I am just a lay person and know nothing about this stuff other than what I had to figure out for my journey. The Miele manual says on p. 60 "Flush installation is only possible in natural-stone (granite, marble), solidwood, and tiled countertops. Certain cooktops are suitable for building into glass countertops – these are labeled accordingly. When using a countertop made from any other material, please check first with the countertop manufacturer that it is suitable for installing a flush cooktop." So you might want to call Infinity to discuss if a flush mount is possible. Your fabricator may just be wanting to be ultra cautious, so you could get some other opinions. No sure what you mean by "drop in". The manual uses 3 different terms: "flush", "framed" (p. 58), and "proud". It's very confusing. But after some research, it appears the 6365/6375 must only be installed flush (as confirmed on p. 4/8 here: http://documents.designerappliances.com/Specification-Sheet-KM6365.pdf). This makes sense, because I was trying to picture a 6365/6375 mounted as "proud" and it certainly would not look nice and definitely prone to damage. In other words, if you cannot do flush, then you must get a 6360/6370/6377 to mount either framed or proud (I suppose this just means same installation as a typical framed unit, just minus the actual frame). Hope that helps. Good luck.

I agree with 2" hex on counter - that was the norm - 1" was for floors. I also prefer color to b&w, but finding colored 2" hex today will be really hard, so maybe white hex with colored trim. Make sure it is has a glaze around the sink though. I like pale blue or green with yellow cabs. I HIGHLY recommend the book "Bungalow Kitchens". Reading it was like reading the diary of my house, and it has fantastic pictures of old original cabinets and counters. I think JohnLiu gave the link to pics from his vintage kitchen tour on you older reticulated tile post - find that thread and look at the pics - it has a few awesome colored 2" hex counter pics. As for the tile, I mentioned this on your tile post, and plllog mentioned it here: You will NEED to have it set in real "mud", NOT Thinset! Being Upstate you'll probably be more likey to find someone who can do it. Try contacting local Historical Societies or house museums to find out who does their repair work. Alternatively, try to find a marble flooring installer - marble floors are supposed to be set on a mud bed as well (but an old school tile guy would be best). As for using an undermount sink and tiling over it, I'm not sure if this will work. The problem is what will the sink actually be attached to? Only the 3/4" plywood? Will that work? You have to find out from the sink manufacturers. Another problem will be the size of the undermount rim - because it will be below the plywood, your QR tile will have to go onto the actual sink rim to hide the plywood edge, and if the rim is too narrow it won't be structurally sound.

Regarding the soapstone countertop reveal at the sink from Neitsdelf, I am wondering how that worked out. I'm getting a stainless deep undermount sink (Julien Smartstation) with soapstone. I considered the apron front to reduce possible chipped top edges from moving pots in and out of the sink, but prefer the sleeker undermount look. Does the soapstone still look good, and if any chipping was it easy to sand down? Thank you.

Curious if anyone regrets this sort of sink mount option. We are looking at this, but I don't want to make the wrong choice. Does this have any additional maintenance, from leaks, or re-sealing? The only reason I'm considering this is because with a mitered edge, this is the only way to do it, unless the sink is pushed back inside of the edge, but that will cut into the space for the faucet. The sink is already 21.25" deep, so there isn't much room as is. Pulling it out 1.5" to be flush with the counter helps make space for the faucet and plumbing. -OCJeff