We had a flagstone porch and walkway installed at our house. The project was just completed and washed down and we noticed (after all the dust was washed away) that there are all of these cut marks on several stones of the porch (2 stones) and walkway (1 stone).
What are these marks from? They look like chicken scratches. Our contract makes reference to flagstone having natural imperfections and mill marks and that these are to be expected, but these look like cut marks that the contractors might have made while cutting the stones. Are these mill marks or marks probably made by our contractor?
I would like to know if I have a case when I go over the job with the contractor. I have a feeling he is going to argue that these are mill marks and not replace the stones.
The porch stones are set in concrete and the walkway is dry laid. If they won't replace the stones, is there anything we can do to get rid or minimize the cut marks? I believe they already acid washed everything down. Could they be sanded out?
I've seen similar scratches on uncut flagstone straight from the quarry. That's what happens if a stone slides across another stone, with a small bit of gravel between them. It probably happened while the stones were loaded onto the pallets at the quarry.
The marks WILL fade out eventually and blend into the rest of the rock.
