-no.

In fact, HD fabricators are just fabricators who happens to work with HD and independently. Some are good, some are not, but given the complaints here concerning installation, so are fabricators who do not work with HD.

My concern is your inability to see the slabs. My good friend bought from HD 15 years ago and ended up with a huge spot in her island that looked like a bleach spot. Taj Mahal can vary so I’d want to choose my own slabs and see the template before installation as to have no surprises like my friend did. I highly suspect slabs passed over for irregularities often end up as Big Box Store slabs.

The HD fabricator the Northeast does have the possibility of both slab selection and layout approval. Their slabs are from MSI in Boston. You would be looking at HD colors only. To do both was an additional charge because of how much it could slow things down in the shop.

If I were in your position, I would find a reputable supplier of your product. They would either fabricate or have a fabricator. My reasoning for this is that I had Home Depot bid my kitchen remodel 5 years ago. I had them bid everything, but only ended up letting them do the demo and installation of cabinets. When they measured for cabinets, they assumed I would be replacing fairly new floor covering hence ordering a 24" corner sink cabinet. Fortunately, I caught that and told them I wanted the originally sized 36" base. It created a delay of a couple of weeks.

To shorten my long story, I saved about $2,000 finding my own countertop and backsplash supplier who used a reputable fabricator. Plus, I served as my own GC to schedule electrician, plumber, appliance installation much to the chagrin of HD. They claimed I would mess up their installation timeframe. Well, I got it taken care of and saved approximately another $4,000 over HD's bid. To me, $6,000 is a lot of money!

Last, but not least, I was not impressed with the cabinet installation.

HD prices are misleading. Once you have spent hours consulting whether for kitchen or carpet or whatever, the price adding installation is considerably higher than necessary.

I am now waiting for the Lowes estimate. I just had the guys measure for allen roth. Silestone is still is still under consideration but the only color I really like was the calcutta gold and I was told it may be hard to match the pattern at the seams. I also have 2 slabs on hold of taj mahal. The fabricator I found initially told me they could install by next Friday but when I asked them to put it in writing they called back to say it might not be until the first week in October. The good thing about Lowes is they said they would do to seams similar to what I have but they would be straight not diagonal like my granite. The taj would be 2 cm with a laminated ogee edge. The allen roth would be a 3 cm with a straight edge. In both cases the backsplash would be untouched. Lowes told me keeping my sink would be no problem. I remember someone telling me a few weeks back that 2 cm quartzite with a laminated thicker edge would be brittle and subject to chipping. I have no idea if that is true.

I think the point most are trying to make, that you don't want to hear, is that "finding a deal" by purchasing by the square foot through home depot you are going to get multiple seams, probably that don't match up well. Home Depot is not going to cut 3 different slabs for you to get the perfect set up and only charge by the portions you use. They are going to make all their cuts off as little slabs as possible for their own bottom line. If you want the "high end" look with minimal seams and continuous flow pattern you have to cough up the money and pay for it. That is what we mean by penny pinching - which there is nothing wrong with, but you can't have it both ways.

Amy, Lowes isn't cheap. Remember, you are using them (and home depot) as the middle man. you will always pay more. some things like the granite or quartz, their prices are very good because they deal in quantity. but things like the cabinets/install, electrical, plumbing,,are expensive because they have to hire subs to do all that. you're paying them to set it up for you. they're an expensive contractor!

have you tried consulting a local kitchen cabinet place? one where they have actual carpenters that work for them? I used a company like that when I had my cabs painted, but they also refaced all my doors/drawers. I also utilized their carpenter. I did my own countertops, since I have a source at a slab/tile place. After you get your bid from Lowes, contact a local kitchen rehab company. check on yelp for the reviews. I found mine on there because all of their 70 reviews were 4-5 stars. They weren't cheap (but cheaper than lowes would have been) but they were very good.

Amy:

Chipping is primarily a byproduct of edge profile selection, not material or material thickness. The more round, the less chipping.