Reporting back that we have had Lapitec installed for about 3-4 weeks now. We ended up getting 3 cm because of large overhang on the peninsula. Unfortunately that overhang sent us into a 3rd slab. (We'll end up using the extra in a bathroom, rather than what we had originally planned.) We had a very good fabricator in our awesome contractor (Cornell's Quality Construction in Kirkland) who has his own shop and is certified through Pental for Lapitec installation. They did a very nice job, but I've been kicking myself that I forgot to ask for it to be flush around the sinks, and they did a negative reveal which is not my preference, especially if this stuff is prone to chipping. I have a big sink, so hopefully I can learn to keep things away from the edges. The first day, I whacked a baking sheet underneath the edge while washing it and it was fine, thank goodness. We got "Bianco Polare" which is a plain white, satin finish. It looks lovely, but is not without issues. It is nice and smooth. It is cold, and maybe a bit noisier than granite. Of course being plain white every darn crumb shows. But what is frustrating about it is that it marks up. There are grey marks on it from aluminum pans being set down, from moving countertop appliances to wipe under them, etc. Those grey marks do not just wipe off. I can either rub them with my finger like an eraser, or use a scrub like Mrs Meyer's. So they do come off, but what a pain. This was not something I even thought to test when I was trying to damage the sample I had. A friend of mine got Lapitec also - she got the glossy Lux finish, and the color is one of the lighter browns. She likes hers but says it always looks smudged unless she has just washed and dried it, which I think a glossy finish is prone to regardless. She has not commented on it marking up like mine does - maybe the Lux does not do that. I am not sure I would get Lapitec again. But I'm not sure what I would get instead.

@amberm145 I have to chuckle at your post about the electricians. I went and helped my Dad put this sucker up one day. He was sitting on the top of a 16 foot ladder while I was hanging over the railing handing him each and every crystal ball. They were all numbered and had to go in a specific order. To say the hooks were small is an understatement, I'm surprised he could even hold on to them. He was fine, but I was the one shaking like a leaf even though I had a railing to lean against haha! (I was about 20 ft up) I think I was more nervous for him than anything. As for an update: Finally caught a break!! My bulldozing guy stopped by last night and informed me that the County called him because they saw him working on my property and also saw my "clean fill wanted" sign. They are bringing in 50 loads ... for FREE! Which is huge for us because it's not cheap here (is it anywhere?!) and I'm going to need a total of about 120 loads. I had a company bringing 30-40 loads on Friday so I had to ask them to move that to next week. I felt bad but simply can't turn down free fill. Hopefully this will help pay for the changes I had to make to my kitchen haha!

Wow, thank you all for your kind comments! @cpartist and @P Banos, here is a pic of the exterior. I will update this thread once I have the front porch back on.

@duffwny - if you really want to see what Cloe tile looks like, I suggest ordering a box from Lowe’s or Amazon (Walmart might also have it - I bought a different color of Cloe tile through Walmart last year because the return policy allowed me to take it back to a brick and mortar Walmart store - even though it was shipped to me directly from Bedrosian). Both have free shipping and free returns. Also, when I purchased it - and placed a bunch of tiles out on my kitchen island, it looked like it had less color variation - but when I took a photo of it with my phone, the variation looked the same as in other photos I’d seen posted on Houzz and on Bedrosian’s IG page. The price of Cloe tile has dramatically increased since I purchased it for my kitchen + bathroom two years ago - I think it was about $6.99 sf! Lowe’s has a 90 day return policy (can return to actual store and save shipping cost): Amazon has free shipping and free returns for 30 days (fyi - I have seen the price fluctuate quite a bit on Amazon): This says ”Free 30 day returns” - but then has 90 days when clicked. When I purcjased, I called and was told I could return to a Walmart store within 90 days.