Summary:
Poor quality installation including seams, sink outline, overhangs, and stains.
Review:
After searching around Omaha for an affordable granite company, we came upon Mr. Granite. They had a fairly nice office, and a yard nearby that we were able to pick a slab. The first flag we should have noticed was that it didn't seem like they were marking the slab we wanted, but said they would make sure they marked it for us later. The owner was very nice and mentioned that he does work for builders around the area. Because the price was about 25% less than the other places we looked, we decided to give them a try. We thought we would be supporting a small business owner.
A couple months later we were ready with our basement for the granite to be installed. When my husband called to schedule the measurement and installation, they had trouble finding our record, which was concerning considering we gave them a downpayment. I was nervous at that point and told my husband I almost wanted to get our downpayment back if we could, and go with another company. But we moved forward.
On the day they were supposed to install, we waited all morning and didn't hear anything. My husband called the owner a couple times with no response. He finally got a text that they would be coming between 2-3. That time frame came and went. They showed up at 5:45 when we were planning to leave at 6:30 for my birthday dinner reservations. They assured us it would take an hour and we decided to have them leave through the basement when they were done.
When we returned at 8:30, they were still there. We went downstairs to check on the progress and they told us that the walls were crooked and that they were having to grind down the edges to make everything fit. The contract showed that they would be using a template and a machine for cutting. So that would mean that any imperfections in the walls or cabinets should have been incorporated into the template and the machine would have accounted for that when cutting. We waited and waited and they finally left at 11:00 at night. We went downstairs and knew immediately that everything was crooked. The overhangs and dimensions with the walls varied by a half inch. The sink had waves in it. They had broken the supports off for the overhang.
I called their office on the Monday, and told them we would not pay them until everything was corrected, and that included replacing any slabs that could not be fixed. The wife gave me the owners cell number and I told him the same thing. He assured me they would fix everything but again blamed it on the walls being crooked. I told him my husband would call to schedule a time to fix it. He then wouldn't answer any of my husbands calls or voicemails. After persistence and my husband calling the office, they scheduled the fix for the following Saturday morning. They said they would be there at 9:30, and he told them it better not be 5:00.
They showed up at 10:30. They proceeded to fix to the best of their ability. And finally called us down to look at the final product before they put the seams in, around 3:00. One of the slabs had been ground so much that it would have had a gap of about a quarter inch on either side, and it was still crooked. We made them go back and get us a new piece.
It was dark when they returned, but my dad had loaned us a working light since the lights weren't installed yet. The piece looked better so we told them to proceed with the seam. They also still had issues with the sink outline, so we told them they still needed to fix that. At 10:00 they knocked on the basement door and my husband went down to look. I was upstairs getting our son ready for bed (he wouldn't go to sleep with all the noise). The seam was messy and big and my husband told him he needed to come back to buff it out. My husband also pointed out the nicks all over the wall and a couple gouges on the cabinets. They denied that they had done it. Being frustrated and tired and realizing that these guys had done the work to the best of their ability (which isn't very good), my husband gave them their money and told them to not come back. After they were about to drive away, my husband had to chase them down to get my dad's light that they had "mistakenly" taken.
The worst part is that we didn't notice the two yellow stains in the white granite the next morning on the slab that they replaced.
I do not think they should have been paid the full amount because we are bringing another company in to clean up what they can. We originally had Midland Marble and Granite install our granite in our kitchen through the builder my dad works for. But because they moved their yard and office to Kansas City, and we wanted to pick our slab, we shopped around. This was a big mistake on our part and we are now going to pay Midland Marble to come out and try to fix/clean up their mess as much as they can. read more