Granite Installed - Possible Issue?

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granite516

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I believe the top of the bar/breakfast shelf is mostly level (both front to back and along the length) but I can see wood hanging down below the granite on the back side of the bar at one end. The bar was previously tiled and both the bottom and top looked level with nothing unusual showing underneath. It appears that the granite is resting on the backsplash of the kitchen counter behind it not on the underlying wood itself. The installer could only screw the wood down over the wall portion of the bar and I believed he might have over torque the screws sinking the wood down on the back half of bar. It was the last counter they installed and I only saw him measure the center for level. I question if the bar is even sitting on the wood support itself (it appears to be resting on the backsplash) and I can put my finger between the granite and wood. Is this acceptable work? I just don’t believe I should see wood like that…something more professional needed to be done. Please tell me what you think.

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It looks like a mistake but first you want check the finihed top for level. He was stuck with the constuction of the wall, if it was out of level he may have used this trick to level the top. Over tightning the screws would not have caused this. Welcome to the site.
 
Looks like a tapered builders shim to me.
 
Yep I see it now. I think I have been looking at too many tapered shims the last few days and I’m seeing them where they are not.

I think the OP has a legitimate complaint about the install the back splash wasn’t there to support the top in that manner. Also they shouldn’t be seeing raw wood like that. The photos are a little misleading as they did some photo shop to black out all the background except the details and that somehow made me not see the wall or whatever the top rests back on.
 
To me it look as the OP suggests just wrong but I also look at it like the installer was stuck with a wall that was built out of level and did what he could to correct a situation, not a good place to be.
So I still say, if the top is level now, he did the best he could, if it tilts down and away from the wall, he should be called back.
 
I’m not a contractor and I respect those of you that are because I know how many of this type issues come up on projects. As a DIYer I can make the judgment call and say good enough. People do have an expected level of quality to a job and these sleepers I’m sure never get figured into the quote. I would be always be advising people I will do my best but there are things beyond my control also. That may well be the case here. But I would still try and dress it up a little more if the wall was off that much. Agreed a level top is goal number one and if it had to be shimmed to that extent to get it level then maybe a line of caulking or a small trim strip to hide the view of the base material is all it would take to give the job a finished look.
 
Yes if he ran into a problem beyond his control he should have talked to the homeowner about, or shimmed the plywood up. If he had shimmed the plywood up a simple trim at the top of the wall would make everthing look right. If they were the people that did the demo on the old counter, you would expect them to make it right, before installing. I see this with alot of trades people "I don't want to deal with anything that will slow me down"
 
Thanks for the comments. Brought the installer back and he sees there is an issue with the underside of the breakfast shelf. However, if he tries to remove the glued in shelf, he risks breaking it. What do I do now? Let him leave it the way it is without any consequences? It's just not right that it was not installed correctly and he gets away with poor workmanship because it might be worse to have him fix it.
 
Granite, I feel for you man. I'm so tired of being screwed over by contractors where I live, I never had problems back in AZ. I would go down to home depot and pick up some Mexican immigrants who knew what I wanted better than I did and work with them to do the job. I literally learned from them every time.

I would make the best of it you can, put alot of low expansion foam in there with some good weight on the top but... isn't there some way to complain about contractors like to a BBB or something? I just leave scathing reviews on Google and all other websites I can to let everyone know how poor quality they are. Some work is so bad all I have to say is here is what they did (picture), does this look finished or right?
 
Well you know carpentry is not the easiest tasks in the world, especially if someone wall is crocked to begin with as is the case with many older homes. How perfect you want he end result to be can depend on many thing$ and endless time. A more experiences carpenter may have charged you x3 as much but did it right the first time. This guy will come a put some cauk in there and cover the space up, you get what you need in the end.
 
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