Thankyou all for your replies and sorry for the delay in answerinf. I could not find my thread and thought I did not post it after preview! I will try to answer the questions raised. sue_ct: > What is that 42 x 24 L shape in the second section and is there any counter there ? There is no counter there,that is where the fridge goes. The counter in the bottom L starts from below the range so its 72" x 55 inches, with a standard countertop depth. >Is any backsplash included? I dont know, I did not ask for one, as I am probably going with tile. But if they included it -no one has specidied it in their bid > Are you including granite around the outside corner of the 55x72 area where the brackets are? That would be considered a radius corner. Yes its included, but it is not a curved corner. This one was not a problem, as all the ppl I talked to said its the same to them if its a curved corner or rounded. And its considered a radius corner only if there is an arc with a radius. > The area past the range - is that one unbroken piece of granite from the interior edge of L over the cabinets to the outside of the "L" with the overhang, or is there a wall or partition of some type that would make that two pieces? One unbroken piece of granite. No wall, just the overhanf. > I also don't know how to figure those corner pieces, but they may be done differently by different fabricators. In addition, they are usually considered radius cuts, I think, and there is an extra charge per radius cut, also. I did not ask for minimal seams. All of them seem to have assumed that. >Are they all charging for the same edge with same number of linear feet of finished edging? No idea. I send them the layout and they send me a number back. Not more specific thant that. > Do you want the most unbroken installation with the least seams possible or are you willing to piece it all from the smallest number of slabs to get the lowest number of square feet needed, the least waste and the best price for that type of granite? I think the price is probably the most important thing for me here.I dont mind having seams as long as they are well done. >Try getting some quotes by email, be sure to specify cutouts, overhangs, type of edge, backasplash or no backplash and ask for an idea of how many seams would be required. That is a helpful suggestion. I will be sure to specify all that going forward along with sending them my la I do look at everything with a microscope and like to see how my hard earned money is being spent. I am unfortunately not as trusting as you are on these matters. I prefer to see exactly why they have come up with the numbers and really dislike being "sold" to. I can bet you each of those fabricators will do that for whatever service THEY are buying! I just want them to be straightforward. I dont see what it should be so difficult. I am not going to be micro calculating if they do by square feet or by slab. But since I last posted, the max variation in pricing has been a 100% (!) between the average and the higher end quotes for the same kitchen, for the same granite. I have two sink cutouts and the simplest edge they can make and no backsplash. This variation is very disturbing - because either all the average priced guys are crap or the higher end guys are just asking for whatever and seeing if I bite. :( sherilynn: I think that the fabricator that deals with HD around here does not deal with homwowners directly. So I am out of luck on that one. I will however be checking out Costco. I dont know how good they are. The problem is I see good reviews and bad reviews and references dont mean much because nobody will give you bad references and your job could be the one that they mess up. I have been reading the granite tales on this forum and its made me quite apprehensive. I am also considering some of those one man shows, who have worked with stone for donkeys years without newer fancier machines. I figure they could use my business and I could use their hard earned skill. azstoneconsulting: I definitely agree that the best price does not mean the best deal. But neither does the most expensive mean that you will get a good deal. There seems to be no substitute to educating oneself. How do I know what good quality is if I am a lay person ? Thanks all for replying Ani

We've never discussed a dollar limit - but when I was working and earning more than/about the same as he was, I'd just buy anything I wanted, he did the same, even if that was $200. Once we had kids, even though I was still working, we tried saving a bit more so didn't "splurge" though we did buy new BR furniture after DS was born, we shopped for it together (I told him what I liked and he agreed LOL), same as we did before kids (DR furniture). I have bought 2 new cars since we got married, both I picked out and paid for, he only gave me rides to dealers to pick up. "We" (he doesn't pick out his own cars LOL) have also bought a used pickup truck and 2 Explorers in that time, those he helped pick out but I was the one who decided which model (and also decided when I was pg that we needed to trade the pickup for something with a backseat!). He never negotiates - hates buying cars and I've learned not to take him shopping for used anything (CL) b/c he won't play "bad cop" to my "good cop" when I'm trying to negotiate price - though I feel it would be perfect since I'm the one who has responded to the ad, and he's the sole wage earner now, if he would say something about it being "too much for the condition" or something when I ask him in front of the seller what he thinks. DH doesn't tend to ask how much something is when I am looking for decor - he trusts me to shop around, like when I was pricing out custom roman shades for our FR. I told him I liked the $2000 ones from Calico Corners, found SlectBlinds was $1000 but I was OK with the $500 ones from JCP, since I know we've got other things to spend "our" money on. We shopped for the FR together, but whether my dad would be able to get up from the sofa was a major consideration. I found the LR sofa with my mom, that was over $700 so I took pics and told DH and dragged him down to store for OK before I ordered it. But he wants a recliner, I would not go buy one for him, he has to sit in it and pick it out, though I will try to steer him toward a style that will fir with the other furniture. He wants to buy a pickup again now, he can go out and buy one himself but I have been trying to get him to express what he wants to use it for so I can help him find one (he wants an extended cab but I don't know if that means jump seats or bench seat and four doors). I know what *I* would use a pickup for, but don't know if he just wants something to plow with, in which case we don't need a back seat and don't need to trade in the SUV, can even just buy a junker and keep it unregistered. Gotta love him - he spent 2 days running around looking for fabric for LR curtains while I was sick, he never even questioned why I didn't want to use the curtains I'd already bought and can't return. I'm just trying to be respectful of all his hard work, since I won't be able to sell those for what I paid for them, I don't want to spend more than $200 on the new ones, though the "budget" I had in mind (not discussed) was larger to big with, I think I have to fit the cost of both sets of WTs within that original "budget" now. I feel guilty that I "wasted" money on the old ones just b/c I found something I like better.

