Here's a better photo showing the dramatic directional change between the marble pieces.

I think it would be acceptable to most people. We had a fabricator tell us that our tub surround could not be done in one piece either. In getting another estimate, we found a fabricator who assured us it could be done in one piece. We paid a little more, but I'm glad that we made that decision. I think I'm like you and that difference in direction would have annoyed me.

I know your feeling of not getting exactly what you wanted . I have been dealing with this feeling throughout my MB Reno that has been on for 3 months now . What you should think of are what other options you have other then keeping it the way it is . Can you return it and face the trouble of looking for another slab and waiting for it to be fabricated ? I tried doing that in my project and that was a wast of time , and you already said that it took a long time to find this slab . I think you were lucky to find this nice white color in Carrara marble , I had to upgrade to calacata to get this white color . All the Carrara marble we have here is grey . If you want to save yourself a lot of trouble and effort just forget about it and put a nice accessory to cover it .

Lillo,
Are you my husband disguised as an anonymous Gardenweb user?
Seriously, putting an accessory on top was exactly my husband's solution!
Another idea that my decorator just suggested is using a strong paint color to draw the eye away from this flaw.

It never occurred to me to use another fabricator, he did a nice job on my quartzite in my kitchen. My general contractor recommended him and after checking his price against a competitor for the kitchen installation, I just went with him again.

My fabricator never suggested, nor did it ever occur to me to have him do a layout on the slab as Mongoct wisely recommended.

I am beginning to think that I'm just going to have to live with this as is. The thought of looking for another slab makes me crazy! Once I decided to go with marble, I thought it would be easy to find a slab, silly me!

Thanks for all of your insights.

I don't think it looks bad but probably wouldn't be thrilled with it either. I did a fair bit of research before I bought my new counters and most people who were not happy with their natural stone fabrication loved the stone but not the seams and pattern match.

You will have to weigh the inconvenience, stress, and expense and figure out if it is worth it to get it redone. Perhaps your first step is to research and find out if there is a fabricator that can do it without the seams.

It looks like a good spot for a pretty sea sponge to sit!

Not *perfect* but I can see how he tried. The veins are running the same direction. Maybe it IS impossible for this particular job to be all one piece. If that is the case, I don't see how he could have done much better. The very dark vein shaped like a tuning fork is the culprit--it draws your eye there and can't be "continued". Also, your slab's veins have pronounced directional veining, which can difficult to piece together without purchasing an extra slab.

I think this is the sort of thing you won't notice at all when everything is finished and decorated. I also have strong directional veining in my new bath marble and noticed several strange spots immediately following install that I don't see at ALL, now.

Looks like it is shaping up to be a gorgeous bathroom!!!

The only way he could have done better with the seams on this was probably to have you buy two whole slabs, with one entire one dedicated to the tub surround, and the other one for the vanity with a lot left over. That would have added a lot of expense to the job. Only you know if having the perfect seam would be worth another $1400 to you. But, since that was a concern of yours, he should have at least asked if that was an option that you would consider. Now, if you had made it clear that your budget was already taking a hit, he probably wouldn't have asked, and he did a darn nice job with a single slab.

No Zophie I am not your husband , I am another gardenweb member who is going through a lot of aggravations in my MB renovation . I knew from the beginning that It won't be perfectly what I want . However I went through more trouble than I expected . I am going into my fourth month in this renovation and I want to get done . Now I think of a way to accommodate whatever was not done the way I wanted it . If its a quick fix its good , but more time , effort and frustration is not an option for me . My DH urges me to finish with my disastrous so called GC and then we will fix what we can later .

I find this interesting because I disagree with most here. I think I like the fact that the marble surfaces don't "match".

I think too much matching can be tedious. I have recently learned about a concept called "wabi sabi". Wikipedia describes it thus: "Wabi-sabi (ä¾Âå¯Â) represents a comprehensive Japanese world view or aesthetic centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection."

Turns out that there are whole books written about this concept. It seems to largely be used when dealing with the "natural world" in design which I think marble is definitely applicable here. Kind of corresponds with Nate Berkus description of too much "matchy, matchy" is not desireable. Hopefully my words here make sense cause not sure what more I can say to describe.

I hope you do use some "pops" of color and a fair amount of texture elsewhere in the room- I don't think your walls that aren't marble should be totally plain and white - not sure where I'm going here since I'm not a designer but thought I would put in an opposing view if you hadn't thought of this.

I think the pictures you have posted seem to be taking you down the path of using a few "vintage" accessories. Not sure if that is what you would want but could be stunning.

I'm sorry you're not happy, but I just wanted to say that the marble you chose looks amazing. I don't have enough experience to say whether what you received is right/fair/acceptable, but my untrained eye says that it really looks pretty good. I think once they address the joint so you do not see the physical line between the two pieces and finish the walls, it's going to look pretty great. The carrara marble in my bathroom has lots of veins that abruptly start/stop, so I don't think having the veins start/stop at the seam looks bad. Also, your floor tile looks really lovely.

I don’t see any flaw. It’s natural stone.

i Would be very happy with the result.

at least he tried to keep the pieces matching. my suggestion when doing tub surrounds is to take it to a local cnc shop/waterjet and have them cut the slab to the specific size of your tubs surround.