My house is not finished yet. Possibly by next week. We plan to start moving some things in this weekend if the locks are on the doors. The edge pieces of the granite bumped up the cost. I think the mason said the corners were $11.00 each. He searched for the largest ones he could find. The other option was to have the mason cut the stone for corners. Then you add the labor cost so it would probably equal. The basic stone price was close to the Owens Corning price. I believe the price for the chimney and interior wall for wood stove came to $7,000. including labor which was a bit higher than our contractor expected. This was the first time the mason had used this product and he was very pleased with the results. He is working with a contractor who builds log homes and he stated he would offer this product. We are all happy with this project.

You probably don’t need a steel frame. It should only be required if there is a concern about the load on the joist, so maybe if the hood sets under a bathtub or something. Quartzite is just not that heavy, it only seems heavy because it is rather thin. 2cm thick quartzite is about 12 lbs per square foot, which is really nothing significant. A wall cabinet with a typical load of plates and bowls will easily be more than that much and these days that is 1/2” plywood held to the wall with two to four #10 cabinet screws. A 36” stone hood in a room with 9’ ceilings is going to be about 312 lbs of stone… The shear rating of one 3/8” bolt is more than double that and I assure you, more than one will be used. The only real complication is the attachment of the frame to the joists or studs and that is going to require bolts in shear.

What I would suggest is that you drive around your town/city and look for houses with stone that you like. Stop and ask the homeowners if they have the name or where they got it. Compliment their taste and home and most people will be happy to share details. Let them know if your house isn't that close ... some people don't want a copy of their house right on the same street! Dress nicely. If you have one, bring a small baby/child with you ... it makes people less nervous!

"shead I am already looking around andcasking myself why certain things felt so important and now I realize they arent at all. I coukd have saved us thousands. " I think this is why a lot of people say it takes 2-3 new builds before anyone ever feels like they got it "right." Our first new build was when we were in our 20's and I know that I had a ton of regrets after that 18 month long process. Some of those came because we had to sacrifice finishes in the end because of going over budget. Some came because I let form rule over function and was too worried about "keeping up with the Joneses" versus really considering the needs of MY family (which was quite smaller then, too :) ) I had a quite smaller list of regrets on our last big project (gut remodeled entire house) except for regretting obsessing over my kitchen cabinets as much as I did and also our shower size. It was too big at 4.5' x 6' but it had to fit in a certain space to make everything else work. I think that's why I'm procrastinating so much on getting started on this upcoming project. I want to be even more sure that I'm getting it right this go around and focusing on my family's needs versus "standards." I'm planning to use IKEA cabs this go around and my shower will be 4'x5' (still plenty big). Heck, I'm even considering laminate countertops which I loathed having to "settle" for on our first house because the granite in our last house didn't bring quite the enjoyment and satisfaction I thought it would :/ I'm still dreading the months of headaches, decision making, etc. because I know that in the end, there will still be some sort of feeling of letdown, no matter how great it turns out. The feeling is definitely akin to postpartum blues.