MIDWEST TILE

When the fabricator cut and polished the granite for our new counter tops, the edges were very pale compared to the top of the stone. The stone surface had been "enhanced" somewhere along the way. The enhancing process puts a dye on the stone surface and makes it more distinctive and attractive, but it means that anywhere you chip the stone or if you have to polish the stone down the road, the surface colors WILL NOT MATCH. When the fabricator delivered the counter tops, I immediately noticed the edges were substantially paler than the stone surface. I called the owner of the fabrication shop, he immediately came over and explained to me the stone had been enhanced and how it had been done, resulting in the paler edges not matching the rest of the stone, because they had been freshly cut and did not have an enhancer on it.. It is particularly apparent in a bar where we had two thicknesses of granite put on the edge. The fabricator told us there was no recourse to repair the stone but to try to match the color as close as possible. I called Midwest Tile. Their initial response was: " We do not sell enhanced stone" . I asked my fabricator to make a call to Midwest Tile. This is a top notch fabricator that knows granite. Midwest Tile's manager was not as adamant, but told me right up front there would be no price adjustment on the stone, period. I asked him to come look at it, he never agreed to come out and he never came out. He was not interested in coming out and looking at it. We paid a premium price for a second quality stone from Midwest Tile. When buying granite, buy from a yard that adheres to the Marble Institute of America Standards. Ask if the stone you like has been enhanced? Ask for a guarantee so that when it is cut you will not discover it has been enhanced. Buyer Beware when buying from Midwest Tile, Marble and Granite, Inc.