May I suggest paver bricks? And of course, you can lay them better than I did with my path leftovers!

anyah: I am so sorry for what you're going through. You can probably DIY if you can rent commercial equipment to do the job. But given the stress you've been through, do you really want to take this on? Companies like ServPro are having a field day with pricing, but they presumably know what they're doing. If you can afford to totally rebuild and replace the contents, it may be worth $15k to have a pro take on the nasty cleanup job. This is just my opinion without knowing anything more about your financial situation and abilities. Definitely check with your insurance company to see if they'll cover any of the cost. If you haven't already, try to get free literature from FEMA related to cleaning up after a flood and mold removal. Depending on where you're located, this information may be available at a disaster recovery center or at one of the big box stores (HD, Lowes, Costco, etc). Send me a PM if you need assistance. Good luck.

Thanks all, your insights are very interesting. Makes sense too. I have a Fl waterfront story, about my husband's uncle. He and his father (husband's grandfather) were small-scale developers in Miami during the post war boom. In the very early 70s uncle and grandpa bought property in Key Largo and moved down there, building side by side modest stilt-style homes next door to each other. At the time the Keys were still remote-they had to dig their own wells for water for example. Uncle raised his family there, parents lived out the last decade of their lives next door. The uncle died a couple of years ago. However the land is going to be somebody's jackpot someday when the property is sold. Uncle (who inherited grandpa's share) owned *9 acres* of oceanfront property. It's actually one of the largest pieces of undeveloped land in the Fl keys, and he regularly got offers from hotels and resorts in the range of 10-15 million dollars. It was always a trip to go down for family parties. You would turn off the main road (US 1 for those who know the Keys) into the property which was just a bunch of scrub, nothing landscaped. Then down the looooooooong drive (crushed shells, never even paved) to the houses. They were small, not particularly well kept up but were directly facing the ocean. The area around the houses was always full of junk; old boats, cars/trucks that didn't run, rusting outdoor furniture etc. All of that next to the most glorious sea vista you could imagine. Amazing. As I said, it will be an interesting process when the property is eventually sold. Uncle had 4 daughters and one son and left everything to sonny. However, my husband's cousins are some pretty strong women and the uncle's plan that his only son inherit and keep everything is probably not going to fly once the big bucks start being offered. Oh, and many years ago my MIL TURNED DOWN a piece of waterfront property down there that her father offered her as a vacation spot. Crazy woman :). Ann

You didn't ask for options and I don't know if it's too late for these but - what about taking the bar/ledge right off and just extending the counter straight to the new edge so that it is all one level.(Apparently bar/ledges are no longer in style - or so "they" say) Or put a different material on the top of the bar/ledge. Rather than using the granite use a wood cap that ties into your cupboards so that it becomes a decorative feature rather than another counter that people aren't sure about using. Otherwise I think that busybme is right and you could just balance it with the other side of the overhang.