Absolute Stone Corporation — Local services in Cary

I wanted a nice granite countertop to upgrade the house we are preparing to sell. We needed to replace about 35 square feet of laminate countertop (and backsplash), and arranged with Absolute Stone to install what they said was the most popular color, New Venetian Gold.

The installation includes a basic 50/50 double sink, but I paid $50 more for a 40/60 upgraded sink. Cost was close to $1600 overall.

Likes:

The stone looks very nice and the installation was good, but not great. They took a few shortcuts.

The price is quite good for this area. I looked for other places that had stone countertops and could not find a price as low - but I have since heard that there are others locally.

They allowed me to let them in to do the install without having to stay and watch. But I think it would have been smarter to do that if I could. I couldn't take the extra time off work.

Dislikes:

The new countertops were about 1/2 of an inch shorter than the originals all the way around. This had consequences that affected the appearance. I probably should have figured this out, but they didn't mention it.

As a result, there was a 1/2 gap between the top of the new backsplash and the freshly painted walls above. This gap contained broken drywall and needed to be repaired and repainted. It required two applications of spackle and then the paint. So be prepared to have this done if you are upgrading from common laminate (about 1-7/16").

The installers didn't wait for me to look at the results, even though I was ten minutes away. They called to say that they were leaving and hit the road. I was there a few minutes later.

They had used caulk to seal the backsplash to the damaged and broken wallboard in this 1/2" gap everywhere. Extremely unprofessional! This caulk had to be scraped off by the interior painters.

Another problem: I have a GE electonic stove with a cooktop that extends to cover the countertops on 3 sides. Because the new granite countertops are shorter, the cooktop was now 1/2" above the countertops all the way around. Even when adjusted to the lowest height settings, there's still a significant gap.

Absolute had several chances to mention this (initial estimate, template build, and on arrival to install) but never did. So now I have a high quality stove that no longer fits very well.

It was a lot of work to reconnect the plumbing after they finished. I found the old drain piping had been completely removed and dropped into a nearby wastebasket (including the water it contained). I had disconnected the pipes in advance, but I guess it was in the way.

You have to sign many, many disclaimers when you buy service from them. I found this exasperating. Yes, I know that all granite is slightly different. Yes I know that no installation is perfect. But that does not mean I like to sit and sign paragraph after paragraph of legalese when contracting services. I have purchased service from about 20 different contractors this year, and their amount of legalese was the 2nd worst.

I would still consider buying services from Absolute Stone, but I would take a close look at the alternatives first - and look online for more...

The company sells granite for a good price. That is the reason I went with this company. However, their customer service is poor. They have different Mexican crew who comes to measure and different ones to install. The measuring crew was informed that I wanted steel reinforcements which they did not write on their workup sheet. The lady I was working with at the Absolute Stone, Julie, was also informed that I wanted the steel reinforcements for the granite hanging out at breakfast nook. However the installers had no clue. I was told by Julie that the reinforcements need to be in place first and then granite goes above it. Even though they did not have the reinforcements the installing crew went ahead with installing the granite. They mentioned that someone will come and install the reinforcements later that day. I spoke to their boss Lody Smith, who mentioned that some one would come by later that day which did not happen. I waited till 7:30pm then went out for diner. When I reached Lody Smith the next day, he mentioned that the person came after 7:30pm ( which I later found out was not true). Meanwhile I left them a message that I had noticed some dents/ pits in my granite. I wanted them to fill it up. A week later their steel reinforcement guy came. I showed him small dents/ pits which were in my granite. He said that the company had not mentioned to him about pits/dents and just left while I was on phone trying to reach Lody Smith, their boss guy. Lody mentioned that I should take pictures of them and send it to them at the email address he gave me. I took photos and sent them via email. I have no response from them till now. I am tired of having to follow up with these people. Their service is poor. If you are looking for a pleasant and smooth experience you may want to look into...

I recently had a great experience with an Absolute Stone sales specialist, Lindsey Schrader. As a walk-in, I met Lindsey who just happened to be available on the sales floor, introducing herself jumping right to action. I was shopping for both countertop stone & eventually back splash but knew very little about the options. We were leaning towards quartz but that was about all we had decided. I hit the 'jackpot' with Lindsey. She immediately took me under her wing, providing me with a complete overview of what was available (even providing me info about less expensive options). I like to decorate but by no means, am a designer...it could have been overwhelming but my interaction with Lindsey put me at ease. In a very short time & over the course of a couple of visits, she was in tune with my tastes & provided me with great options. She was extremely patient, personable, very attentive...when she committed to providing quotes, pictures, samples, etc...she honored her commitment in a very timely manner. Often times, I'd have an email waiting for me before I got back to my computer. The whole experience went so seamless. Although we were prepared to wait, we decided to install backsplash at the same time. Once the final choices were made, Lindsey 'hand-held' the whole installation from start to finish even with the impact of winter weather. She was a complete pleasure to deal with & I would highly recommend her. She helped to create the kitchen of my dreams! I could not be more pleased with the experience that I had with Lindsey as a rep of...