Thanks, gang. I sent the cabinet maker a deposit today (along with a huge packet of notes and pictures. Poor man. I've worked with two cabinetmakers in the past on various projects. One of them didn't understand a thing I wanted even when I drew it out on Google Sketchup and this one seems to know what I'm talking about even when I talk in circles (which is almost all the time). ERF, I'm 99% sure we're going to do quartz, but I'm going to look at Corian too. I understand it has changed quite a bit since my last experience with it (I worked on a boat with charcoal Corian everywhere, including the bathroom floors, and it scratched like crazy, but apparently it's not like that anymore. We put quartz on our vanity in our bathroom and couldn't be happier with it but if Corian is equally durable (which it sounds like it is) I'm good with whatever looks best for the money. I never really thought about how putting heavy stone on our existing bases would work. Good thing we're replacing them! :) I can't really thank you all enough for taking the time to reply. My kitchen does not meet the requirements a lot of people on the Kitchen forum like to see (for instance ... I just realized today that there is only 30 inches between our island and the counters on either side when apparently you're supposed to have at least 36--oh well works for us!) and sometimes the real question gets bogged down in some of the details. That's not to say it's not a very helpful forum--it definitely is-- it just sometimes takes a little longer to describe the challenges of a small kitchen.

Wow, I feel much better now -- thank you for that reassurance! I know most everyone here understands how hectic and occasionally stressful the actual day of install can be. I'd had it in my head that there would be wood support underneath and *thought* that had been agreed upon with the installer... but evidently not! This is just one of the (very many) things that make GW so great... And... the one section in the corner of the kitchen where the lazy susan is, the cabinetmaker put in some builtin support of his own right into the cabinets. So things should be golden. The Minas soapstone is absolutely *amazing* to look at and feel -- I will be posting pics on a separate thread when they leave at the end of the day :-) Cheers, Supra92

You don't need additional plywood -- the stone sits right on top of the cabinets (either frameless or framed). I gather you are located in the west. In the east, thicker stones (both granite and soapstone) are the norm, and plywood on top of cabinets is not necessary or common.

Posted by remodelfla (My Page) on Sat, Jan 25, 14 at 19:18 I think I missed this! It is 100% my style and I LOVE it!! Glad you like it, I think the style has some Frank Lloyd Wright influence. ------ Posted by madtown_2006 (My Page) on Sat, Jan 25, 14 at 21:00 That video just blew my mind! That is amazing! Beautiful kitchen! LOVE your soapstone and the dark pulls/counters/appliances. Yeah, I thought that was wild how those cabinets are made and go together. The ORB pulls were suggested by the cabinet maker. They seem to go OK with the black appliances that were only 7 years old which we wanted to keep. ------- Posted by raehelen (My Page) on Sat, Jan 25, 14 at 21:14 I missed it the first time too. Gorgeous! This is when the limits of photography are so frustrating...I can just imagine how you must want to stroke both the oak and the soapstone...just hard to capture the depth in a picture. Thanks all for your kind comments. I've been using an iPhone for the pictures. It's really a lot easier that way though the pictures might look better with a better camera/photographer. At least you probably get an idea of how it looks. :-) It's interesting that the stone feels different on the underside of the island overhang, it's smoother! I learned that the stone comes to the fabricator with a smooth 400 grit finish and then gets cut and finished with 80 grit which is rougher but gives that soapstone feel. It also holds the oil better and makes the stone less susceptible to scratches. This post was edited by Quadesl on Sun, Jan 26, 14 at 10:00