Can you post a picture of the entire island, so we can see where the other seams are? Most manufacturers carry jumbo slabs that are 126” x 63” -ish in dimension, so, depending on which brand your quartz is, there shouldn’t be any seam on your island. Our island will be 108” x 40” big and there will be no seam.
Did your fabricator not explain to you how he will cut each countertop? That should be part of the process, before they start cutting and you should be able to have a say whether or not you like what he proposes. Also, this is the first time I, seeing a fabricator cutting a sink cutout like that… looks very amateurish.
I would definitely get back to him and request him to redo the island. Also, the way he did the seam is not nice looking. The gap of the seam looks quite visible and big.

When I had my kitchen renovated a few years ago, I wanted seamless countertops, and this was specifically stated in my Silestone countertop contract, and in the countertop fabricators contract, per my kitchen designers recommendation. I received seamless countertops on both sides of my galley style kitchen. What was stated in your contract about countertop seams? Also, slightly rounded corners in a sinks edge countertop are usually used for stability.

@kculbers my contractor spoke to the fabricators. I didn’t get the opportunity for input. If there was a contract, I didn’t see it. Hopefully this helps my case and doesn’t hurt it?

I will take a better picture of the sink this weekend!

Post a layout for your kitchen, mark the seam locations. Did you buy full slabs or did they patch together a remnant. The double seamed sink is odd.

If there has to be a seam, then it should have been one through the center of the sink. This seems odd.

IMO you need to have input in every decision made for your home so probably much better contractor would have been the first step. What do you mean you did not see a contract. Did you choose the slabs ? Please take a pic from further back for sure so we see the whole issue.

This is the old use-remnants-pocket-cost-of-new-slab trick. I did it myself back in my fabrication days, but my customers loved it. At 118", there is no other explanation for the seams since engineered stone slabs give fabricators 120" minimum. Have them pull the sink forward next time too please. That fat front rail is unnecessary, disfunctonal, and ugly. Could be 2 3/8" if they strapped the sink. The adhesive color match is good, but the seams are fat too. And no 90* corners at sinks either please.

Thank you everyone for the input. This is the best picture I have for now until I can get back to the house later today. The red x’s mark the seams.

As far as a contract, our contractor asked us to pick a color, then the contractor shopped around for fabricators. Unfortunately we did not know that this was not the norm. We chose calacatta miraggio gold from MSI Surfaces but that and edge teatment was all the input we were asked to provide.

I wouldn't accept it. The seams are too wide. They should have been able to do the counter with no seams. I agree with Joseph. You probably got remnants and paid for a slab.

If your contractor hired the fabricators, you should be giving him/her hell. This is unacceptable. When I used a contractor for a huge renovation of a neglected rental, my contractor hired lots of other professionals. He was responsible for the outcome of everyone’s assigned task. When the plumbers nicked my antique tub, he made them give me money back (instead of making them redo the whole job with a new tub). When the granite split on the way to the kitchen, the granite guy had to replace it.
Start with your contractor. Being him to your house and tell him the seams are not acceptable and he has to make it right. There need not be any seams in your galley kitchen.

So MSI has a slab size of 63 x 120. Your sink run ( based on this floor) plan is 121" . That means you needed a seam - just one.

Actually - I may be lying - a lot of their stones are now larger ( at 127" ) . It also might depend on how easy it is to get it in the house.

UGH

You said 5K for that top? Is there a backsplash or pieces other than the plan above? Where I am , that would be about $3400.

Ugh again...

It was about the $$, it was saved by patching together remants but it came out less than professional looking.

Thank you everyone for the help. i did my math wrong, the counter runs slightly 120-121 inches like Debbie Washburn mentioned. Also the counter pieces were all that were included in the price, no backsplashes or anything.

We’re going to ask our contractor next week that this be redone.

120" is the minimum a manufacturer guarantees the fabricator will have to work with. Often times slabs have usable lengths of another inch or two, especially if the end isn't getting seamed.

Your contractor chose the cheapest fabricator, they were cheapest by using the least material.

@HALLETT Not only did they use the least material, MSI slabs were also one of the lowest quartz quotes I received, when getting quotes for my kitchen countertops. They were half the price compared to Cosentino Silestone, which we ended up choosing.

