That’s a beautiful stone. I’ve had many natural stone finishes. My experience is that is normal and well done. The only way to avoid the seam is to cut the whole length from one slab - one piece. You may not have had enough material. I know you see it…I have a place in my kitchen that I see. For what it’s worth I don’t think anyone else will notice. Again, beautiful stone. Enjoy your new kitchen

I would be tempted to put a crock or 2 of utensils there and call it a day - I would not try to replace the stone, they did a nice job matching the patterns - if you can’t live with it then I would do a stainless panel behind the range instead of the stone

Even if that could have been cut from one piece, it would still require a seam there for logistic's sake. Or, to be installed before the upper cabinets.

The big issue is that the wall behind the stone is not level and plumb. It was not prepped to be flat. That missing critical prep is what has caused lippage at the seam. That issue is laid at the door of the GC for the job. He had to know that with a full height splash, the wall must be as flat as industry standards for a floor. Or flatter, if possible. That can often mean reframing the wall, or sistering studs. What type of work was undertaken to ensure that happened?

Your stone fabricator is good. He is not a magician! Stone can not bend to cover a wall like wallpaper can.

Thanks... don't believe any prep work was done by the installer ?

It was not the installer's job to fix the wall he only installs the contractor doing the work in the kitchen needed to be aware of the plan for the backsplash and fix the wall to work.

Addressing the flatness of the wall is the job of the GC, as previously stated. That is out of any stone fabricator's realm of responsibility. Where is your GC on this work being done? He needs to step up. But, at this point, there is nothing that can be done other than a discount, or a full redo of it all, from the studs out.

Floored You- Thanks for your input. Since this is a small reno, we worked with a countertop company who gave us the contractor to also take a counter down to one level. They worked together on the project but not sure what happened or who should have been checking to see if the wall was level prior to install. THE REST OF THE WORK LOOKS BEAUTIFUL and would prefer to not do a full redo. Frustrated and disappointed ...just wanted it done and finished but for the $20,000 + we paid, expected to not have this issue in a focal area of the kitchen. Any suggestions on how to smooth out the seam to make it blend better ? Again, thanks for all your time and help!

Your fabricator needs better customer selection skills.

"That issue is laid at the door of the GC for the job. He had to know that with a full height splash, the wall must be as flat as industry standards for a floor. Or flatter, if possible. That can often mean reframing the wall, or sistering studs."

Splash like this would be put on plane with shims stuck to the wall with a hot melt gun. No reframing, no sistering, and certainly not the GC's responsibility. It was the fabricator's responsibility for that as well as accurately assessing the sophistication and fussiness level of his customer which he apparently failed to do.