Thanks y'all. There are two issues with proper slab installation. One is that silly flange in the back that was supposed to be closer to the wall. I suppose a good fabricator could rout out a chunk of slab so it could sit in front of it without adding too much depth to the slab. There's a difference between floating out a slab and totally flooding it out...or it could probably be removed with lots of smoke and mess. The other issue is that the hood is mounted from the underside of the cabinet, not the front, so if I ever want to get it out, I can't slab up to the base of it. It goes all the way to the wall, and even if I decide to make it a permanent unremovable feature which would probably be OK, slab-to-the-top would cover functional hood parts. A little bit of not measuring stuff very well there! I have 3 things in the kitchen that need the stone, and since it's a small kitchen, I want to do them with the same material: baking counter, backsplash on one side (the entire area in the picture above--originally planned full height but I think it's gonna have to shrink), and a windowsill/apron. I could do a marble tile behind the cooktop, or a combination slab/tile, and just do slab on the counter. It seems like marble tiles can be found to go with the more common slabs. That might be the way to go, although I'll have grout lines (eek). (Am I allowed to put up marble and complain about...GROUT?) Tiles of course are much thinner than slabs. Or...I see why it might be bad to dangle a slab stud-to-stud, but maybe I could replace the drywall with thinner drywall? I think I'm making this too hard. Pink Corian rocks!

I hope this thread's not too old to add to. I did some investigating today. I've only seen soapstone a few times but have read every thread on here. I visited Designer Surfaces and Grantops in Frederick today. Very interesting! Designer Surfaces had Green Mountain Original on display and gave me a quick quote based on a very rough drawing. I was told they had very little stock but were expecting more very soon. At Grantops, I was shown a few slabs outside that were very green, and flakey /crumbly. It seemed quartz-like to me, with white crystals mixed in? (I am not a geologist!) I was assured that is was soapstone, but it looked extremely different than the display and sample I saw at Designer Surfaces. It was marked (I think) "Savon Pierre" on the side. A google search shows that this may be Canadian, and good for carving? Very strange! I made a quick stop at Home Depot tonight as my son wanted some duct tape. I walked thru the kitchen area and noticed that they are selling this exact same soapstone (same name too). I asked the store associate ( a very, very young man) about it and he told me it was real soapstone, but you couldn't put it in a kitchen because it was extremely porous. He said it was great for bathroom vanities. Bizarre, don't you think? I also called Carapace last week and they said they only had "the green kind that nobody wants". Maybe he too was referring to this "Savon Pierre"?

Is there anything special about the tile or the installation? Are you asking for a herringbone layout, or are the tiles unusual in some way? I know they're marble 3"x 6", but handmade tiles can be more challenging and time consuming to install. Were these hand chiseled or are they uniquely sourced, cut from the Parthenon steps for example, so that replacing tiles would be hugely expensive? Your quote is about double what I'd expect in your area. It's a good idea to get more quotes. And by all means make sure he levels your range and that it's equidistant from the wall on both sides before he goes. The range may have to be uninstalled and re-installed for the bs install depending on your set-up.

Several threads, including on using digitally backprinted glass for a backsplash here on GW. Try to find a commercial glass store or see if you can get tempered glass that can be printed or painted. I'm outside DC and would have been able to find relatively inexpensive suppliers/print shops to pursue this. Bunch of threads. http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2666862/glass-back-splash-is-up-progress-photo http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2426187/back-painted-glass-backsplash http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2698456/backpainted-glass-backsplash http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2449038/digital-printing-on-glass-as-backsplash