Corners

We will place seams in most corners, especially on quartz. The Quartz manufacturers require us to have a seam or a radius in each corner.

It’s important to know that the manufacturers of ultra-compact and porcelain slabs such as Dekton require a seam in every corner, there is no radius option on these products.

Sinks

We will avoid putting seams in sinks as much as possible. When we put a seam in a sink we are unable to use our sink CNC to cut and polish the sink and then it will need to be done by hand which increases our silica levels in the shop, which OSHA constantly monitors for us. We need to stay below a certain silica level and eliminating hand cutting allows us to meet the OSHA standard.

If we do need to put a seam in a sink run piece due to length, size, etc., we will put it at least 10” away from the sink and usually on the opposite side of the sink as the dishwasher so that the seam doesn’t end up over the dishwasher.

Trapped by 3 Walls

If a piece is trapped by 3 walls, our standard policy is to put a seam into it in order to mitigate any wall damage during install.

Pieces Longer Than 96″

The longer the piece, the more likely it is to get damaged in transport. We have set the max length of a single piece at 96”. In some cases we may be able to go longer than that but it will depend on the material, the install site, and the installer.  There are also certain fragile natural stones that require seams to create pieces smaller than 96” to avoid breaking during transport.

Farm Sinks

Farm sinks on perimeters (not islands or peninsulas) usually need a seam because the piece small piece left behind the sink ends up so narrow that it would break in the shop or during transport. On islands or peninsulas where we have more room behind the sink, we won’t necessarily need to add a seam for that reason alone, other factors like size and length may come into play which require a seam.

Pieces Greater Than 20 Sq. Ft.

Large pieces require more labor in the shop and most of the time on install as well. Our standard policy is to seam pieces larger than 20 Sq. Ft. unless the sales person has charged for an oversized piece. If you know you have an island or a peninsula that you don’t want seamed, please include the oversized piece charge and put it in the notes of your lead/job.

Waste

We may add a seam in a place that makes sense if it allows us to save buying additional material. This is most common on jobs that are sold on a per square foot program such as the box stores and builders.