I have been reading this forum for many months as we are Owner Building and hope someone can tell me what is deemed acceptable and what is not.
I had arranged for granite tops for custom-made bathroom vanities and laundry cupboards and a piece of marble for the fireplace hearth in addition to granite tops for the kitchen (arranged through a reputable kitchen company and granite included in the price).
I have been told that some chipping to the edge of the granite is quite common due to the structure of the granite -Bianco Romano - and repair is possible. They have done so with a compound of some type but there are still chips. Is this acceptable and "normal"?
They joined/bonded 20mm slabs to get a 40mm thickness at the edge for the kitchen bench tops. While the joining product matches the colour of the granite for the island, the other bench tops have a grey/blue seam running through them which I was told is due to the mesh on the back. BUT, I have my own theory since I selected the granite slabs and they were consecutive numbers from the cut. Could it be someone used the wrong colour bonding agent? They have tried to lessen it by scraping the edge out and filling it. This has lessened it but it is still obvious to me.
Pic showing seam:
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Now, today I have been delivered a piece of marble 1640 x 300 x 20 - black with a white vein running through it. There are several joins/repairs in the slab - some are with the vein while one is actually a clean break across the marble that has been repaired/rejoined with a white grout (?) to make it look like vein when it is not. They have not even bothered to polish it to make it look and feel completely smooth.
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The piece of marble has a slight bow. Since it is to be a hearth piece set recessed into timber flooring I can see that if someone stands on it that it would immediately snap in half. And, there are remnants of cement/grout to the side edges.
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There is another repair where a triangular piece has broken away and they have rejoined it.
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The reason I have decided to post here is that I am in shock that they would try to pass this off as "acceptable" when it is not. Surely there is a "standard" stone masons must work to.
Please, could you set my mind at ease that I am not being fussy and that this is sub-standard work?
P.S. Owner building is not for the feint hearted