Worktop damage

[quiteinfuriating]

Howdens kitchen fitted 5 years ago by local builder.
Just noticed worktop has water damage. It's 15cm from the sink.

I feel like this shouldn't have happened but is it the worktop or the fitter at fault (he cocked loads up).

I'm worried it's going to be expensive to fix as the tiles are sat on the worktop.

Should I suck it up and pay for a new one, or try the builder or Howdens?

Advice appreciated

After 5 years, I think it just falls on you to get someone in to replace/repair it.

Wife of a kitchen fitter here - (he specialises in Howden & Wren) ... definitely not caused by faulty workmanship or faulty product. 5 years is a long for a fault to take to show up, water damage like that is caused by user error ... they won't help you now. Sorry, I know it's frustrating. And you're right, it's going to be hard to get that out without damaging the tiles.

I'd get a magic man/French polisher in to try to hide the damage.

There's a few people in our area who fix things like this (lots of new builds) one is called damage doctor, the other is called plastic surgeon or something. Though we had a blown joint in our worktop and it needed replacing so be prepared for that.

Thanks folks