I am pretty shocked reading the price quotes you are all getting for quartzite. Here in Miami the price range for quartzite is from $30-$80. I think it might be that they come right from Brazil to the port of Miami. They come by the boatloads and the yards are full of them. I have walked so many stone yards in Hialeah and they are chock full of them. Here in Miami wealthy South Americans are buying up cheap (to them) condos and real estate and gutting and renovating so the demand for granite, marble and quartzite is always there. I personally got my quartzite for $27/sq ft thanks to my fabricator. Seriously it would behoove to look in Miami and have it driven to you. If you need 3 slabs like I did that's like a savings of $20,000. I think the average slab is 9x7 ft, x $27/sq ft, x 3 slabs. Do the math. Even if you go with a higher per sq ft price of $75 the savings are still substantial...just short of $10,000. I don't know who you would get to drive it but perhaps the yards themselves know who will do it. I have personally seen some gorgeous slabs of Madre Perola in person here and they were positively dreamy. I almost went with it but my cabinets turned out with more of a yellowish tone and the Gold Macauba went well. I am in Hialeah a few times a week with my my renovation and if anyone wants me to snap a few pics of quartzite slabs and get a few quotes I'd be happy to do so. BTW when factoring your countertop costs, here in Miami you buy the whole slab regardless of how little you need. You buy the whole thing. Not sure if it is done that way all over but find out first before you calculate your costs. Also, the price did vary depending on the "type" of yard you went to. One "designer" stone place called Marbles of the World had quartzite slabs for twice the price of other yards. These types of places are frou-frou beautifully interior decorated showrooms where the sales girls are dressed to the nines and offer coffee and pastries while you wait and all their slabs are kept in an indoor, air conditioned warehouse. If been to both types. The one I eventually bought from was outdoors just north of Miami Airport, dirty, complete with junkyard dogs and hardly anyone spoke English. My fabricator is bilingual and he came in very handy. The slabs there were just as gorgeous and probably came off the same shipping container. Just my 2 cents!

I'm in So. Fla. Jonah so thank you for this post. Mostly, I'm so sorry to hear of your difficulty.

All I can say is WOW, I literally got goose bumps reading through the responses and I appreciate every single one. Thank you. In regards to the check, to the shop owner's credit, she told me when she was having issues with the fabric that she was going to wait to cash the check until I was satisfied. But when she told me she was canceling the order, I lost trust and put a stop payment. She was supposed to return it with the fabric but didn't so there you go, it could have been worse right? Even though it's an upsetting experience, I don't want to assume she was intentionally being dishonest, my gut tells me she's just trying to provide herself with part time work doing something she enjoys and there was no malice or ill intent. After all, she didn't cash my check and she DID at least replace 4 yards of the printed fabric. What she doesn't understand is that because she canceled the order, she's responsible for returning ALL of the materials I sent her even if that means rebuying them. Etsy concured and I'm going to let them do their thing; hopefully, she will see things differently once they've spoken with her. I really hesitated to post about this because you never know how a thread will morph but I'm glad I did. I still think the concept behind Etsy is really an awesome idea and it provides opportunities that wouldn't normally be attainable for a lot of people, it's sad that a few bad apples have soured it.

Thank you all. I have a layout thread already so I didn't want to post again. I will link it here. Since I'm pretty much stuck with the u shape with island base cabinet sitting where it is now, I'm thinking my best bet is to expand into dining room and use the floor I have to fill in the 2 or so feet we are expanding on the island seating side. I'll have a 15 or 18 inch overhang to get my island to 42 or 48 inches. Other option is simply use tile which I would rather not do. I think it's too much hassle just to get a couple more inches on the sink to island aisle. http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/3873166/3-layout-options-need-thoughts-please?n=22 The entire first floor except bathroom and bedroom have the wood floor.