Homeowner looking for advice

[Stilloffshore]

Hi all, I’m new here, signed up just to inquire about the work I recently had done. I’ll try to keep this short, but has been a roller coaster of a ride.
I had fantasy brown installed back in October 2017, and basically, I’m unhappy with the install. My kitchen is 52sq ft invluding backsplashes. It has one sink and one cooktop cutout. The stone was installed while I was out of town, and my mother paid the guy almost in full. A small fraction was withheld for the cooktop, it has not been cut yet.
Issues: every single edge is very wavy, all of the overhangs are different-they are all also cut at an angle to the cabinet bases, not parallel, the seams are “shimmed” with sheetrock screws and the epoxy has already separated from them, a large seam and crack in the backsplash, the two corners in the kitchen are a bit wonky, as are the corners for the sink.
The owner of the business more or less refuses to fix the stone. He was going to come back to attempt to fix what he could, even told me he could not fix everything, then called me the night before and cancelled. He told me he would get to it when it was convenient for him and it would not be any time soon. I have filed a claim against him in small claims to recoup what I can and have new stone installed by someone else.
I have spoken to MIA and am awaiting them to call me back, but am open to any advice from the pros here. The home inspectors I’ve spoken to do not inspect stone, and the stone places I’ve spoken with do not want to get involved. Which I understand, but doesn’t help me out. I’m in south Louisiana.

The paint pen marks are where the owner marked to recut the stone in place to fix some of the issues.

[Angel]

oh boy!
that isnt something that should be attempted in your home. The tops need to be removed and refabricated. It looks like its savable from the pen lines. The splash replaced.
Good luck.

[Andy Ross]

That stone is a little tricky to hand polish and get the waves out. With that said, it's pretty wavy. The overhangs are your biggest issue Imo. Good luck!

[CustomMarbleGranite]

I would of immediately taken this stone back to the shop and fixed it
I cannot understand people who install work like this , leave it as if it's all good and collect a check on top of it all.
I would never get paid for this kind of work nor would I expect any payment for this lack of quality

[steven nenzel]

Yup, it is a pretty crappy install. The marble is easy to work with so there are no excuses.

Did you research this company prior to hiring? Why did you choose this company over the others?

I can't imagine he charges much for his services.

[Dave.Scott]

Is this a case of you going with the lowest bidder?

[Stilloffshore]

He did some work for someone I know, they were happy with the install. And no, he was far from the cheapest. He charged about $40/ft more than others locally. I was assured that his high price was due to the quality of his work, how great he is, yadda, yadda. I did look at his website(facebook), of course he has high reviews and pictures of nice looking installs. Having spoken to one of his previous customers, and not picking the cheapest guy out there...I got screwed royally. When he originally came to my home, he went on and on about how bad the prefab stone looked, and how much happier I would be with “custom fabrication”. In my area this same stone goes for around $60/ft, he charged me $100/ft. Some overhangs are 3/4”, some are 2”. It’s noticeable from across the room how bad it is.

[Mitch@ASW]

looks like he cut rectangles when he should've templated for the cabinets being out of square. Possibly he subbed this job out...

[ajavi]

A Houston-area homeowner here, and I feel your pain, OP. Did your situation get resolved? Mine dragged on for a couple of years. Despite the fabricator coming out four times (two sets of measurements and two templates taken), several runs of overhang were off (in one six-foot run, varied from 1-1/4" to 1-3/4") and the areas in front of our main window were short by > 1/2". Our guy refused to remove the tops and redo at the shop, so they cut and grinded and polished in our kitchen (to somewhat correct the overhang errors) and pieced in slivers of stone for the gaps...needless to say, it was a mess.

MIA: I wouldn't expect much action on that front. Our guy has "MIA member" splashed on their website, so I filed a formal report with the MIA. When I called MIA to follow up, I actually spoke to a very nice gentleman who turned out to be the head technical writer of the original MIA consumer guide for countertops. My report had been forwarded to him (by the main guy) to see if my complaints had merit -- he said I stood on 100% firm ground regarding everything that was in my complaint. I was told that a file would be started on this company, but MIA really has no capacity to reprimand their members, tell them what to do, etc. This file is helpful only if potential customers even know to contact the MIA for references. Seriously, who would even know to do that? If a company pays their dues, they're a member.

I gave our guys ample opportunities to 'make it right'. The slivers our guy glued in (to fill the gaps caused by their cutting/measuring errors) were very poorly done, so I asked them to remove all the stone and provide a refund. They refused, so I filed a small claims suit. Funny, these suits: even if a judge decides in your favor, the small claims court can't/won't enforce the judgement. That is, you'd still need to chase the company for the money; which means hiring an attorney, filing a lawsuit = more time and money. If you do go the small claims route, OP, be sure to do research on the process for Louisiana.

Good luck during what I'm certain is a stressful, frustrating time.

[BellaTerra]

It’s a hack job. I believe there is room in the market for hack jobs when people really want stone but can’t afford a professional job or they want to watch some YouTube videos and do it themselves. This is that. It looks like these were made in your driveway by someone who watched YouTube videos over the weekend. What I can’t believe is the price. $40 sq/ft would sound about right not $40 sq/ft on top of a professionals price of $60sq/ft. At 52 sq/ft you paid over $3000 over what this kind of work is worth. I’m sorry you have had to grow through this, I hate thinking about all that beautiful stone going to a landfill because of his shoddy work and it is completely unfair for you to have had to paid twice.

I hope you get some relief from the court system.