The vestibule seemed to be jumping off the screen so I had to draw it. I'm glad it worked out. When I look at a design I automatically reach for a pen and tracing paper. People make fun of the fact that I always have a half dozen different colored felt tipped pens in my pocket and don't know how they got there. My former boss would hold his hand out palm up and I would put a pen in it. I recently left my pocket scale at a client's home and have been so miserable I ordered a half dozen of them. Sometimes it helps to draw the plan by hand with furniture, people, feature highlights and circulation arrows. Plan weaknesses will quickly become evident and solutions will sometimes seem to jump out at you when you are free of hard straight lines, dimensions and the burden of keeping what has already been drawn. It also helps to turn the sheet around and imagine walking through spaces from another direction. It doesn't have to be pretty; it's only for you. Few of these sketches are kept more than an hour and often I don't look at them when drawing the final on the computer; it's just an exercise. IMO unless you're using up a lot of tracing paper you're limited to reorganizing other people's ideas and those ideas can easily get out of proportion and not fit together as well as they originally did.

Hi Dearests! :) This is SO EMBARRASSING that EVERY DARNED TIME I get time to get on here and read, there's no time or I'm about to fall asleep (as is the case now - and I have to get up early)! I'm SURE I look like an opportunist just totally taking advantage of your advise, expertise and patience but please believe me that I simply have less time than I'm used to. Thank you so much for continuing this dialogue. I've gone into the worst depression over this! I just want to turn this over to someone else to represent me who's capable/competent enough but there's no one (or I don't dare ask) and I can't afford a lawyer nor do I want to get that legal. My contractor came back into town last Wednesday, Jan. 19th, if he meant what he said about his schedule, and every day I hope I don't hear from him. I just can't deal with this and barely know how. I mean Rohl said I could have a new sink but if I order it, I'd have to have the old sink out first in order to know which sink will be close enough in measurement to fit into the spot. I don't want to go pick up a new sink and leave it sitting on the side lines for weeks or months and then find out too late in the game that it won't fit in the old spot! So that means I need to get the old sink out, which brings me back to square one. I need to find new contractors or carpenters to get quotes from and feel so low I can't imagine figuring out where to turn, who to ask...who to trust. And who will be willing, after that last guy said he basically won't touch it with a 10-foot pole. My contractor's going to probably show up any day now to "finish the work" and then I'm also told by friends that I should no way let him finish the work but should deduct that which needs to be deducted and then pay someone else with the money. But he could file a lien on my house or whatever the terminology is. On the other hand I may never see him again since I paid him a partial payment that he may figure is close enough... Just to be clear: 1. My contractor bought the sink, not me. I mean I paid him sometime after that but he bought it using his own card. Not the dishwasher or counter or tile honing, cutting and installing which I bought, but the sink, faucet, disposal, flange and tile itself, yes. Now it's always possible he paid in cash and kept the whole order in my name since I had the items on hold in my name in which case there's no evidence he paid for it but who knows... 2. I truly believe that the sweet, young-sounding Rohl guy that I spoke to didn't really care and just called it defective for a couple of the reasons listed above by you guys but I do think if he has any experience at all (and he may not), that he suspects it was over-tightened and doesn't care - he just wants me to be a satisfied customer. My instincts and my own experience tell me so. And I don't think less of him or the company for it. 3. I have no proof that my contractor tightened the flange. I think it's possible that he didn't. But I don't think it's probable that he didn't. The timing of the cracks and the fact that no one else touched the area below it besides him and the way the hairline cracks splay out around the drain all tell me there's a better chance he cracked it than that he didn't. But it doesn't matter much if it can't be proven or that no forensic scientist - haha - will be coming around to pay more than the sink's worth to determine that. As for the issue of lying, I think there's a lot of context here to be considered. I believe he cracked it, and that Rohl is giving me a new sink but knows that he cracked it. My contractor bought the sink and installed it and messed around with it cause he didn't want me to bother his precious plumber when the leak needed to be stopped (don't get me started on how he thinks so highly of this totally flaky and rude plumber) and then it cracked. I think that covering my ARSE after everything else that's gone down is let's just say a fairly reasonable choice at this point, even if some think of that as lying. I get it, but I think that when you believe what I believe about what's really happened, it's not quite the same thing. And even then, I'm still willing to compromise at least a little - just because I'm not a one-dimensional human being and I believe my contractor isn't either. In my favor, sure, I guess, though yes I'm still really super uncomfortable about this whole thing and am as curious as the rest of you to know how strong I'll be and how well or disastrously this whole thing will turn out before it's truly over!! Ok that's it for now - it's 1:35 a.m. and I've gotta be up at 7:00. Yaaaay! ;) More soon. Thank you everyone - I am SO GRATEFUL that you're here. In fact you've been here "for me" more than just about anyone else, I swear!! That includes friends and family members and certainly contractors! How crazy is that!?

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

Sorry if this is slightly OT... but I think the difference between what a place like Lowe's can do with regard to returns and a place like LL Bean has everything to do with MARK UP. LL Bean probably makes an average of 65-85% profit on each item sold. At that rate, they can take a few items back and throw them in the trash and still come out way ahead. In fact, it is my personal theory that when a store has say 10 sweaters, the first 3 sold at regular price probably pay for the lot, allowing for the clearance sales, etc, with the remaining ones. Lowe's or HD probably makes more like 20-35% profit. At the end of the day, that's a huge difference to pay the bills with. I'm also guessing that it costs more to run a huge store like a Lowe's with all the employees and the utilities, rent, etc. A clothing store has a lot less of that too. This is JMHO... but as I have said before... Big companies (like all of the above) have specific consumer affairs departments whose only job is to make you happy and to pester the store and district managers until it is deemed so. I have many years in retail management and feel very confident in saying that if you call the right people -- AND REMAIN CIVIL (remember, the person you are talking to isn't the one that harmed you) -- you will be taken care of fairly.