I haven't had experience with the pre-fab suppliers, but I did see a large number of counters at Tez Marble on the Peninsula, Liberty in South SF, Granite Expo and a few other places. Many of these providers provide "blank" counter sized slabs, without an edge. Thus, you can still pick the edge of your choice. They also offer flat edges, instead of the bull-nose that is so common elsewhere. The color section was pretty good, as well. The key here, I believe, is getting a qualified fabricator. Looking at your layout, you may be able to get by with a single slab, so don't give up on that option as well. I echo the need for a bs replacement, once you replace the counters. This will be more important than the floor and will make a big visual impact. That and the HW that you already plan to replace.

I know we have all those other forums, but I don't think it's useful to expect a novice to know which questions would apply where. And surely anyone who posts here could answer many of them. In fact, most of them are probably BEST answered here. 1) They say it would be best for us to leave our home for 5-6 weeks while they do all the work? No, absolutely not. It'll be at most a week of absolute utter mess, and then a week or two of sort-of mess. Cooking will be a pain; you'll need an alternate kitchen somewhere (basement, dining room, your MIL's house) Also, 5 to 6 weeks seems extreme. If all the stuff is ordered and ON HAND before they start, they need about 2 to 3 weeks. If something went wrong, then maybe you'd need 6 weeks, but most of that should be during finishing touches--waiting on a cabinet here and there, or waiting a week for the counters after everything else is done. So you can certainly live there w/ that. (2) Is the flooring done before or after the cabinets are installed? It can be either. Some people want their flooring to go all the way to the walls (often this is the case w/ linoleum or sheet vinyl, w/ ceramic tile; perhaps not as common when you use hardwood). The SUBFLOOR work (if there is any) will all be done very early, of course. Before almost anything else (but after demolition). Having the flooring go under the cabinets will add to the cost. If you choose not to have the flooring go under the cabs, then your contractor should install, under the cabs, a plywood layer that's AS THICK AS you final flooring will be, to lift the cabinets up to sit at the same level they would if the flooring DID go under the cabinets. I have this prejudice (I have no idea how true it is) that moisture can be trapped under the cabinets, and so I might not put hardwood all the way under the cabs. I *would* put ceramic tile, vinyl, or linoleum under the cabinets. But it's a personal preference, really. If I did hardwood, I would want it refinished before cabs were installed, w/ the understanding that the final coat of finish would be applied after installation. But that might not be smart, either. (3) Do you have to use a company that specializes in flooring or is it reasonable to expect that a good carpenter carpenter can install and finish) hardwood floors? You can often DIY hardwood, so I would think a carpenter can do a good job. If you have site-finished floor, however (instead of prefinished), it's probably smart to get someone experiences and REALLY good--you only want to have to do it once. (4) At what point in the project is the lighting done, i.e. before/after the floor, cabinets, etc. Very early--probably the second thing or third thing after demolition. 1.rip out the old kitchen 2. deal w/ subfloors and moving of doors 3. put in new plumbing if needed 3. put in new electrical (wiring & junction boxes for new circuits, new light fixtures, new outlets) if needed PLAN AHEAD VERY CAREFULLY HERE. This is the one area that I did NOT have planned well and marked well, etc., on my kitchen remodel. I had a vague idea of what I needed, but it would have been far better to have spent more energy deciding which lights I wanted where, which outlets where, etc. You should plan your backsplash and your countertop outlets (come over to the Kitchens forum and get some advice on placement; most electricians simply slap the outlets bang in the middle of the backsplash area, and that's not always what people want)), and maybe discuss w/ your electrician whether he can leave enough slack here to allow him/you to adjust the exact positioning later, if it turns out that the outlet will fall in the middle of a tile detail or something. Also, you have to poke holes in the wall, patch holes, etc., to put in new lights. You want to do this during the "messy" stage, before anything is installed. We are debating between granite and Silestone. (5) Does anyone have any experience with both? (6) Does anyone have any recommendations? This is something that you'll get a LOT more detail on from the Kitchens forum, so come on over! We are debating between GE Profile and, after something I saw today, KitchenAid appliances. (7) Does anyone have experience with either/both of these? And if so, what should we be on the lookout for in terms of things to avoid and/or things to insist on. The Kitchens forum and the Appliances forum are both good places to get more info on this as well. Discuss it on both, and don't let anyone on Kitchens shoo you away to Appliances, because there are lot sof folks w/ input to give you, who never make it over to Appliances. I will say this about appliances: do some reading to see what features you'll want most. Then get the appliance that's got what you want, at a price you can swing. And never buy an appliance you haven't seen in person. Here is a link that might be useful: The Kitchens forums

This would be for an apartment. So I guess were vent ducts and such can play a big role. I'm inquiring for someone else so I don't have details. Was curious if these kinds of changes can double the cost of a remodel...

Based on my kitchen remodeling experience: Check the installation guide for the range you're considering to make sure that the electrical outlet and gas line are in the correct locations low on the wall behind the range. The electrical outlet was too high for my new range so I could not push it as close to the wall as I would have liked. Make sure the old range opening is the correct size for the new one. The countertop installers just made the sides of the countertops flush with the sides of the cabinets adjacent to the range opening. I don't think I even had the range yet (standard 30" model). It's a lot easier to attach the sink to the countertop before you install the countertop than to do so afterwords. (In two cases, the installers cut the countertop the wrong size for the sink.) Install the dishwasher before the countertop. It's must easier to connect the hoses and electrical when you can reach in from above. Depending on the countertop material, the most you'll have to do after it's installed is to attach the dishwasher's top bracket to the countertop (to keep the dishwasher from moving around).