I’m sorry this happened to you. Do you plan to also do a tile backsplash? If so, I’d skip the short stone splash and tile down to the counter. If you’re only doing the short stone backsplash, then I don’t think you should have to pay for any of a replacement, since they admitted that they broke it.

If you do a replacement, make sure to view the replacement stone in person to make sure it matches. If it’s from a different lot, the color or veining may be different than what you have on the counters.

Thank you for your response. Yes, we're doing a tile backsplash. In hindsight, we should have gone with the tile backsplash to the counter but the short stone backsplash has already been added to other areas of the kitchen so we are stuck with it now. It looks fine except for the damaged stone. Thanks again for your helpful advice.

Yes, it's Taj Mahal. We have a dark kitchen and this was the lightest stone they had. We originally ordered quartz but our GC talked us out of it, and we didn't like the granite selection so we ended up with quartzite.

Why should we not have a short backsplash? The installation company suggested it at the time of purchase and we thought it would look nice. It looks fine as is but we haven't put the tile up yet to see the full look. Also, our GC scratched up a few areas of the wood (side walls on nook area) when he was pulling out the old tile and the short backsplash will cover some of it.

Thanks for your advice. I appreciate your insight.

The double backsplash look is way out of style. Installation companies are not kitchen designers. Have them remove the short splash, and tile down to the counter.

An installation company most likely recommends a short backsplash because it allows them to be less precise and more lazy with the fit of the counter against the wall. If they are really sloppy, you might also have too large a gap between the counter and wall that a regular tile backsplash might not cover.

The short backsplash with tile above is a dated look. Either have a short backsplash with painted wall above or just tile on the whole backsplash. Of course, if you like the look of both, it is your house and your choice.

Taj Mahal is a great stone. I've used it in a kitchen I remodeled and the one I built. Also used it on a fireplace and an outdoor kitchen!

Sorry to have a friend and the company lie to you. The entire cost of replacement should be on them, not on you at all.

I agree that a short + tile splash is odd. I didn't know it was ever in fashion. Either keep the short splash, paint the rest of the splash, and forget the tile. (I have this in my kitchen and love it. Wiping a mess off of paint is 10 times easier than cleaning tile and grout!) Or, take out the short splash everywhere and tile the entire splash. This option seems like opening a can of worms though because of not knowing what the countertop beneath looks like, plus whatever damage is caused in the process.

I have to agree with the others, remove all the short backsplash. It doesnt look good with tile above it, and tile should go all the way down to the countertop. No backsplash at all looks better than a 4 inch one. Thats quite a crack by the way. Not sure how, they figured they could like their way out of that.

^^ except that the fabricator / installer admitted they cracked it in 2, so yeah, it's a crack.

Keep the new backsplash repalcement and forget the tile added on top never was a good idea anywhay. BTW if a space is dark oyu get better lighting not a lighter counter top . I like all LED 4000K bulbs in a kitchen tjhey mimic the look of bright sunlight all the time.

Natural stone has fissures that open up during production all the time. One leg of my waterfall island split in half while the truck was being loaded. They fixed it and you’d be hard pressed to find it. That said, yours was not professionally repaired based on the photo.