No, we used Thomas Marble and Granite in Gaithersburg, MD - tiny mom and pop shop with really reasonable prices - not the fancy shop, but our granite looks nice (I wish they got the granite closer to the stove but not a huge deal) - but our seam is amazing and our backsplash flows really nicely. They were wonderful to work with too. We also got our blanco sink from them for 1/2 the normal price. We got our stone from Avanti in Frederick, but liked Arc (huge) and Marva - we did the rounds several times (had to take my mom as my husband had enough).

Shop around for prices - we got a huge range from $62 (I think) from Thomas (picked them from a recommendation from Avanti who usually doesn't recommend after getting burned from Stone Surfaces - don't use) to $150 a foot for Gold and Silver (more expensive stone). We didn't pick so much on price vs. we didn't know what to do after Stone Surfaces.

Thanks Pcjs. Unfortunately, EXPO only uses this one place, I cannot shop around.

*** I just noticed my atrocious grammar (in Subject)! I can't believe I didn't catch it! ***

I'm using them right now! They have been really great to work with, though my counters are not yet installed. I bought soapstone through Expo and they are going to template and install it (hopefully in the next couple weeks). I've been trying to get the templating done for weeks now, and they schedule it, but then I have to postpone it for various reasons and they're always very accommodating and nice about it. They also ordered my soapstone so I could get a piece of my actual slab way before they normally would. So I have no comments about their seam comment, and can't comment on seams personally, but I've been very pleased working with them so far.

Thanks Fausonk! Please keep me updated on your progress and experiences. I hope they continue to keep you happy......and don't forget to post pictures of your slab!!!! (I have to live vicariously through all of you since my DH doesn't want Soapstone!)

Our kitchen design company, Reico, used Granite Source in Ashland. Our countertops are Cambria quartz - and we have a huge island (approx 5 feet by 9.5 feet). The kitchen designer requested the island countertop be fabricated with no seam. Granite Source did a beautiful job. We have one seam along the perimeter of the kitchen and you have to look really carefully to find it. The crew from Granite Source was very professional - from the templater to the guys who installed. They arrived on the day they said they would be there to template and later to install. We were very happy with their product and their installation services.

I'm glad to hear another positive endorsement for them!

Spoonwood, did they give you the pieces of granite from your cutouts (sink(s) & cooktop)? The previous place that EXPO worked with (Stone & Tile World in Rockville), refused to. I was thinking it might be nice to make a trivet out of it to leave on the counter and have it blend in...or even use it elsewhere (although granite is probably too heavy to be carrying a large trivet around made out of it!)

I'd like to put one on at least one side of our cooktop so I reduce the risk of my granite cracking.

TIA!

We did not ask for the cut-out pieces. Our kitchen installer said that they would probably do that, if requested, but there were too many other things going on at the time and I did not ask.

Did not use Granite Source for our granite, but wanted to say that I've seen "Blue Eyes" granite in one of our listings, and it's just beautiful! It looks like a simple gray granite until the recessed lights shine on it. The blue appears, shimmers and then recesses as you move past it. A little offbeat, if it's your taste.

fausonk & spoonwood...Granite Source was here a couple weeks ago to measure. I noticed he did not get the exact contour of the wall...he just shoved a big piece of white board up against the wall and that was it. He also wasn't very interested in talking to me about my counters unless he had a question. Also, he did not measure the powder room, just asked the measurements.

I was also originally told he would take our sinks for the cutouts at the shop, but I later discovered he just took the templates for the 2 kitchen sinks...and nothing for the powder room--he said he had other templates at the shop for that sink and didn't need another one!

I'm concerned b/c we are not putting in a backsplash at this time and I do not want large gaps b/w the wall and counter.

What were your experiences w/the measuring and the final installation?

[Unfortunately, when he was out for measuring I was on a conference call at the same time so had to split my time b/w them!]

I thought I'd update this thread...our granite install was a nightmare.

• Slabs not cut to the correct size (rather large gaps b/w the cabinets & counters on sink run)

When cutting pieces for the same counter run, they didn't check to be sure they were the same thickness. So they installed them and...

• The counter wasn't level at the seam...there was a visible difference in the heights, and

• We had a sharp edge with the thicker piece that was in just the right place for scraping knuckles when opening/closing drawers and accessing items in them.

  When we complained about it, they said it "didn't matter" and "this is normal". Huh???? I refused to accept that response and they finally took the thicker piece out and, in our yard, ground it down a bit. It's a little better, but a glass placed on the seam rocks a bit and there's still a bit of sharp stone hanging down, but not as much

That same seam was filled with a light gray epoxy instead of black...again they said it was "normal"!!! (Yes, they eventually refilled it with a dark gray, not quite black, but they didn't have any black. It looks OK, not great, but OK)
That same seam is also much wider than I expected...approx 1/4" wide. They stated it was within "spec" and refused to do anything with it. When I quoted what the Marble Institute of America says is "acceptable" (1/8"), their response was that they don't follow those standards. (Hmmm...)
Along that same wall, it was obvious they did not template it properly. There was a gap b/w the back wall and counter on the right side that I could put my fingers all the way to my knuckles in...well over an inch wide! Their response was to tell me to put tile backsplash up to hide it...when I had specifically told them, over and over, that we would NOT have a tile backsplash in that location! (I was backed up by my KD's company's granite rep.) So, they ground it down (in-place) to try to match the contour of the wall. Again, not great, but at least we could put some black silicone b/w the wall & counter to hide it.
I had covered all the drawer glides of my cabinets to prevent damage due to granite dust (it will destroy glides). However, for some reason they removed all my coverings prior to installation and, of course, the glides in the cabinet below where they ground the stone in-place were covered in granite dust! My glides were destroyed! We tried using "canned air" (at the installers recommendation) to remove the dust, but to no avail! They gave us such a hard time about it that we took matters into our own hands and replaced the damaged glides with the glides from the damaged cabinet (see below). Our KD gave us a hard time about it, but in the end she agreed it was the most cost-effective and fastest solution to the problem..
Probably the biggest issue I had with them was that when they brought in one of the pieces for the other side of the kitchen, they brought it in the wrong way. Instead of going...

Correction, the MIA specifies 1/16", not 1/8":

Joint (seam) widths between two stone units should equal 1/16" (1.5 mm), with a tolerance of +/- 1/64" (+/- 0.4 mm).

Forgot to mention:

It should be noted they did offer to redo one of the pieces (the one that had the huge gap b/w the wall and counter), but when they called the workshop, they discovered none of the leftover pieces were big enough. The did not, however, offer to find another slab or purchase another slab for us for the redo.

It wouldn't have mattered, though, b/c there were no other slabs from the same lot left. We did not trying looking again b/c it had taken us several months to of looking all over the MD/VA/DC area b/f we found these.

We were looking for an Absolute Black that was a true black. At the time, the vast majority of quarries were bringing up light-to-medium gray stones in their AB locations so the slabs out there were all gray (or dyed to look black but were not). We finally found a small lot (5 slabs) of "AB Premium" that was true black with a very light scattering of silver inclusions. We loved the slabs and did not want to have to start a multi-month search all over again!