ANDREW LAUREN GRANITE

unknown

I originally contacted Andrew Lauren through an email sent from Angie's List on 01/06/2015. I received no response to the email, so that should have been the first sign of trouble. My contractor said they are usually pretty good, so I took Monday 01/19/2015 off work and my wife and I went to pick out the slabs stopped into their Alvernon showroom unannounced. We knew what granite and features we wanted and were looking for a rough quote.  I designed the kitchen and ordered and built all of the cabinets myself, so I know the layout and measurements by heart.  We were met by Scott Michels in the showroom.  I did not have drawings or blueprints, but after my wife suggested it, he allowed me to sketch the layout with measurements on the back of the quote request form.  I received the quote in my email the next day on 01/20/2015.  Great, how do we proceed?  An appointment for 01/29/2015 to template and then the install on 02/12/2015. I took the day off for the install, to be available to answer any questions they might have had.
The install fit looks good, but the seam is jagged, with surface chips on either side of it.  The epoxy filled the surface chips, on either side of the cut, and was not polished smooth, so it looks more like a grout line between two bricks. When I questioned the installer, he said that it was as good as any Home Depot job.  I went directly to this fabricator/installer, to avoid the middleman, believing I would be treated marginally better. I sent a complaint about the seams, via email, and an appointment was set for 02/16/2015.  They sent the same installer, who worked some more epoxy into the same jagged seam, scraped off the excess and left. I left a voicemail for Scott Michels, while the installer was still at the house and received no response by the end of the day. My impression is that they either do not have the equipment to machine the edges properly onsite, (final cuts made in the driveway, and I never saw any grinding/polishing equipment) or they are unwilling to do any better than the big box store work they are contracted to perform.
On 02/20/2015 David came to the house and said that the seam is within spec and that he would be afraid to polish it for fear of making it worse, but would do so if I insisted.
I initiated a review on the BBB on 02/17/2015 requesting the seam issue be addressed. I received a voicemail from Scott Michels on 02/25/2013, requesting I call him about the counters. I have already taken time off work for the initial install and to address the issue with David. I left two messages for Scott on 03/06/2013.
As of 03/11/2015 I have not heard back from this business. My check cleared today. The response to the BBB indicated that the manager says the seam is not jagged.  I will let Angie's List customers judge the pictures attached to this review to decide if they would be satisfied by the seams in their own homes. I am unsatisfied.

Originally OK but then the wheels fell off. They cut the rectangular sink in the wrong direction on a 5K piece of granite, the guy installing it told my wife" they usually cut them the other way and guess they should have called before they did it but oh well".  It gets worse - the edge of the bath vanity was broken back a good 1/2 - 3/4 "  on the finish corner so it dives into the wall (chiseled edges) when I called them out on it  - they try and convince us this is normal and would be much too expensive for them to redo it - seriously?.....then back to the kitchen area we rapped a bar around a wall - when they came to finish this portion  its offset to match up by 3/8 - unfortunately my wife didn't look at it and paid them so when  I called him to come out again they refused to deal with it telling me to change it and  have done it right they would have had to cut back the wall (or they could have cut the granite correctly in my view). 
I posted this on Angie's list before and rather than contact us to make it right they put in a post that they did not do this job. To give them a break they may have looked it up by my wife's last name rather than mine however the address and the project are the same. - stay away!
if you want further details or photos I would be happy to provide them.

We were putting In VERY expensive granite countertops - without discussing with us they cut the sink hole facing the wrong direction. When I told them about this the manager did come out meet with me but told me it was my fault we followed the directions on the sink but when they looked back at the shop drawings they realized it was incorrect - the installer even told me they should have called to clarify but did not and he indicated the company did not care about quality only volume. Then the bathroom - big chip missing on edge as we had chiseled edges - the manager tells me " that's the way chiseled edges go" I visit many high end resorts around the world and this is the first chiseled edge I have seen look like this with a broken piece. They finally came to finish the bar edge where there was a 1/8 of an inch out of alignment in the seam. they should have shaved off the back edge toward the wall for the edges to meet correctly - of course they didn't and my wife paid them the final balance with out looking at it. Once paid they would no longer address any of the issues Use anyone but these guys!!

Overall, it went great with Andrew Lauren Granite Creations, but not so good with Home Depot.I went through Home Depot and Andrew Lauren is subcontractor for them. If I were to do it again I would deal with Andrew Lauren directly. I worked with Kristen there and she is top notch!!! My experiences dealing with Home Depot could have been better (Mike the salesperson became unavailable after I paid for the granite; failed to tell me the granite I was interested in was going on sale in a couple of days - fortunately I found out from another HD store about this sale and waited; didn't offer to provide samples for me to take home to match my kitchen - however, another store did, etc ).
 I am very happy with the way my kitchen looks but I'd much prefer working with the subcontractor directly....probably could have gotten a better price than dealing with big box.... and been treated nicer in the process.