We will definitely talk to our gc but here are the photos:

Back corners:

Looking at it now I also wonder whether they switched the orientation of the slab after the second seam from the left.

I wonder if they did this to get those tight corners at the sink. I don't know if quartz can be cut with zero radius like that.

Not that it's okay. (But those sharp corners are pretty neat.)

My contractor spoke to the fabricators. I didn’t get the opportunity for input. If there was a contract, I didn’t see it.

I hope you were there, along with the contractor, when the fabricator came to do the template.

Ask to see the order. If nothing was specified, then, you probably do not have a case for complaint.

Sorry to say, but this is on you.

@judianna20 I can’t really argue except that as a homeowner with no reno experience we followed our gc’s lead. As far as I know the fabricator came once and cut on site. Even the MSI showroom has signs that all transactions need to go through our contractor. Not sure how laypeople would know that this is not the norm.

I had a 125" run on the sink side and even though I did not specify seamless in the contract, they made it all of one piece. I guess I got lucky.

@ Carol Demas Actually, the way yours was done is the way every fabricators should have done it, so I wouldn’t call it lucky. The homeowner should not be held responsible for such bad craftsmanship. Never seen a countertop being cut this way.

@OP, it was definitely not your fault. You shouldn’t have to know how things are being done by professionals. Often times, when hiring a GC, he subcontracts other trades and the homeowner doesn’t get to see the details of the agreement between the two parties. So, I’m your case, you need to sort this out with your GC.

Hold a 6' straightedge against the front edge please. Let's see if the seamed pieces are on plane to each other.

I have done a lot of renovations and new builds in my career. I always insist the home owner and GC be on site for certain decisions and installing counters is one. Along the same line, no hard surface is purchased until home owner/GC sign off on the slab. Irreversible install decisions must have homeowner input, just to avoid what is happening here.

That's absolutely the best way to do it, Judianna.

Unfortunately many people don't know this and are even actively discouraged from "getting in the way" by remodel pros. Some homeowners (the lucky ones hehe) only do one kitchen remodel in their lifetime and have to trust the people they hire.

Maybe the fabricator isn't skilled enough at cutting, transporting and/or installing the four long skinny sections needed to have one seam at the center of the sink?

I would not be happy with a seam at either side of the sink.

My last fabricator, who wasn't the best I have worked with, was able to do the 4 long skinny sections for a 48" sink, with just a seam through the middle. This was with Taj Mahal quartzite which is even harder to cut.

"Maybe the fabricator isn't skilled enough at cutting, transporting and/or installing the four long skinny sections needed to have one seam at the center of the sink?"

It's not a skill, it's a tool.

It’s not done right. You should not have two seams by the sink. I have one seam, away from the sink.. It is not nearly as noticeable. I think it was definitely a cost savings issue.

Ooh, this will be so good for me to know come next Monday…..template day for our Taj!! I’ll sure be here and ask all the questions I can think of, give my input….this same scenario has already been discussed. Our sink is apron front, so we’d only have 2 seams, if they do it this way, or there’ll be just one behind the sink, in the middle. We were told the fabricators need to look at the situation on site when template is being done, can’t decide beforehand. In the OP’s case they might have had to do it this way because they were running out of long pieces….? I know it all depends on sq, layout etc. Depending on where someone lives, there may not be all that many choices when it comes to fabricators…..the one we’re using (highly recommended, bit outfit in town) broke our Crema Cappuccino tops for our bathroom TWICE during install…..a long piece (94”+), which they couldn’t get placed on the cabinets at the same time each side, and it cracked. They redid it for us, no cost, but after it happened the second time, same exact way, we decided to go with a stronger granite, rather than the softer marble….no problem. I sure hope this won’t happen with our Taj because it was not easy to find the kind we wanted….all the newer ones are dark and gray, many with already filled fissures….no, thanks ! Anyway, I hope you get it redone, and I’ll be watching ours closely!

Our fabricators actually charges people to be present as they do the layout, which I thought was insane, but just letting them do it without our input seemed crazier. We were initially told they would only charge us if it took hours. Well, it took all of 45 minutes and they charged anyway, plus extra to finish the edges of some of the scraps we ended up with. All in all, money well spent -- I couldn't imagine not approving their seams and layouts.