Yesterday a contractor that HD recommended from a list called "Red Beacon" finished our upstairs guest bathroom. They recommend Red Beacon when the job is too small for one of their in house subs. It looks terrible. What a mess. Then he charged me way more than his bid. I didn't like the guy, just a weird dude, so I just paid him and told him how disappointed I was with the way he did it as in the grout lines were to be zero grout line and they are all different sizes up to a quarter of an inch when we agreed on an eighth of an inch. Not to mention he didn't put the tiles all running in the same direction of flow meaning the tiles have a directional pattern on them in the form of veins running through the marble. The tiles vary greatly in shading and he put darker ones all in a row and lighter ones randomly when it would have looked better to disperse them throughout. He didn't even install a threshold and had told me he would cut the tile in small rectangular pieces to meet the door jam but he ran the tile all the way to the entry and just cut off the edges and butted it against a thin metal strip and filled it in with grout. The tile cut isn't cut evenly so it's all running down hill as far as the butt joint against a metal strip. It isn't a metal threshold strip it's just a thin metal strip. I reminded him that he said he was going to do a threshold and he said oh yeah I did say that I don't know why I didn't and just shrugged. I told him I didn't think it looked good and would he like that in his house? He said no. I said what do you think we should do about it and he said that well if you ever have any other work in the future I could fix it then. What? I wanted to say there will never be another time. I paid him the full amount because we were alone in the house and I just don't need to be feeling like someone would do something to me or even say something to me that was really awful and with no witnesses here, he really could do/say whatever he wanted. It was so awkward. His skill level was just not up to doing this very small bathroom. I am not sure where to go from here. I don't want him coming back here. I can't even make myself go up there and look at it closely. It took him 3 long days to do 36 square feet of tile plus the side of a 5 foot bathtub and there was no tear out except for taking up that amount of carpet. I think I could manage getting over what I paid him but it's the materials that I am agonizing over. It was all Carrera marble tile and side splash on the face of the tub and a new Kohler toilet. I am starting to hate HDepot and Lowe's. Something always goes wrong when I have dealt with them and I don't know why they recommend people that don't have skill levels to meet even basic requirements. I honestly feel I could have done as good of a job. He also used three more boxes of tile than he estimated which would have been nearly half again as much as the space. I realize that setting tile on the diagonal takes more but not that much. So he bought more tile and I had to pay for that too. I cleaned up the driveway myself and there was so much wasted tile out there including some he was cutting in circles to place over the open trap for the toilet that smells so bad while working which I totally get but I had mentioned just setting a full tile on top of it as we have done in the past with the master remodel not cutting a custom tile piece just for the amount of time the drain was going to be open. Each tile costs several dollars and I saw at least three of them discarded when I was cleaning up I guess he was practicing on, not counting the ones that were upstairs. What is going on Home Depot?

Thanks everyone! We were a little nervous about the seam, but all turned out well. Maryallie...We live in Pennsylvania, about 2 hours east of Pittsburgh...sort of western/cental pa I guess you'd describe it. Anyway, there is a granite dealer about 1 hour east of us in Everette, PA called B.C. Stone. They also have a location in Wilmington, NC according to their website. About 3 years ago, a local cabinet maker mentioned that he used them for his granite; we had never heard of them, but if you're not in the market for granite, you probably wouldn't have. He said he used them other than using Lowes or HD. They do deal direct so I gave them a call. They work with many granite yards, so you can choose from their somewhat limited selection at their shop or go to the various granite yards they deal with, select your stone, and they'll have it brought to their shop for fabrication. We really just got lucky as they are close (about an hour away) and they have a very good reputation. I've read some posts hear in the kitchen forum about them. Best way is to really look around and see who you're comfortable with. Visit their company and see what they do and how they do it. The trick is to work with a company who will "make it right" if anything goes wrong. Doge1959...no the granite does not go up the wall. We considered it, but decided against it. It ended up we couldn't do it anyway as we got two slabs, but the slabs were small and we had very limited material to work with and wouldn't have been able to go up the wall anyway. I posted awhile back when we got the slabs but may post again for backsplash ideas. I thought I wanted glass but don't want to constantly be cleaning it every time I see a water spot on it. What would you folks recommend? Should I stick to something simple as to not compete with the granite? Simple white or cream subway? Our cabinets are cherry our granite, of course, lots of shades of green, and our walls a golden/tan color.