I got a note someone had commented on this old post. Interesting to read the old 'news.' It is kind of interesting to read the comments people made regarding patience and being 'nice' to suppliers. I tend to give people one chance, then invoke the nuclear option. I learned way back you get what you accept and hold people accountable to their word. Probably a USMC thing. Ya'know, bring a gun to a knife fight, bring a bigger gun to a gun fight, bring a nuke in any other situation. You get what you accept. Looking at my situation it was my fault, assuming the supplier had integrity, and Lowes would act quickly to resolve a problem that should never had occurred. The Lowes rep said I had to pay up front, which is when I should have walked out. Live and learn. My wife says I do not like the work other people do, and in general she is right. In 30 years of living in my house, rebuilding from the studs out, there are a few things I have not personally completed: Install wall to wall carpets, install the counter tops, put in a new electric service panel, glass shower enclosure Counter top story is here, the carpet guys had to redo a shoddy seam, the electric guy, middle priced quote out of 4 was perfect. The shower guys took out their work because they did not like how they did the job, I didn't have to ask. My wife comments on 'her' plumber, painter, ceramic guy, sheet rocker, cabinet maker, window installer, roofer, electrician, finish carpenter, deck builder, masonary guy, hardwood installer and finisher. She is right when she says I do not like how most people work. When I got to people's homes to see work done, I am warned to not comment. But even now my wife says things like 'why did they accept that work?' Anyway, a couple of 4 year later comments on Curava counter top material. The counters are nice, durable with a couple of exceptions. Since the stuff is manufactured with ground up glass it does have some possibility of chipping along any edges and even in the field of the stuff. We have a couple of spots where small pieces of glass have chipped out. I repaired one or two by cleaning, filling the small ship with clear epoxy, then trimming with a razor blade. Worked fine. One other issue I would caution customers with. Every here and there we have pieces of blue glass mixed in with our brown and amber colored glass chips. If you do not look closely, you would not see them but I would recommend a very thorough, complete agreement before installation and a close inspection of the surface after install or of the tops before they are installed. Maybe that manufacturing problem has been fixed. I think they may have a few more color choices now so I guess its possible for more color schemes to get mixed at the factory.

I wouldn't say there is a Right Way, or a Wrong Way (barring incompetence, of course!). But you need to decide: 1. undermount vs upmount (undermount is far more common). 2. How proud (forward) will it sit (i.e. hang off the cabinet). 3. What reveal? Positive reveal (some of the lip showing, as in the photo above), neutral reveal (counter edge lines up with sink), or negative reveal (counter overhangs sink). GW'ers have different opinions here on which reveal looks best and works best for them. 4. Finally, there is the caulk. What color? Here are my personal biases: undermount (easier to sweep stuff into sink, and protects top rim of sink from getting damaged), very slight negative reveal--about a sixteenth (I just like the look of this--sink is sort of nestled in, and you don't see the caulk. I just don't like caulk). Sitting proud a couple inches. Clear caulk--less visible than white. Again, those are just my opinions. The "proud" issue was the only one I kept waffling on. I kept schooching the sink forward and backward for several days to decide exactly where I wanted it. Oh--almost forgot! Related to the "proud issue" is how you want the counter to sit on the front edge of the sink. I obsessed about that one for WEEKS. But I'm very obsessive... I'll provide some pictures and commentary, and you can shake your head over how obsessive I am! Here are some of my photos after installation. Note: the caulk looks white b/c it was fresh. It turned clear, and is invisible. In this photo, you can see how the negative reveal looks. Also, this is where I fussed over the alignment of the front edge of the counter with the lip of the sink. I ended up having the counter line up with the inner lip line of the sink. This is a common positioning, but I tried pulling the sink farther forward as well. I also tried pusing the sink back toward the wall more, because one might have less of a "gunk catcher" on the corner of the counter. Here you see white caulk, which is now clear, and just looks like it isn't even there (just a dark "line" that looks like a tight gap): It sits proud about 2.5 inches, and is shimmed up about 1/4 on the left side, because the front lip was very slanted. As a result, the sink doesn't drain! But oh well. I chose form over function! Trying to figure out how proud to make her. You can see my crayon lines on the sink. The photo is very proud. I ended up opting for that first line that you see.: Trying to figure out where the counter should line up, along with how proud to make her (connected issues): Hey--get outa my sink! Hope that helps a bit! :-) francy

I am not any further on the counter :) But I am still planning on using the ply as an underlay. Unless I don't, lol. The soapstone that I have on hold has a small ding in the surface. I can repair it by using epoxy and ground soapstone "crumbs". Then when dry it sands nicely and you really don't see it. I haven't actually bought the stone I have on hold, but its not going anywhere. They might have other remnants soon. I think I will drive there tomorrow and reassess the "ding" and maybe just go with it instead of waiting for something else to turn up. Just got the under cabinet LED lights installed today. I am still working on the crown at the top. I have one length in and have to cut a piece to finish it up. The space is to tight for me to fasten the crown as instructed. I am using extra strong velcro, that will hold 1lb/sqin. It has been working well for the top crown. I used velcro to attach the filler strips to the 2x4 backing at the ends of the cabinets too. It was great. The instructions for my style of crown have you attach the crown at the bottom of the uppers in a way that is not a good method. They have you directly screw through the bottom of the crown and up into the cabinet box. There is a narrow foam strip that gets applied between the crown and box which looks like it is used to block the gap between, so under cabinet lights don't show through. The foam works, but the screws don't finish flush. The screw heads are so obvious. I am going to back each screw out, one at a time, and counter sink the hole so the screw head will be recessed. Then I can cover the holes with a plug or wood filler. I would post a picture of my under cabinet lights but I haven't been able to post pictures for several days now. I don't know what gives.

The cabinet company will be making a base out of 2x4s and secure them to the floor via tapcons all over the place. Then, the cabinets will be placed on top of that base, and screwed to the bases. Then the Skin will be applied and secured to the base and to the cabinets along with toe kicks. on the back of the cabinets and on the base a 3/4 piece of MDF will join the cabinets to the bases. There will be three corbels on the island with the steel supports as well. The countertop will have a radial edge and start around 3 or 4" overhang on the sides and then go up to around 12, (most likely around 10") in the middle. I am worried about it tipping over but they swear that it won't go anywhere.