SHODDY, SLOW, $$$$$$$
I went with Emerald Coast Granite Tile and Glass (EC) to replace my kitchen counters, what a DISASTER. Although I had better price quotes (from big box stores) I didn't want to deal with subcontractors and wanted a professional job done, therefore I chose EC. The project took twice as long as initially quoted, but that is not my main complaint.
All my dealings with the company were suspect. The installation was shoddy and the finish worse than amateur.
On February 2nd I was told that if I bought a new sink, the installation and hook up would be included, so I did, although my sink was fine. Two days later Robert, who had made this deal no longer worked there and I had the extra expense of a new sink, without getting it or the faucet hooked up.
On February 7 they sent two subcontractors with the wrong counters. I went back to the shop to confirm my order, was told they would be there later that day with correct order. Called Wednesday, they were too busy. Thursday came and went. Friday at 11 AM the two subcontractors showed up brought a counter in, took it back out and said they needed to get a chisel from the shop. I offered them the use of mine, but no. They returned 3 hours later, fused one seam and left to pick up kids from school at 3 PM, tools strewn about the project. They also wanted to tear out a decorative backsplash behind the cook-top to continue the install.
Unannounced two different workers came Saturday to install most of the counters. Each piece they had to re-cut in our driveway to make it fit. None of the miter cuts are lined up with the corners in the kitchen, there were wide gaps between the counter and the backsplash and at the ends of the counter was a gap exceeding 1 inch to the wall of the cabinet.
To fix that they glued a strip to the cabinet, which I had them remove. Their advice was to 'use white caulk to fix the gaps'.
The bar top (2 pieces) has a dinged end, and the other piece is cut too short, so they packed it back to the shop to fix it. They said they would be back the next day to finish the install and the sink, but would not hook up the cook top.
Two days later (Feb 14) another set of subcontractors show up, install the bar top (the exact ones that went back, with the dinged up part), and push a tile out of place in the back. They offered to caulk the gaps, but admitted that the caulk kept falling through. They never reconnected the faucet or cook-top. Thursday morning I had a reminder to pay the balance of $4k. I took pictures to the shop and they admitted it didn't look good, they could fix the gaps with some inserts and caulk. They did not offer to do it right and align the counters, cut them to size so I paid and left, since I had enough of their botched jobs. read more
