It is so maddening to me to hear these sorts of stories where the installers act like such scoundrels! I swearÂitÂs not even my countertop but I feel like knocking some heads.
IÂm sure you will get some good advice from the more experienced granite people here, sorry this happened to you.

I don't know the answer, but am hoping someone on this board does know. Good luck!

I too don't know the answer, but just wanted to say my sympathies are with you. This sounds so stressful. It sounds like the installer is trying to place blame anywhere he can find it. What kind of granite do you have?

Terrible. Just terrible.

How big is the crack? Could it be a fissure?

A fissure is a line in the granite but is usually smooth
to the touch and looks like it was made a 1000 years
ago. A crack has a definite edge and feel to it. The
fact you rubbed your dishtowel means it sounds like a
crack.

And what kind of granite type was it? There are some
granites that need extra support and others that have
hairline cracks in them. I am in no way saying this is the
case for you, I just need some facts to help you find some
answers.

If you can photograph the crack, Not so much for GW but
so you have some recourse. Photos might be needed. And it
sounds like these installers are not going to be helpful.
Their first response should have been...

"HOw can we help you?" Not a "we didn't do it. You
stood on it." mean response.
Shame on them.

Is there any cracking under the counter, the cabinet
below?? How was it supported? Get all this info down on
paper.

Be sure to photograph everything even the interior of
the cabinets under the area of the crack.

Here is a link called Findstone.com Maybe you
can research some ideas and even post your images to
this site to get feed back from others in the industry.

http://forums.findstone.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=796

Depending on the crack a good epoxy from the installer
may be able to fix this but you should still get some
money back or some kind of recourse. They should fix it
for free and depending on the size you may be able to
keep this slab of granite and not have to get a new one.
Of course in this economy that may be hard to get.

Good luck.
~boxer

Here is a link that might be useful: From Stonegirl GardenWeb

It should be taken care of at no cost to you!! Don't let them intimidate you. I agree with taking pictures. It may even be helpful if you could post a pic here to get some good advice/feedback.

Boy, does that sound familiar.

We had a crack in ours within weeks. The fabricator had the nerve to tell me either we were standing on it, or we dropped something really heavy on it - picture him standing there with his hands over his head mimicing smashing something down. Like a hammer I wanted to bring down on his head (oh, oh, was that my out-loud voice?)

The only thing we can think of is we had used an electric frying pan. He said that wouldn't have caused it, but I don't use it anymore unless it's on little legs that my husband fashioned for it, to keep it off the surface.

He absolutely, categorically refused to take any responsibility. This was only weeks after it was installed - I was still in love with the granite and babying it like crazy.

We had a bit of a Mexican standoff, but he did agree to send someone over and epoxy and buff it. No way was he going to replace it. I was thoroughly disgusted.

My granite is very dark with all kinds of crazy white lines in it, so unless you knew where to look you wouldn't even see it. Unfortunately, that may not be the case with you.

I wish I had some good advice to give to you, I can only offer you sympathy, and the hope that your guy is more honourable and ethical than mine.

I'm sorry to hear you are going through this. You should be able to use the granite for its intended purposes! If this company has a one-year warranty, they should honor it.

Did you pay with a credit card? Perhaps you can dispute it through the cc company.

You may want to notify them in writing.

You may want to check their BBB rating. I actually had the BBB resolve a dispute with a photographer. So, that is always a possibility.

Of course, as a last resort there is small claims court if under your state $ limit, or else contact an attorney who does real estate litigation. DH deals with this stuff on a regular basis.

Sound more likely that the installation settled and that is a stress crack. The cut out for your cooktop is a weak point. Ask the installer if he cut it square or cut it with a radius? A radius would have spread the stress at the corner. It may not have helped if the cabinets settled due to the weight of the granite, or whatever they used for underlayment was not done properly. Was this 2cm or 3cm? Maybe seek the advice of another fabricator with a better reputation.

Texaskitchentoo - I am not the OP but I will be having granite counters fabricated soon. What the OP describes is what I fear too. Can you explain more what you meant by "cut it square or cut it with a radius"? Doesn't it have to be square to be scribed against a wall? And if it's 3 cm it doesn't need an underlayment, right? I guess I am showing my ignorance, but I would be so appreciative of clarification! Thanks.

Everybody is jumping on the granite people, but surely it could be the people who built your cabinets? If they aren't perfectly level, the granite wouldn't be supported properly.

I hope you can get it fixed!

"Everybody is jumping on the granite people, but surely it could be the people who built your cabinets? If they aren't perfectly level, the granite wouldn't be supported properly."

In that case the templator should have reported that to the fabricator and the counters not installed, unless the cabinets were corrected or the counters were shimmed properly! That's the responsibility of the counter installers.

jean12388 is the crack real close to a corner of the cutout hole, or is it somewhere in the middle of the span?

alwaysfixin, before the cooktop gets placed into the cutout hole, you can see the raw edges of the entire hole. If it was cut with four straight saw blade cuts, you can see that by the way the corners look, where the saw cuts meet. If the corners were first cut with a drilled hole, to make a rounder curve that the saw blade cuts up to, that would be visible. Diagrams showing this can be found on the web. I saw diagrams like this in a technical training document made by a quartz manufacturer. Drilling a large hole in all four corners will make the four inside corners rounded after the saw cuts the straight sides. A rounded corner is far less likely to generate a crack. A sharp inside corner is more likely to generate a crack. The crack starts here.

hth

I have no real reply except IMO 3 months is very soon and should be covered at their cost. If it was 6 + months or so on I could maybe understand then arguing it...but 3 months?

Davidro1 - thank you for clarifying. I get it now.

I also have santa cecilia granite and I got a small crack at the front of the sink within 2 weeks of install. They came out and buffed it so it's very hard to find and can't really feel it. Same thing happened near the corner of the sink 5mos after install. Quick fix, no arguing. Any more cracks and I can guarantee there will be arguing, enough is enough! The granite was resined and rodded by the way. They thumped all over and said it sounds solid so they're not sure why it cracked. Cracks are on the thin strip and about 2in. long.

how wide is the granite at the crack locations?

It sounds like it should have been rodded.

Rodding is plowing a groove in the back of the granite and then bedding steel rods in epoxy in the grooves.

It helps, especially in stone that may have natural defects in the stone.

Lennym, thanks - that makes sense. Only makes sense that the granite people wouldn't do anything unless the cabinets were perfect!

It could be a fissure. which is natural in stone. But granite will crack at the weakest point. Most can be explained by something heavy enough to actually break it like someone standing on it. And that usually occurs by the sink or stove cutouts.Fissures can be fixed with a little color and super glue crack with epoxy But it didnt just crack on its own that would be odd it was either there and repaired poorly so it opened up or something heavy was standing or sitting nearby and it cracked you can stand six feet away on your tops but it can still crack at the weakest point

HU-701983312 , 13 years ago.....................