I was going to take advantage of a Home Depot special promotion for granite when a friend suggested that before I go through HD I might want to go down to Andrew Lauren Granite directly.  She was able to get a great price by using the remnants/rejected slabs - and her kitchen is gorgeous!  
ALG is a sub for HD, so either way I would have to go down there anyway to pick out the slab.  Kristen took me out to see the slabs in the back, and almost immediately I fell in love with a slab that had been rejected by another customer because there was too much "movement" in the veining (really - people pay big bucks for that)!  I asked if the island could be cut from the portion of the slab that had the dramatic veining, and after a few quick calculations the answer was "yes".  She was wonderful to work with, especially since I was kind of obnoxious about making sure that the island was cut from the unique portion of the slab.  :-)  
They also beat HD's special promotion price!  The template makers and installers were on time and very professional.  The only glitch was miscommunication on my part regarding the re-connection of the plumbing - but again that was my error.  
My new counters are gorgeous.  They look much more expensive than they were since there is so much drama in the island.  I find it amazing that someone rejected the slab.  I find the naturally occurring variances add so much character.  
I'm a Realtor, so I've seen a lot of kitchens!  I highly recommend Andrew Lauren, and will not hesitate to recommend them to my clients!

We took advantage of a promotion through Home Depot and Andrew Lauren was the contractor they used. We didn't really shop around and I wish we had. The cost of the granite was good for the beauty of the stone but that is where the advantage ended. The first hint of trouble came when their staff came to measure for the template. Of all the people who worked with us on our project, these individuals were the least personable or pleasant. But when the granite slabs came in, we did get to see them and they looked beautiful. It wasn't long until the next red flag came up though. We asked to see how the template would fit onto the slabs. They reluctantly agreed but were rather rude. When I asked why it was such a problem when our friends were able to do this with their contractor, they replied that they didn't normally do this for Home Depot customers - only those with a private contractor. For the next couple of days, I seriously considered pulling the plug on them and getting my counters from someone else. My good sense was clouded by those beautiful pieces of rock and we stuck with Andrew Lauren. Due to the overhang on our peninsula, it was suggested that we add some supports. I sought advice from Andrew Lauren staff as to what to use and when the supports should be placed - before or after granite installation. They told me that customers usually handled getting their own supports and had no suggestions. Further, they said that we should install supports after the counters were installed. We were doing a lot of the remodeling ourselves and didn't know better. Since then, several professionals have said that the braces always go in first. I only hope that time will tell us that it is OK. Finally - installation day! It would all be worth it! At least the installers seemed a bit more friendly that the "measurers." A couple of smaller pieces went in without a hitch. Then there was a halt in the process and the installer was outside on the phone with a worried look. A while later, several more people showed up and they all very carefully carried in the piece of stone that fit in front of the sink. After that, they started to fill in cracks which they said were very normal and that our granite type was particularly susceptible to cracks. That well may be, but several in front of the sink really concerned me. I noted these in writing, when I signed off on the stone and at least I did the right thing then. Overall, I was dazzled by how the counters looked. For a few days, I tried to ignore the cracks that became more and more distracting. We went to install our slide-in range and that was when it became apparent that the strip they had installed behind the range wouldn't allow the range to go in all the way. Further, the counters on one side of the range stuck out a 1/2 inch further than the other side so that the range wouldn't slide in evenly. I contacted Andrew Lauren to tell them that the cracks really were bad and that the range couldn't slide in correctly. At first they tried to tell me that there was really nothing wrong but when their staff came to the house, they were willing to fix things. They sliced off some of the strip behind the range so that it could go in. We still had to install the range ever so slightly crooked because of the difference in depth of the slabs on either side, but it's not really noticeable. They also took a shot at repairing the cracks. I must say that once they were filled in and buffed I could barely see them. Other than that, my option was to have a wall and a half of counter top removed and replaced. The thought of that after not having a kitchen for a couple of months was appalling. Now some months later, the cracks in front of the sink are more apparent than ever. The cosmetic fix has not lasted that well. I'm torn about what to do. I may contact them again - I just haven't decided what I would want them to do even if they agreed. Overall, I would not go with them again. Shop around and read reviews. I assumed that going with a package deal from Home Depot would be the most economical route. Since then, I have found that that was not necessarily true and I wish I would have shopped around for an installer that was as "attractive" as the rock.