GoRavens.... 1. Ab.so.lute.ly! love the stones shown on the MotW website. I'm more partial to the cooler palate but both are examples are spectacular. 2. The stone on CL, I like it also, but unless you can use the greater majority of the slab in one piece (because of the way the colors 'zone') then I think you will have a slightly minimized wow factor. 3. I've looked at similar stones but for an accent wall in a walk-in shower. I know....huge overkill...and way out of my budget. But a girl can dream right? 4. For me, the stone screams contemporary so as such, I would want to see it in a more contemporary/modern/euro sort of kitchen design. 5. I would like to see it be a focal point piece for use on an island or as a backsplash behind the cooktop, making sure it was beautifully lit regardless of the location. So there is my 2.5-cents worth of feedback. Pepper ~ Granite installed yesterday. :-)

Please be patient in reading all of this as I think it will help you understand and deal with the situation better. To start, range width can vary. The vast majority of low to mid priced (and sized) ranges are 29.9 inches including Frigidaire, GE, Whirlpool, Samsung, LG and many more. Some are 30 including Bosch. The higher priced ones tend to have a bigger oven and they stretch them to the full 30. Even if they are 29 7/8, 1/8 inch split between both sides is not enough room to move the range without damaging it or the counter. That means a standard opening should be at least 30 1/4 and your's is 30 1/2. So, it's 1/8 more on each side with the vast majority of "standard" sized ELECTRIC ranges. You just spent many thousands getting your kitchen done. You have a range that's a more unusual 29.5. Also, ones that size are usually at the lower end and here you have it with a beautiful new kitchen. What happens when you want a new range? It's probably going to be about 30. A 30 won't fit in 30! What happens when you want to sell the house with a range gap that won't fit the vast majority of ranges?! So, do you really want this GC to "fix" your counter to be 29 3/4-30? As far as blame, if we want to get picky, for probably no reason considering the above, in my view, it's shared. Did you tell him your stove was a more unusual smaller size? Although, he could have asked too. In my opinion, he did you a favor by making it the best "standard" size possible, possibly 1/4 (only 1/8 on each side) more than necessary but not 1/2 to 1. With what he's done, he has ensured you can fit almost any electric range ;) The majority of your gap (1/2 inch) is caused by your unusual range. I'm hoping what I've said helps you be happy with your new, beautiful kitchen :) This post was edited by gfinale on Sun, Dec 2, 12 at 12:12

These are my pics of my countertops placed Friday June 22, 2018. I cried looking at these seams. It looks so cheap. Fabricator explains that's the way it comes. I explained that I shouldn't be able to see the seams so clearly. It looks so unprofessional. They ended up taking them back to their warehouse. In hopes they say if it is quality control will try and fix it just to make it look better. Otherwise I will have to pay an additional fee for them to come out again to install. I just don't know what to do and if still looks the same. This is the first time I've replaced my counters in 24 years. I don't and can't live with it. looking at this for another 24 years. It looks so cheap and it really was not it's a lot of money to me. I hope fingers crossed that they will fix this problem. They never told me that there would be such seams. I thought the edges were done by a machine and it would be all one piece. I have read up on this and now understand there are seams. But now I do know that they should not look like this. If they are good fabricator you shouldn't be able to see them so clearly. I will find out next week what happens.

Sarah, we have a wood island countertop, but opted to do soapstone at the end where the prep sink is. It's the best of both worlds for us - no fuss maintanenace around the sink, and I don't worry about water with the wood island countertop. BTW, we finished our wood with Waterlox and the upkeep is really easy. While we do minimal "prep" on the wood island, we eat at the island daily and always serve buffet style from there when we have guests, plus sit there to read the paper, use the computer etc etc so it gets a heavy workout. Eliz