Asked on Feb 12, 2018
Huge gap between the wall and the countertop
by
Juliana
+8
My contractor created the countertop template measuring the cabinets not following the wall. It was clear that the wall was uneven because the cabinet guy had left shimmies between the wall and the cabinets. He still went with the cabinets and I thought nothing about it (I guess I am just as stupid as he is) once it was done I am in tears of the work he did, bad cuts, and patches. I had given him a $1200 deposit (he requires to start) I did not pay him the balance of $1400 (added another small section so his total was $2600) I still feel robbed and so angry. We did not have a contract so I have nothing to fall back on.
My question is, how do I fix this gap?? :(
here he had cut it too short and he wanted to caulk it!!
He left the sink showing on one side more than another. I thought he had cut the opening too big so there is nothing I could do and after he glued it down I saw there was room at the end to push it in he just did not want to trim a bit by the faucet end!!
Is the gap just the counter top or is there a gap between the wall and cabinet too?
If this is granite, I would have a granite fabricator cut pieces to be installed as a backsplash piece. If the granite is too thin, they can epoxy the pieces together to get a pretty uniform look.
His seams are awful! I am so sorry you got burned on this. ALWAYS get solid rec from friends jobs and see the contractors completed work first. And make sure you review this guy poorly. You could save another homeowner a great deal of grief!
I know, I know... he came recommended by someone I know who said she had not used him but two of her clients had and no complaints. I contacted 3 installers and he was the only one who responded. I am in Houston and with hurricane Harvey rebuilt the contractors are still swamped. It's a catch 22 because you are in need of a contractor (there aren't many available) and then you have losers like this on coming out of the woodworks to do crap jobs like this and you don't know because you are taking whomever calls you back! it is so frustrating and paralyzing how unscrupulous people can be when there is a catastrophe like this and they come out to practically rob people.
Yes.....quartzite is very spendy. Do NOT pay him another cent! I would not allow him back in to do ANYMORE work.
I'm wondering if maybe the slab piece(s) could be slid back on top of the cabinets closer to the wall to shrink the gap between back of slab and the wall? I would check to see if your contractor "glued" down the slab to the cabinet tops and how much of an overhang you have in front. If there is say an inch to inch and one-half overhang across the front of your slab, maybe the slab could be slid back say one-half inch closer to the wall, closing the gap enough that when you add a backsplash you could fill in the difference with foam backer stuffed into the space between back of countertop and wall and then use flexible caulk to close the gap -- would depend on how thick your backsplash is as to whether this might be a viable fix. Or, if you have a granite backsplash already purchased and ready to be installed or plan on having one installed, its thickness would help shrink further the partially closed gap if you can slide the slab(s) closer toward the back of the cabinets/wall areas. Look into whether there is some kind of fastener (perhaps made of plastic?) you could screw into the backsplash area that would keep the backside of the slab backsplash a bit away from the wall, and then you could top it with caulk and maybe a decorative trim to finish closing the gap.
For the backsplash, you could use base-wood and then place whatever tile you are using on it. It will come out a little further than normal but would look like it was intentional. You would need to tile the top of the wood showing so leave yourself at least 3/4. That is so unfortunate. Terrible work. I as the prior suggestion was if you can move the whole thing back. But if you can not... this would solve your problem.
I know this is a year later, but how did you fix? can you post photos?
Get a new countertop.