He's getting off easy. I got a call today from a designer that's not happy with the repair her fabricator attempted on a mitered granite edge that he chipped at installation. He's going to pay me to fix it or he's going to replace about 4K worth of top.

I don’t know what to say to him. He was complaining it would cost him a lot to replace it. Well shoot…I wasn’t the one who chipped it! In my opinion, it’s his oops, his problem. Not mine!

He needs to replace that countertop. Prior to my kitchen renovation a few years ago, we had woodlook laminate countertops that lasted 30 years, not one chip, and I cook from scratch.

My last counter top didn’t have one nick or crack either and we had it for 20 years.

Cindy:

Place your fingernails on the front edge of the countertop and raise up to see if they catch on the seam at the top lamination. They should not. The top lamination should have been trimmed with a 7* bevel bit and filed to flush. If your nail catches, that's fabricator error and the cause of the chip.

Hmmm I’m going to talk to him about that. The edge is quite sharp!

Cindy - you just bought a new countertop - you shouldn’t have to settle for a repaired one - especially since Joseph (expert re: many things - including countertops) has posted that it can’t be fixed in a manner that won’t be obvious.

It also looks like the edge banding is cracked.

I agree to look at the edge on that - it LOOKS too sharp which means it was done incorectly to boot.

DO NOT BACK DOWN ON THIS. As stated - you did not do this. This isn't a particularly "fuzzy" material and there is NO REASON it should be chipped / cracked, etc. This is all on your fabricator and he needs to make it right and that will require a new top.

Thank your installer. He may have discovered a error by the fabricator. Check with the laminate manufacturer for recommended edge treatment. Maybe they can review well-lit closeups or have a rep inspect the work. Like Joe said. If it's not correct, it's not his fault.

The installer put the laminate on himself so can’t blame the fabricator. He made the edge himself