It isn’t bad at all. Only way to get better would be to upgrade to bookmatched slabs with more waste, and more $$$$ spent.

Can you take a picture from further out? The first few pictures looks unacceptable but in the last it does not look so bad.

I think it looks excellent, but agree we need to see if from farther back.

Unfortunately some contractors/fabbers just want to get in and out and they don't think such things need to be discussed ahead of time. It would have been nice if one of them (or your KD) would have gone over the details on seam placement with you.

Who designed the kitchen? Sometimes if someone has a long run of granite (and need a seam), I'll recommend a farmsink so the seam can go there instead of a long section of top.

At this point...it will be hard to get the contractor or fabber to replace this at their cost. Doesn't sound like they are detail oriented...so I doubt your contract has many details either.

But to be honest, The pics don't look bad to me....I've seen much worse.

Thanks for the replies. Here are some additional photos. We did buy 2 slabs from same lot, but did not think they would not even attempt to blend.

“we had no involvement in any of the templating process and did not approve any layout or template.”

Once that is the case, there isn’t much you can do about how they chose to lay out the granite pieces. But more importantly, what you have may actually be the best match achievable without buying another entire slab. There isn’t enough information here to feel bad for you nor to say that you got a bad counter installation.

The counter looks good to me from the small amount the photos show. No one should draw a conclusion from photos taken with your phone two inches above the counter. Take photos from farther back. You need a reality check that without a purchase of an additional bookmatched slab, it is unlikely your stone pieces will match better than what you have.

After seeing the second set of pics, I think it's good seam and not enough info to say otherwise on the installation. I remember at my last house (remodeled in 2000)...wow, 20 years ago. I was younger (37) and granite was a fairly new thing....even as a KD....I didn't really think to ask about seams. I got a seam much worse than yours. I was unhappy at first but I lived with it. I can tell you it will fade into the background once you get settled in and start using the kitchen. You are working with mother nature after all. There is no perfection. I'm sure you will eventually be very happy with the tops. They're beautiful.

I would of rather had it at an angle in the corner.

Ugh I would not be happy with that at all! It's not the pattern mismatch but the right slab looks lighter than the left. They should have seamed it in the corner where it would be less noticeable.

Caroline, that's exactly our argument --- the two different colors right in the middle of the countertop.It's also much more noticeable in person. So frustrating as our contractor did everything and they did not involve us in the templating process at all. We thought using a high end contractor would be beneficial......

I would most likely just go ahead and pay to have it redone with the seam in the corner, if I couldn't get a break from the contractor. Then just sell the left over slabs for whatever I could get. He should of asked, but they don't. We had them, not countertop, say one thing when we were talking and then it was not the same in the contract. We did not know how to read inbetween the lines on paper. They said they were sanding and completely redoing our cabinets, They were just slapping a coat of paint and not cleaning, sanding, or removing hardware.

Absolutely nothing wrong in my opinion with that seam.

The seam isn't bad.

You dont put seams in the corner without wasting a lot more stone. And having a bigger seam that is usually more obvious. With only 2 slabs purchased, you didn’have any stone to waste doing that. Not without a 3rd slab purchased.

I would of paid for more slabs if it was mine.

Doesn't get much better without lots more material and $.

They should of give the OP an option. Just another reason I detest contractors. It is impossible for a normal person, who does not deal with them all the time, to catch all the stuff they slide past you. Then, it is okay. Well if it was mine, it would NOT be okay. That seam would drive me crazy.

Just another reason I picked laminate. At least I didn't pay a fortune for stone.

This is a natural material with a random pattern. Yes it's a visible seam, but I don't think it's bad. People accept all sorts of variations with wood grain and tone (unless they do veneer marching) and call it beautiful. The whole invisible seam thing as if the entire countertop in any random kitchen has been carved out of a giant slab has really gotten out of hand. And most of the perfect vein matches on waterfall edges are likely photoshopped. I am not singling you out OP, it's a general comment.

None of you that seems to think this is okay have addressed this issue.

"we had no involvement in any of the templating process and did not approve any layout or template"

Input on or presence at the templating is not a given. Is the OP just making a statement of fact? Was the OP expecting this opportunity ahead of time, or not? I can't tell from that one sentence.

palimpsest - I mentioned it because our contractor did it all on their own and did not involve us in the template, give us an option, show us the layout, tell us how the seam would be, or let us know that it would be from 2 different pieces of our granite. Had they been forthcoming, we would have been more than willing to obtain another slab in order to avoid this!

