How do you find a good granite fabricator?
My contractor referred me to one. I have a gut feeling I should not use them.
After after a lengthy sales pitch from a customer service guy in the showroom, trying to get me to buy their polished granite that they had on display in their store, I had to reiterate over and over that I didn't want any polished granite. I didn't like any of the stone styles and I didn't want polished. I want a matte finish. Just a personal preference. This fabricator said they could not hone, leather, or brush any granite. I would have to find the slab already honed, leathered or brushed at a stone yard and then they'd do the rest. He handed me a sheet with 10 local stone yards to contact.
I called around to various stone yards and found the already leathered slab of Marron Cohiba granite we want. We have it on hold. I have a 3.5 x 5 inch sample of the granite from the stone yard. They said to test it at home for use and then have our fabricator do the edge we want on it to see how it will look as they know our fabricator cannot hone, leather or brush granite because they don't have the right attachments (tools?).
I asked the fabricator how are they going to finish the sink cut out edges and finish the edges to match the leathering. We were hoping for a thumbnail edge on this granite. Perhaps I am misunderstanding, but they said that the edges would look similar to the sample I have and he said that the cut edges are grey and that is what the finished edges would look like and that they wouldn't do much to them. The sample I have has grey sides that look like cut rock. Not nice at all and it certainly doesn't look finished. Where I have tested the sample with lemon juice, ketchup, olive oil and water, it looks fine, but the edges that are finished/rough and these test solutions have dripped down, things look splotchy and darker.
I asked the fabricator if he could do the same edge (thumbnail) on our sample so we can see the finished product and finish. He said that the sample is too small and he can't do it. Do I need to get a bigger sample to have him do an edge for inspection?
I called the customer service person at the main store (not the fabricator) and already he lost my kitchen layout drawing from 3 days ago where he miscalculated the amount of granite we need. (He calculated 54 square feet, I have calculated 45.) I had to rescan in the image and send it to him and his fabricator.
I still don't have a price from the customer service rep on the slabs we have on hold as the stone yard only deals directly with the fabricators on pricing.
After reading many posts here, I understand that the fabricator and installer (one on the same?) are the most important part of the granite countertop process to ensure happiness with the finished product. I believe that I need a fabricator that I can trust, communicates honestly and openly, who will finish the edges and sink cutouts appropriately, will not damage the stone, cut everything the right size and install them correctly while giving me the right advice on sealing and care. I don't feel I can trust this current fabricator. Am I being too harsh?
Do any fabricators ever tell a customer simply that they can't do what the customer wants and that they need to find another fabricator? Do fabricators ever refer customers to other fabricators?
Where do I go to find a fabricator that can use the slabs I have on hold?
Is it important to find one that has worked with Marron Cohiba granite before? What if your fabricator breaks/ruins the slabs you bought while cutting out sink holes and such because they didn't know how to work with your variety of stone?
Is it important to find one that has leathered granite so they know how to do the edges to match?
Jillius
_sophiewheeler
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