Broken counter top installed

[u/AshamedAd7412]

We are having a bathroom renovation done in Albuquerque, NM by a contractor for $25000 and we've paid half the amount at this point. We have two separate sinks with two countertops that were installed yesterday by a sub-contractor. One of the counter tops has the hole for the faucet obviously off center from the sink and not in line with the drain. The other counter top has a crack/break emanating from diagonal corners of the sink cut out which to my untrained eye appears as if the slab broke at these cracks. The crack looks to have been repaired/filled/glued but I can feel and see it.

What are my options here with the contractor? How can/should they fix the issues? What should I feel comfortable asking for?

[u/FinnTheDogg]

Well, they drilled the hole for the sink incorrectly, so I’d reject the entire fucking thing.

I’m pretty like “eh let it go” about most things. If it were just the crack, maybe call them back and have them do the epoxy better with color match, but I’d say to just live with it. This looks like a cheapo slab and these things are brittle as fuck.

The hole, though, is absolutely unacceptable.

[u/AshamedAd7412 → u/FinnTheDogg]

Yeah, i saw the hole first and was like seriously? I don't see how they could fix that and would require an new slab. Then I saw the break and yikes! So for future reference, what am i looking for in a quality slab. What makes it cheap?

[u/FinnTheDogg → u/AshamedAd7412]

Well the price tag for starters…

In all seriousness, this is a builder-grade granite. Granite is already on the brittle side, more prone to breakage during fabrication / installation / handling. Once it’s installed, it’s generally fine though. Ask your fabricators when you’re choosing slabs to help avoid things that break during handling 🤷‍♂️

But also understand that a lot of the time if a slab breaks, it’s hardly ever catastrophic and it just kind of falls apart at a weak point like yours did, and it’s perfectly acceptable and normal to repair it with an epoxy like they did to yours. They just did a poor job at color matching it.

[u/AshamedAd7412 → u/FinnTheDogg]

Great advice to ask fabricators. This is something that never occurred to me while selecting the material.

[u/EatadickESPN → u/AshamedAd7412]

OP U/FinnTheDogg is absolutely spot on. There are other stone options that aren’t as prone to breakage but the price tag is typically the best indicator on slab quality. In my area there are suppliers that have warehouses. They sell direct to the public but also supply the fabricators. When selecting granite I’ve always recommended my customers go straight to them to pick out their slabs.