Kitchen countertops, seams in granite/quartz

[cidley69]

We are at the stage of a kitchen renovation where counters are almost ready to go in.

The kitchen plans call for an island that is larger than a full slab of granite or quartz. I like the design as is, but there will be a seam in the island. The wife prefers to scale down island size so there is no seam, instead going with max size a slab can come.

We'd be good with quartz or granite, slight preference for quartz due to less maintenance (no sealing required, from what have been told). For color looking for greyish (white with grey veins). If one stone has more invisible seems would prefer this type.

Does anyone have a counter seem in a very visible area? How did the seam turn out, any regrets about having a seam there?

For

[nismodrifter]

How big is this island we are talking about.

[cidley69]

If built to design it would be 9'6" x 6'7".

[bjstare]

On an island, the seam will be pretty noticeable. Even if you can do it across a sink, that’s still 2/3 the width of a slab that has seam on it. I’d be on the side of reducing the size to a single slab. That’s not exactly small, and I would hate it if the seam was visible. It would be all I could see.

[benyl]

So the seam is because it is too wide?

Our Island is 11' x 5' and has no seam.

[npham]

I vote either go smaller and no seam, or pony up more money for a larger slab.

[dirtsniffer]

Looks like you're over on the shorter length, so if you have a seem it'll run the entire length of the island. Looks like some jumbo slabs would come in just under, maybe 76-78"x120"+

[eblend]

I was going to say get a bigger slab, but then I noticed your second dimension of almost 7 feet. Don't know who makes something like that. Jade Stone has slabs 63x126" in the XL range which would cover one of your dimensions only unfortunately. Don't know much about this, just know about the XL slabs from Jade as I used them in my current home and used their sizes when designing my new house island. Didn't want to plan for something that would require a seam, hate them.

[cidley69]

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Looks like you're over on the shorter length, so if you have a seem it'll run the entire length of the island. Looks like some jumbo slabs would come in just under, maybe 76-78"x120"+

What companies in Calgary would carry this size?

[ExtraSlow]

Have a two, height island, so the one side is taller.

[bjstare]

^Don't do that.

Get the biggest size you can find/afford for single slab.

[ExtraSlow]

I don't know anything about anything. Are those bad for Feng shui or something?

[jwslam]

If I had a 2 tier island I'd be gung-ho about not having to bend down so far for the dishwasher

[JRSC00LUDE]

IMO island seams are terrible, it would hurt my brain every day.


EDIT - I am on crack

[bjstare]

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I don't know anything about anything. Are those bad for Feng shui or something?

You're just cutting your nice big useable space in half. Also making it so you can't reach across the island from both sides unless you're 6'7" tall. There's just no upside, unless you like perching yourself on a super tall barstool to eat your cereal on a tiny surface.

[ExtraSlow]

I'm no expert, only owned one island in my life and I didn't design that. Just an option for a dude with an unusually wide island. 6'7" wide is a beast. Shirt people will never reach the centre of that.

[Rocket1k78]

Size it down to fit the slab, seams on islands are not nice especially one running down the entire length. Mines the same width as benyls and wiping the middle part of it can be a pain, at 6'7" you'd almost have to climb on top to get the middle

[88CRX]

What kind of ant sized islands are you guys rocking with no seam?

Seam 4 life

/humble brag

edit: that depth is fucked... narrow that bad boy up, nobody wants a slab running the long distance, thats whack

[cidley69]

Any recommendations for counter companies that you thought were great? Or ones to avoid?

[bjstare]

Alberta Marble & Tile co is good.