HELP PLEASE - Issues With Granite Installation

[Stone Dude]

PT, you're a complete F'in' douchebag.

the work is horrible, no discussion. Not opinion, fact. "horrible" is accurate, but the only thing that matters is it is unnacceptable by any industry standards.

Who gives a shit if the fabricator "tried", it was installed when it shouldn't have been. If they don't know the difference, they shouldn't be in business. If you can't see that the work is far beyond what acceptable should be, you're simply too dumb to exist and shoulnd't be allowed out of the house without a helmet.

[Darrell Fisher]

and shoulnd't be allowed out of the house without a helmet

[Dustin Adams]

Now this has turned into an absolute joke! PT you have your head in your arse and need to remove yourself from the classroom. Welcome to reality buddy! The jobs sucks, you cannot lie for your life. Please post your next story for me though, I need a good laugh for the rest of the week

[t-mobile]

and shoulnd't be allowed out of the house without a helmet

thats funny!

[coolhandchris]

Condescending and arrogance will win no favours.

Facts are facts and the truth is the truth.

"Fumes in granite" and law student, will imply that you appear to have chosen the ambulance chaser career path. I have a personal disdain for moral and ethical ineptitude.

Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity than one who is crooked in speech and is a fool.

Regards

Well said. But what is a favour?

[szw21]

Condescending and arrogance will win no favours.

Facts are facts and the truth is the truth.

"Fumes in granite" and law student, will imply that you appear to have chosen the ambulance chaser career path. I have a personal disdain for moral and ethical ineptitude.

Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity than one who is crooked in speech and is a fool.

Regards

Well said. But what is a favour?

I generally always remember to write with British spelling when I message or email friends in England. On this forum it might confuse people who may think you can't spell

As for "PT" I think he may have been affected by the all the "fumes" from granite.

[Stone Dude]

Condescending and arrogance will win no favours.

Facts are facts and the truth is the truth.

"Fumes in granite" and law student, will imply that you appear to have chosen the ambulance chaser career path. I have a personal disdain for moral and ethical ineptitude.

Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity than one who is crooked in speech and is a fool.

Regards

Well said. But what is a favour?

It's a non-american favor

[coolhandchris]

Condescending and arrogance will win no favours.

Facts are facts and the truth is the truth.

"Fumes in granite" and law student, will imply that you appear to have chosen the ambulance chaser career path. I have a personal disdain for moral and ethical ineptitude.

Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity than one who is crooked in speech and is a fool.

Regards

Well said. But what is a favour?

It's a non-american favor

I have never favored the favour. Or colour, flavour, harbour, labour, neighbour, et alia.

[toronto_consumer]

Hey, everyone. A couple of you had requested more photos of our granite. I've finally taken some more shots with a better lighting setup - they are linked at the bottom of this post.

We've had a few people in to look at the "craftsmanship" and they all said that they would not be able to work with the existing granite. The repair process would require the loss of too much material, which would make the granite no longer fit the cabinetry and sinks.

We have now ordered new granite from a local fabricator (who is an SFA member). We're looking forward to having a kitchen sink and dishwasher again!

I have a couple of requests of any forum members who are willing to help:

1: If you are willing to write/sign an affidavit letter that outlines your professional opinion of the work portrayed in the photos, please Private Message me. I will make the process as easy as possible for you.
2: If anyone has any sample photos of work that they've done using Matrix stone that they could share, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help me out.

Now, here are the photos:

[Alex DiPietro]

I agree that the work belongs in the hall of shame, but, although I by no means speak for everyone here, I feel that we are not an organization in a position to petition against non member fabricators.

[Dan R.]

The goal of the SFA is to raise the bar of quality in the stone fabrication industry through education and training. It is a cooperative type of organization, meaning that each individual has the opportunity to earn as much as they wish or not.

The best advice I can give you (or your first fabricator) or any consumer is educate yourself before the sale, get a good contract at the sale and sign off a good job after a satisfactory completion.