Due to issues with our contractor (his subs did poor work) , when it came time to do my counter tops I took matters in to my own hands and took bids from several quartz/stone/tile companies/ fabricators. In large part, credit goes to Houzz and all the posters who made me hip to things like seams, where they should be, etc. The differences in the bids, ways my questions were answered and showrooms was tremendous. I was very fortunate to find an OUTSTANDING group that did an over-the-top marvelous job.

I'm telling you this because what happened to you is not right. It looks like the fabricator might have used a remanent to save money. You should have one seam that bi-secs the sink. Also, you should have been given a planning sheet that showed where the seam(s) would be. And, the seams you do have are way too noticeable (poor quality).I know there are different types of slabs and we purchased a jumbo slab for our island because we didn't want a seam there either. I hope you are able to get this fixed. I would not pay for it (you haven't already). They know it's not right and they are waiting to see what you say. I'm really sorry this happened to you. Good luck and keep us posted.

I disagree with Judianna - this is not all on the poster. Certainly, homeowners have a responsibility to learn as much as they can. But if you’ve never ever dealt with a contractor or done any remodel, it’s hard to know what to ask. I don’t like when blame is placed entirely on the poster. Many times it’s “we don’t know what we don’t know.” In this case, I think it’s a bad installation and should be redone at no cost to owner. Good luck A L !

"Any pro putting a seam on a sink edge is not a pro."

I've put plenty of seams at sinks and have been in the engineered stone business since its inception with manufacturer certifications. No callbacks or complaints.

I wonder if they cut it that way because they were unsure of handling the square corner sink? I may be reaching!

@coray it is important to be there for the template when questions arise. Make sure your sink is set, appliances in place, faucet on site. Then even more important is seeing your template laid onto your slabs. This will show you where the seams are and the direction of any veining.

I don't know how any fabricators move forward with out doing this. It would save so much headache and heart ache.

Good luck

Debbi Washburn: we absolutely will be here for all of it; sink is installed, faucet and accessories are here, as well. I’m not sure how they handle laying out the templates on slabs….I surely will ask them next week, though. Thanks for the tips.

That looks bad! Just echoing other commenters. :) This forum comes down hard on homeowners who posters like to argue are supposed to oversee every minutia decision and know everything they don't know. I sort of come down the middle - when homeowners ask for dumb stuff and get bad results, sure it's sort of on them. But if the homeowner is just asking for a standard finish and has a GC handling the whole thing, there is ZERO reason any of this is the homeowner's fault.

Another nuts idea - is it possible the fabricator used two tiny slivers of remnant from another job that were the four inches off the end of a run - so a remnant running perpendicular to how they were used here. Which is the shadiest of shady.

Sorry to veer from the topic, but your sink looks like a “workstation” style. Would you share details about your choice (brand, size, etc.) Thank you.

Quick update: I spoke to my contractor. He said that the way that the sink was fabricated is not unusual, and that his own sink looks like this. He also said that the initial slab was 119” and thus we needed a seam.

Regardless, it sounds like they will refabricate the counter. They are saying they found a new slab that is 123” and they will go ahead and redo the countertop with no seams.

Not really sure what was happening initially but also happy that this might be resolved.

@T Jarmuth - my sink is a Delta from build.com: https://www.build.com/delta-95b932-30s/s1815604?uid=4301491&cvo_campaign=tracking_number&utm_campaign=tracking_number&utm_medium=email&cvosrc=email.trm.tracking_number&source=trm_tracking_number_Build.com&utm_source=transactional

Thank you again everyone for your help!

That's great! Also, I find it ironic that your contractor is claiming this is normal but he's also going to get the countertop redone at no charge, and no one is putting up a fight. Those two things are typically mutually exclusive, so it sounds like they might be feeding you a load of cr** :) But at least you can smile about it and just say "uh huh" and wait for your new counters.

Glad to hear you are getting your issue resolved.

Don't forget to have them move the sink forward please. The front rail should be 3" or so. And no insert styl sink clips or the top is out of warranty per the manufacturer. Straps please.

Make sure the new slab matches the other counters. Best to avoid a potential problem there.