Caesar stone join on island bench :-(

Hi All,

Just wanted to get some opinions on my kitchen island benchtop. I upgraded to have a 3.3m x 1m caesar stone island benchtop, upgraded to 40mm edge and cat 3 stone. What I didn't expect was to see a join running across the width of the bench - starts from the inside, crosses the sink to the otherside. I'm not sure if I described it well. Is it normal to have a join?, I assumed I would have one seamless piece. Can anyone with a similar benchtop size share their experiance. Do I have grounds to make a complaint? I just spent so much money on this, its a little dissappointing I wasn't told about this earlier. Thanks in advance.

Stuey.

Don't quote me,put l think the stone comes in lenghts of 3.2 maybe thats why they
put join in.

The kitchen place that did mine said the maximum is 3m without a join so we shrunk our island bench to 3m to avoid having a join.

Caesar stone slabs are 3060 X 1440. I join would have been unavoidable. Doing research on this stuff is up to you, it would have been nice to have been advised of this, but the stonemason, builder or cabinetmaker wasn't obligated to. All the information is on caesar stone's website.

what is cat 3 stone?

Leni_82 is right. Any top over 3000mm has to have a join.

I actually find that statement outrageous. The builder should be advising clients there is a 3m limit. I would be filthy.

Look at what I have bolded.... Legally the builder or whoever doesn't have too.. Clients need to their research also.. If you were given any brochures on it slab size would be written on there too.

The fact remains, the Op requested a 3.3 island bench as a upgrade. If the builder (who is experienced in this) does not mention it, I find that disturbing. I would be quite annoyed at the fact the builder did not mention this. They have paid to have the bench upgraded. Sure legally they do not need too, but I would question that also. She requested a 3.3m stone bench. Not a 1.65m x 2 bench, which is what they received.

Unfortunately we all learn the hard way that we need to ask lots of questions to avoid disappointment. There are more than a few cases of this and yes whilst it may be polite for the builder to tell them about the necessity of a join it doesn't happen as the norm.

By Cat 3 stone I assume you mean a stone of grade/type on the third tier of pricing (most expensive?) Not all builders do things in Categories so I also get a bit confused.

The Cat of stone is irrelevant as I assume you wouldn't like the join in any level or grade?

Hi Stuey

I would be disappointed too. I am not sure if I would have asked the questions about joins either.

K

I have twice had stone benchtops installed and both times the kitchen people discussed where I wanted the join. The first time I would not have thought of such a thing and would rely on the professionals to disclose any info I might need or want to know. Thats why we hire the pros imo.

Maybe if the bench was 3.1, or just over the length of once piece they would have said something, but they probably assumed you knew.

Hopefully once its done you won't notice it so much

When my company gets plans to quote we quote then as the client have given it to us. Depending on circumstances we will contact the client and let them know, but if you are going through a builder or cabinetmaker and they pass on the info to us it's up to them to let the client know.

A bench of 3.1 (as tinkster has mentioned above) may more likely have been mentioned as reducing it 100mm is a slight difference where 300mm is a lot overall.

I agree completely your builder should have told you, but in my previous posts I am just letting the original poster know where they stand.

@Humble. By your reasoning the OP actually got 4 X 1.65m tops as the 40mm thickness upgrade they ordered is actually 2 X 20mm pieces stuck together.
While I feel sorry for the OP not getting what they had assumed they would get, they still got a 3.3m island bench. Yes it has a join as any bench that size will have , but it is still a 40mm thick CS bench top 3.3m long.

If you went to a cabinet maker and had a kitchen designed for you by them, then I'd expect that they would mention something like this to you as they deal with the product on a daily basis and are aware of issues like this. I would always explain to a customer that there would be a joint just as I would if they had a laminate top that had to have a join.

However a large builder is just going to build exactly what you tell them to build. The person you are dealing with at the builders may not even be aware that there would even be a joint, and ultimately their main concern is that they know exactly what the client wants so they can build exactly that. How it gets built is not their concern, that is often left up to the individual tradespeople.

Just thought I'd let you know incase you didn't. The bench top may say 40mm but that is only a strip laminated to the edge of the bench, to give the illusion of 40mm throughout. But all else, I completely agree chippy.

I know, I was just being a bit cheeky to make a point.

Huh? The stone benchtops we have seen are solid, not 2 x 20mm stuck together.

Ahh my bad!

In that case I agree with you 100%

This is why you should research as much as possible when building a house. We have learnt that if you do not ask questions about everything then people will not always tell you and expect that you already know. I totally agree that the builder or cabinet maker should have made you aware that there would be a join but if you are changing any plans then you need to be aware of exactly what you are doing.

Are you really sure of this?

If this is genuinely the case I need the contact details of whoever supplied and installed those tops as I have NEVER found anyone who does solid 40mm stone - they have either been laminated as Leni described or mitre joined at the edge for the deeper drop fronts.

Cheers,

Earl