Worktop joint issue - need advice!

[jcameron]

Hello! 

 

I've just had some marble effect solid laminate worktops installed in our kitchen. I'm worried that the joints the fitter has done are really obvious and as this is our first house and first project, I wanted to seek some advice on anything we can do to fix them.

 

Our kitchen is L-shaped and there are 2 joints - one to connect the two worktops at the top corner and one to extend the 3m worktop to 3.5m as we couldn't get the length we needed from the worktop provider (in hindsight, I wish I had shopped around and bought a 4m worktop length).

 

Neither joint is discreet but the joint connecting the extension piece to the longer side is especially obvious. The joint is a dark line that stands out and I was expecting it to be colour matched to the white background of the marble pattern. I'm also worried that they have sanded away the adhesive and taken off the top of the worktop surface as there is a much brighter white area on either side of both joints.

 

At this point, we have been without a kitchen for weeks so I would rather not replace the worktops even if this is a poor installation job. 

Edited November 11, 2019 by jcameron
remove photo

[nod]

Unfortunately the joints look good

If it’s any consolation Had you of used real marble You would have had the same Issue on any joint 

Random pattern 

[newhome]

I can’t really see the lighter area on this phone that you say has been caused by sanding too much but I’m with @nod, I think the really noticeable thing is the pattern change as the eyes are drawn to that. Not much you can do about that unfortunately. 

[ProDave]

Too late now, but in a previous house where we could not get a long enough worktop, I did the very unconventional thing of put the joint under the hob, so you only saw a little bit of joint at the front and the back.

[Simplysimon]

if it's laminate they shouldn't be sanding the surface to remove glue, as you say it will remove the finish, and i can see where they've done it.

[Pocster]

2 hours ago, nod said:

Unfortunately the joints look good

If it’s any consolation Had you of used real marble You would have had the same Issue on any joint 

Random pattern 

I agree they look correct . I tend to go for a random speckled pattern deliberately to ‘hide’ joints 

[Temp]

I can certainly see the lighter area. Are you sure it was caused by sanding as that shouldn't be needed on a laminate worktop.

 

Was it done by an installer working for a kitchen co or did you hire him? If it was the former I would ask the kitchen co to come take a look.

[jcameron]

Thanks everyone for your input! It was done by someone we hired not through a kitchen company. I totally understand now that we should have got a less obvious pattern, as it's our first kitchen I hadn't thought of that and it seems blindingly obvious now in hindsight. Ah! 

 

I'm going to remove the photo as I'm a bit worried about our builder seeing this - but thank you for putting my mind at rest. I think we are going to live with it for now and save up for a new worktop in the future. 

[Big Jimbo]

As Pro Dave. over the years i have done the joint under a hop to minimise the visual. You say solid laminate, but a lamination means layers of stuff stuck on to of each other. Therefore, you end up with something solid, but it is a laminate. You photo has now gone, so i can't see, but if you are talking about ordinary laminated worktops with a chipboard core, then these are pre finished on the top surface, and should never be sanded. If you are talking about corian, or one of the cheaper man made stone tops, they are usually 4 to 6mm thick on the top, stuck onto mdf or chipboard. There will be fans of Corian on this site. Personally during 25 years of supplying kitchens, i refused to sell it. Basically expensive plastic, that scratches, and dulls. Being a tight sod, i recently replaced a huge kitchen that i had fitted 20+ years ago. I re-cut, and polished a couple of edges, and used it on my daughters kitchen. You would never know, it looks as good as the day i first fitted it 20 odd years ago.

[Russell griffiths]

10 hours ago, Big Jimbo said:

As Pro Dave. over the years i have done the joint under a hop to minimise the visual. You say solid laminate, but a lamination means layers of stuff stuck on to of each other. Therefore, you end up with something solid, but it is a laminate. You photo has now gone, so i can't see, but if you are talking about ordinary laminated worktops with a chipboard core, then these are pre finished on the top surface, and should never be sanded. If you are talking about corian, or one of the cheaper man made stone tops, they are usually 4 to 6mm thick on the top, stuck onto mdf or chipboard. There will be fans of Corian on this site. Personally during 25 years of supplying kitchens, i refused to sell it. Basically expensive plastic, that scratches, and dulls. Being a tight sod, i recently replaced a huge kitchen that i had fitted 20+ years ago. I re-cut, and polished a couple of edges, and used it on my daughters kitchen. You would never know, it looks as good as the day i first fitted it 20 odd years ago.

What worktop was that @Big Jimbo

[Big Jimbo]

1 hour ago, Russell griffiths said:

What worktop was that @Big Jimbo

Granite Russell. In my opinion nothing beats it for a kitchen Worktop.

[Temp]

We have granite worktops now but have had some very good laminates in previous houses. Some of it has been incredibly hard and sanding it would have totally ruined the finish. I wondered if he had used a solvent to clean off the glue and this had affected it somehow.