mnerg - thanks for the pics. Can't wait to see the finished kitchen. I NEVER would have guessed that your cabs are maple? They look "too nice!" Are they custom? I guess I tend to equate maple cabs with "stock" or "cheap" cabs, though yours certainly do not look that way at all. We had stock maple cabs from Home Depot for our first house. A 8x10 kitchen we "remodeled" ourselves for around $4K when we first got married. We replaced a metal sink base and 3 metal uppers with some and while the "new" look was a HUGE upgrade, they still screamed cheap, which they certainly were. Anyways... brickeyee - thanks for pointing out cheaper ways to find the metal. I figured there had to be a better way than the ones that come with the stove...but wasn't certain. I could still drill through for a pot filler if I wanted to, right? Sabjimata - thanks for your "flip side of the coin" POV. I do worry that someone who really fries a lot (like us) would make a big mess...I am not sure what we are doing for counters yet. I like the look of a soapstone without a lot of veining (matte, black, nice contrast with cherry cabs and lighter maple floors which we plan to use - also will work with the rest of our very open downstairs floor plan). Hubby equates soapstone with the "oily" stuff he used in chemistry lab and thinks the streakiness will drive me crazy. KD has also tried to steer me away from soapstone, saying he does nothing with it and it is not in our price range. We have zodiac now in our current house, and while I do (mostly) like the look (we have a black with some light speckling) and the ease of maintenance, we have chipped it in multiple spots and broken several cups/dishes on it as it is unbelievably hard. We only met with KD once, but he was trying to push us into granite. I need to do more research I guess...we haven't even broken ground yet, so I still have time. idrive65 - did yours come with the stove? I like the baskets. kitchenaddict - your idea of using a cookie sheet and subjimatas of using foil make sense. I can see myself needing to do something like that to keep it clean. Though I wonder if I clean it down right away, while still warm, it would clean off well enough. If they sheets from a metal fabricator or Home Depot are cheap enough, I guess they could be replaced every few years too, if needed. Carrie - every time I see your kitchen i drool over those counters. Beautiful!! Wow Shannon - that quilted look IS very nice! I really like it. Though I will have to look into it more, bc on quick glance it says it can't be used with warming shelves and I wonder if I could drill through it for a pot filler. But thanks for the link to get me started. Laura - love all the glass! Wish I had the balls (and OCD) to do that and keep it looking that nice! Though our plan does not call for a lot of uppers, so I have a feeling my cabs will be full! We are hoping to do 12inch cabs at the top of 42in (9ft ceil) and those will be glass I think. Thanks to the rest of you I did not specifically mention by name. It is very helpful to get your opinions and/or pics.

Idrive65, I love that backsplash! I can see how it would be very easy to clean! Jcee730, my GC used a 1/8" thick sheet he got from the metal fabricator who also made this incredible steel frame we used under a desk-like area in our kitchen. It didn't cost him anything (he believes it was built into the cost of the frame...) since the guy had a piece of scrap, rather than us having to purchase an entire sheet. He said the SS screws, however, we're $5 / piece! And unlike idrive65, there is no design to ours other than the shine, so definitely cost effective.

Thanks again all for the replies. Things did not work out as planned, but maybe it's for the better. The helper showed up late, so I tried to look at the task myself. Decided to cut the caulking out between the wall and the countertop behind the cooktop. It allowed me to insert the backsplash downward enough for me to muscle the entire backsplash in place from under the hood. I preemptively shaved some drywall off where the gap is smaller than the thickness. Glad that I did because although I did it with the intention of trying out/dry fitting, I ended up having a hell of a time to back it out. Actually, it was so hard that I gave up. So, I simply brought the top forward to give me enough room to squeeze some adhesive in. Due to the awkward access, I just did snake pattern. BTW, the bottom two screw holes are behind the countertop and not accessible. The top two screw holes are so close to the hood and cabinets that I simply cannot go straight in. And when I tried, they were not hitting studs anyway, and I can't get the drywall anchor in. So, I'm mostly relying on the adhesive now to hold the backsplash. That's it. No removal in the future! When the helper finally arrived, he was surprised to see that I already finished installing the backsplash.

No one can answer your question since we don't have access to your particular tile or sealer. I would take a spare sheet of the uninstalled mosaic and test it with the sealer. Cut the sheet in sections and you can test different sealers. People here have been known to manually apply sealer to individual tiles. Time consuming, but might be worth the trouble.