It is unfortunate that you are having this experience with in our industry, it truly an embarrassment to those of us that try and satisfy every client. I would think that a local fabricator who can write a detailed report after viewing in person would be your best choice.

[Randy Gallion]

If you decide to take this thru the legal system your looking at 2 years and up to 100,000.00. Win or loose the only one that wins are the attorneys. You would be better off chalking it up to experience try to get you money back from the fabricator and be more careful when you hire someone in the future. I have fabricated matrix a number of times. Its a beautiful stone and very hard to fabricate. The only edge we've been successful with is a chiseled - polished edge. I've never been very happy with the out come but our customers are. I just got thru a law suit on a $3500.00 island. 2 years and $112,000.00 later we won my insurance company paid $50,000.00 and they paid $62,000.00. The court awarded them $1,000.00 to repair the fissures in their countertop.

RW Gallion Floors inc
Spokane Valley, Washington
Randy Gallion
Proud member of the S.F.A

[Burkie]

Randy just gave you the best advice.

Also calculate the countless hours of stress and frustrating dealing with this. Calculate how many hours that you have spent on this so far.

Also remember that you may win in the courts but If they have no money to pay you are still out of pocket. And based on what is shown if that is their standard there may not be a business much longer for you to after.

Karma has a way of working itself out. You were right to post here as "Sunshine is the best disinfectant"

Best of luck to you and wish you better luck on your new Granite journey.

Regards

[toronto_consumer]

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I'd just like to say that I'm not a litigious or vindictive person - I doubt it would end up being worth my while to take these people to court - certainly not anything involving hiring an attorney or anything more than trying to make a claim in small claims court. I am more concerned about the fabricator trying to sue me for the rest of his money - he seems like the type to do that. I want to be able to defend my position in that eventuality.

[Dustin Adams]

I would guarantee you a fabricator putting out that quality of work will not have the money to come after you in court. And if he decides to it will be in small claims and you will be able to provide the judge enough evidence that the job was sub par and you gave him ample chances to solve his problems with the fabrication. This would not make it any further than the settlement hearing at which you can let the judge decide who is right.
But the whole process is not worth his time or the money, if he is a smart person.

[toronto_consumer]

A Happy Ending...

We just had SFA Member and all-around-great-guy Mark Gamble install replacement granite this weekend. Unfortunately he was unable to find a supplier who had any "Matrix" (which was what we were hoping for, if only for the opportunity to be able to prove to our previous "fabricator" that it is possible to do great work with that stone) - so we decided upon "Black Forest", which is a beautiful stone as well and somewhat similar in composition and colour to "Martrix". Mark was great to deal with and, more importantly, his work was light years beyond what we had. See for yourself:







We just need to get our plumber in to hook everything up and we're back in business! Time will tell what happens with our previous "fabricator". The old, pathetic granite now sits propped up on a pallet in my back yard awaiting the outcome of legal proceedings (if any).

[Antonio Almonte]

WTG Mark!

[Todd Luster]

Awesome to hear!

[t-mobile]

I hate that you had issues to begin with, but I am happy it all worked out in the end.

WTG Mark! Black forrest gold is no easy win either, WTG.

[GMD]

WTG Mark

[Mark Gamble]

I am happy to be of service. Scott and Colette are good people and I am glad to have been a positive part of their granite experience.

[Dan R.]

Nice work Mark.

I am glad that this story had a happy ending.

SFA, what a wonderful group, I am proud to be a part of it.

[Anna Almonte]

Way to go Mark.

Congrats to you on your new kitchen. Matrix is beautiful but so is Black Forest. Either one looks fabulous with your cabinetry colors.

I am also proud to be part of such a great organization Mark you do great work.

[Randy Gallion]

Matrix is beautiful but so is Black Forest

She will be much happier with Black Forest than Matrix
I would rather fab Black Forest
Nice Job Mark
Thank you for making us look good. Its a win - win for The SFA, for you, and especially the customer

[Mike Stites]

Nice job.