Were you expecting to be contacted prior to templating and you were not? Or is this something you did not know was something people even did until after the fact?

There is no avoiding seams no matter how much material you buy. There are other tricks like apron front sinks that reduce seam visibility. Get Corian for inconspicuous seams. Geesh.

I don't find the seam to be objectionable, but it's not my house.

There were two clear failures here, in my opinion. The fabricator failed to 1.) educate the OP on their particular process for converting raw slabs to the finished, installed product, and 2.) failed to calibrate the OP's expectations with regard to seams.

There are many implied standards & practices expected by Houzzers that are not required to get licensed in each trade. As big box retailers carve out their portion of installs via subs it gets pretty cost competitive and standards may be minimized. Its the Wild West out there if you're not careful.

Natural Stone Institute: "Stone Slab Layout. When working with highly variegated materials, insist that you participate in the layout of the actual stone slabs. This is very important and highly recommended so that you can fully understand what can or cannot be done. Keep in mind that the pricing may change if you decide to have the stone cut in a certain way that causes unnecessary waste."

That is a recommendation to the consumer, not the fabricator. Like many custom builders and remodelers, we have our clients get involved so they understand what to expect and/or can make adjustments at that time.

I don't think it looks bad. It's a nice countertop. The granite is busy enough that the seam is not glaringly obvious.

@Sherry8aNorthAL - I brought it up in my comment above. But unfortunately the horse is out of the barn on that one. It is up to everyone in today's world to do research on all aspects of a renovation, not just the kitchen, but anything they are changing or installing in the home. In today's world, no one should assume that the contractor (or fabricator in this case) will proactively go through the process with the homeowner. This forum has hundreds, maybe thousands, of posts cautioning homeowners always to go to the template layout of a counter, and it is also advised elsewhere on the internet. I dislike putting the onus on the homeowner, but that is reality today.

I would have to have that redone. There is NO way I could live with it. That IS what I suggested above.

ETA: We got scr***d on our painting of walls and cabinets. They SAID what we wanted, but then the gobbledgook contract, did not match. I will never use a GC again.

The reason I am asking questions about the OPs knowledge of the process prior to the delivery of final product is because I don't know anybody who has done a kitchen who would know about being there for the templating of the stone all on their own. In fact I think I only know one couple who actually picked specific slabs rather than just the species. Partly it's because I don't know anyone else kitchen obsessed and partly because so many urban kitchens are small enough that seaming other than maybe at the sink is a rarity.

Interesting, it probably varies. I just think that these days everything can be and needs to be looked up. I recently bought a new phone, they're so expensive so I researched it for a couple hours. Or I just had a repair on my car, and I looked up everything about it before telling the dealership to go ahead (the price was competitive even though it was the dealership).

I did my first kitchen reno in 2003, and at that time I looked up on what was called Gardenweb (pre-Houzz), and saw posts even then telling me to go to the template layout. Maybe you were on yourself @palimpsest way back. There was also another forum I visited all about tile and stone, and a man named Maurizio Bertoli was the absolute expert and highly respected in the industry (I understand he has passed away) and advised going to the template layout. So I asked the fabricator (again, this was 2003) if I could do that and his response was a big grin and "yes, I wish all my clients would come to the layout". So this is not a new thing that would be obscure so that no one would know about it.

I reiterate that it is unfortunate that the onus has to be on the homeowner to be informed, but that is how it is about every kind of purchase these days.

Well we are people who frequent a design forum. I think more people than we realize rely on the professional/contractor to do everything correctly (whatever that is) because they are the "experts" ....if this were not the case, we would not have daily posts about bad seams, and terrible large format tile layouts where the homeowners say they had no idea that they were supposed to discuss actual tile layout or "tell the experts what to do".

There are literally thousands of details in a kitchen and probably a disclaimer to go with about all of them. lol I think good KDs and GCs do their best to do things right....but there will always be the "you didn't tell me......(fill in the blank)" from the homeowner. Having said that, going over a granite top with seam locations is a no brainer....whoever sold them the tops were responsible making sure the homeowners were present for the template (and SIGN off on it!!!) If not possible, then they should go over seam locations, over hang amounts and expectations of material.