wow, thanks bill vincent. You see so many photos of flat countertops with flat stoves, I forget it doesn't HAVE to be that way. I actually like both looks. I kinda feel the granite back splash is more old school and so is my stove!!! But that's no reason I suppose to do that. My counters now (formica from the 50s like the rest of the kitchen doesn't have a counter back splash and there's a HUUUUGE gap between the counter and the tiled back splash which makes me crazy. I think that's why I'm considering the granite back splash. I don't want to see that in the future. melanie1422, my luck: the dishwasher died within 6 months of buying this cottage. The sink faucet's sprayer is cracked and now leaking so I have a bowl under the sink. what are my odds on the stove??? LOL the flat stoves I looked at also come with their own back splash panel, so I think when this stove kicks the bucket, I'll get a flat one and the counters should work. thanks.

The installer was to come out on Wednesday afternoon to remove the sections as promised, but called later in the day and cancelled - said he would be by thurs, but never showed. My husband called him on thurs. afternoon to track him down, and he said he would be out friday morning - he finally showed on Friday afternoon and took the 2 sections beside the stove and the long run of granite that does not include the sink. The installer stated that he would be back another day to template and cut a new stone - stating that he had enough remnants to cut from the same stone. Today, they loosened the portion with the sink in it to shift it around to try to make it match up with the other granite, just to see how large the gap would become, and when I voiced my concerns about the prying off of the granite with the sink still attached as well as the epoxy integrity the installer seemed to disregard my concerns and said that it wasn't possible - that the epoxy is solid and shifts such as this would have no effect. I have read too many commentaries about issues with under mount sinks in general to think that shifts such as could not play a role in the sink loosening over time. When the installer left, you could feel the tension...and I really feel that the working relationship has been damaged. I will eventually update you on the outcome...but at this point, it may take a while.

These are my pics of my countertops placed Friday June 22, 2018. I cried looking at these seams. It looks so cheap. Fabricator explains that's the way it comes. I explained that I shouldn't be able to see the seams so clearly. It looks so unprofessional. They ended up taking them back to their warehouse. In hopes they say if it is quality control will try and fix it just to make it look better. Otherwise I will have to pay an additional fee for them to come out again to install. I just don't know what to do and if still looks the same. This is the first time I've replaced my counters in 24 years. I don't and can't live with it. looking at this for another 24 years. It looks so cheap and it really was not it's a lot of money to me. I hope fingers crossed that they will fix this problem. They never told me that there would be such seams. I thought the edges were done by a machine and it would be all one piece. I have read up on this and now understand there are seams. But now I do know that they should not look like this. If they are good fabricator you shouldn't be able to see them so clearly. I will find out next week what happens.

There very well may be gaps that the splash is covering that the tile won't, however, you'll probably be able to float your wall to make it work. The differing height tops won't look odd with tile. Place a continuous shim the thickness of your grout lines on your main top to start tiling. Install the tile, grout, pull the shim, then fill the gap with color matching caulk.