I am so confused and frazzled. Every time I think I have a handle on this durability and non porous thing, I choose a stone and after research find so many things potentially wrong with it. I saw a beautiful slab of Macaubus Fantasy, but have since seen mention that it will stain. I need something that is fairly indestructible. I live near the beach and have lots of company, but I am often away for a week at a time and not around to keep wiping the countertops. Even if I am home, I don't want to baby a countertop that will never grow up. Which of these stones should I stay away from and which are definitely good? Macaubus Fantasy "Quartzite" Allure Quartzite (does practicality increase/decrease if it's leathered?) River Blue Granite Or are my only sure choices Taj Mahal or Sea Pearl? I'd appreciate any feedback

Thanks avidchef. The price I got from the KD was an all-in price, including installation. I know that they are taking a markup which is ok with me as long as the price stays reasonably competitive. My tile guy is not a fabricator. If what we did last time for the bathrooms is an indication, he will send me to a couple of yards (probably in Long Island City or Connecticut) and if I find what I like, he will have me tell the yard to ship it to the fabricator. The fabricator who did my bathroom counters did a nice job. They were Granitops in Yonkers, if I remember correctly. I know that my tile guy will take a markup if I go with him and I guess I am ok with that too, since otherwise I am just someone off the street to these folks. I guess the question is how much is ok. He probably wants 20%. I also guess that if I went directly to the fabricator, they would charge me more than if my tile guy got involved. I am really afraid of doing this one on my own. I am an experienced shopper, and sourced all my bathroom fixtures and fittings myself and have sourced my kitchen appliances, but stone is a bit of a black hole to me.

Wow! I can't believe I got so many comments on this. So happy and will read through it all later today. You people ROCK! Just a quick update, we live on LI and found fabricator we like, Marbleline in Westbury. Stella is great and so helpful. Today we just found Calacatta Gold Bhorgini marble at European Marble in Farmingdale (Dubon Ct.) honed that is the slab I want (if I win the battle) they are also great there and I thought their selection was the best I've seen so far in marble, granite. They have multiple locations but when they get a lot, they split it up between locations so you don't have to trek into Brooklyn to see it all, the Melville location will have it. kerri helped me and they are so friendly and nice. We also found a granite and quartzite piece we like in case we (me) get talked out of marble. I am holding strong and preparing to present my case to DH and do my research. We took a chunk of carerra marble and taj mahal quartzite home (Stella's idea from marbleline) and we're planning to test it ourselves. I've seen photos of honed marble with etching and I'm ok with it. My tests will be with jelly, tea, wine, coffee, lemon, peanut butter, oj, grape juice, Gatorade, butter, honey, milk, cereal, ice cream (can you tell I have kids!!) and see how it turns out. On a daily basis this kind of stuff happens on my counters today so I expect this to continue...... sigh...... I just think that I love marble so much that even with the patina over time, it will still be stunning.

budiningsih thank you so much. Your countertops look great. So the problem in my area is there are literally no white quartzites. I have been to so many enormous warehouses. The luce di luna/white macaubas here is beige. I was told all of the actual white quartzite is bought by fabricators before it hits the warehouse floor and is shipped to Nantucket etc. Princess White is the only one I have found with a white background with grey parts and not beige/tan. We like the grey but just want there to be enough of it to repeat and establish a pattern, so it does not look like a random blob. The first time I saw Princess White was at a place with a remnant and a cracked slab and ever since then I have been searching for real slabs. I knew it was what I had been searching for. After that I only found one place in all of MA that has it. Overall we want a white/grey kitchen so we are trying to avoid brown/tan/sand which is every other quartzite I have seen. I even told my fabricator I would drive anywhere in New England to look at other slabs but they had zero recommendations. Thank you so much for your help. I agree that a second quote would really help clarify whether I am getting ripped off or whether I will be making princess white cutting boards out of the leftovers for all of my family members for Christmas:)