Thank you very much live_wire_oak - this is great info and exactly the kind of thing we don't know! I think at least one of the quotes noted additional cost for a large slab; sounds like that's good. I did look at on-line reviews of the fabricators who have given us quotes so far, and they are mostly positive though one fabricator did receive a few negative reviews.

If you know your square footage, you should be able to go to the stone yard and ask for the price per square foot. I've never had anyone actually come measure until I had selected my slab and they were doing the templating for it.

We are using the same fabricator that we used the last time. We picked the granite at a different yard, they negotiate the price and I pay the fabricator. They do incredible work, we had an issue in the old kitchen and they came right out And fixed it, and their price is right on budget for what I had planned.
Please do not go with the lowest bid just based on price. Talk to friends who have had kitchens done and ask who they used. Countertops and cabinets are two things I would never skimp on in a kitchen. The quality of work is so important!

be aware that Cambria 'samples' are not always what your slab will actually look like. There are several stories on here regarding Cambria sample that look nothing like the surface they actually received.

Thanks everyone for sharing wisdom. Posting pictures/layouts below as live_wire_oak suggested.

The kitchen (island and sink wall) will be one material; the dining room (butler pantry-ish thing) will be different. I think it's pretty basic other than needing a big slab for the island to avoid seams.

new-beginning, thanks for confirming the importance of looking at actual slabs before finalizing a purchase; I thought that would be important.

momofthree - I agree that this is so important! I'm thinking it could make or break our end result. Cabinets are going in now and they are really lovely - we're very pleased with them. One major hurdle down.

We won't go with the lowest bid solely for the sake of it being the lowest bid and are definitely concerned about quality. We don't have that much square footage, which helps keep the overall price down too.

Follow-up question - if a fabricator/installer won't provide a preliminary estimate or per SF price for a particular material, but rather insists on coming to measure as a first step, I'm assuming based on what you have all said here that we should avoid that?

How will you vent your cooktop? Are you getting a downdraft or venting up through the ceiling somehow? A downdraft will obviously need to be taken into account for the island counter; a ceiling mounted hood may affect how you manage lighting over the island. I know you didn't ask about layout feedback, but I'm a bit worried about landing space for things coming out of the oven. If I have something heavy like a turkey I want to make sure I have space to set it down near the oven.

Well, the overhead design with measurements for the counter that you gave to all of the fabricators for an estimate is a better option to post. But that rendering is a start.

Looks like you will need 2 slabs. And you’re going to get a price penalty for doing that hutch area in a different material. You’ll have to buy a whole different slab for that, unless the fabricator actually stocks the stone that you want to use there, or you find a remnant. You’d get better pricing if you stuck with the same stone for it all. And you’d have less waste left over. I think your island can be done with a regular and not jumbo slab, but that’s just a guess without measurements. The 2nd slab can do the sink and the hutch. Or, you’ll end up with a half slab wasted, and have to buy a whole other slab for the hutch. With a half slab left over.

If you want the best price possible, change your counter plan to use the same stone. Because as you have posted, you’ll have 2 half slabs as waste.

Chicagoans: We will vent through the ceiling. We’ll have pendant lighting over the island; recessed also if the lighting on the vent isn’t good enough. We looked at downdraft but decided against it for multiple reasons.

Yes, no landing pad immediately next to the ovens was a slight concern, but we do have landing space on the island which is closer to the ovens than it appears in the pic. Ultimately the storage space won out over what would have been a teensy counter next to the ovens.

GreenDesigns - Thanks for the tips on one vs multiple slabs. We do want different tops in the DR vs kitchen to distinguish the two spaces. We have talked to at least one fabricator who has some remnants and will keep this in mind. I thought I posted the drawing before - sorry about that. Posting it here.

I am a fabricator. WE bid from cabinet drawings all the time assuming various standard price categories. You can't really compare bids until the bidders are quoting a specific color of a specific supplier since the price paid by the fabricator varies significantly per sq. ft. from different brands.

I always recommend the customer determine the look they want and then identify colors that meet their needs. Multiple options will always lead to lower prices.

In my area the customer does not "pay for the slabs" and expect me to fabricate. When we supply the slabs we are responsible for whatever material related issues arise including the occasional breakage due to weak points in the stone. If I get unacceptable material from a supplier I can reject it or get a replacement for free if the material turns out to be defective. This can happen even with quartz as occasionally a quartz slab can have residual stresses from curing and crack when being sawn or processed on the CNC. My material my problem. Your material your problem. For this reason we only work with customer supplied material on a "billable hours" basis and do not guarantee against breakage.

A competent fabricator will ask questions to understand your objectives for color and style and then work with you to meet your needs.

Thank you for the inside perspective oldryder.

Hi everyone,

Thank you all again for the advice. We have selected a fabricator to work with - they are a small shop right in our neighborhood. We had stopped in to talk to them initially, way back before we had even finalized cabinet choice. We stopped in again yesterday, and they were very helpful and accommodating, showed us slabs in their yard, loaned us a 12' x 12' sample of the top we are considering to take home (they had given us a sample of a different material the first time we stopped in), talked with us about our quandry over what to do about our post and some other design matters, and gave us a quote on the spot based on our floor plan. It also happens to be the best quote we've gotten (and yes, all full slabs with no seams), but that isn't the only reason we chose them. I like that they are in our neighborhood, that they "dug in" with us, gave us samples - they were fully engaged just because we walked in off the street. I looked them up and they have good reviews everywhere I could find. So, I think we're set!