That’s called a backsplash.

Neither of those are actual ”stone”, btw. The backspalshes in those pics are quartz, which is made in a factory, combining crushed quartz particles, 30% plastic resins, and dyes.

Full height backsplash. At the full stone+ price! Plus lots of design and support challenges tht your experienced kitchen designer has to solve during the design phase. Note: quartz is not heat resistant immediately behind a range.It will turn brown with heat exposure.

It’s called “expensive “! Sorry, couldn’t resist. I agree with Floored You. Quartz is man made product. You can get a similar “look” with a good porcelain tile for much less money. Try looking on tilebar.com for one place. Doing any slab on wall requires a lot more installation pre-planning and takes up more space along with more weight. Lots to consider. Installation costs will also be double or triple for slabs.

Faucets typically set behind the sink and need space. 2-3cm slab take up space so faucet setting, operation and function need to be carefully considered. Hanging mirrors becomes more problematic. Medicine type mirror cabinets have to be carefully templates out. It’s not easy.

Flo, better yet, move the cabinets out a few inches to allow for the thickness of slab backsplash. Of course you will also spend more on the deeper counter needed.

I did this in my kitchen on the sink run, because I had a large window, 3 cm quartzite slab backsplash under the window and 18" deep sink. I wanted to make sure my faucet wasn't squeezed in.

We have a full slab behind our stove, and I love it. No grout lines to get dirty. It's a very clean look that perfectly fits our design language. But obviously, there are tons of different kitchen designs and it obviously wouldn't be a good fit everywhere.

And yes, having a solid backsplash makes it harder to install other hardware. In our case, we opted to minimize penetrations. The only hole that we cut was for a pot filler above the stove. We designed the kitchen so that no switches would be necessary in this location, and outlets are installed as plugmolds under the cabinets. N.b. this puts restriction on where you have to install upper cabinets, as building codes restrict the heights and distance of outlets. If planning to go this route, have your kitchen designer or architect review building codes carefully.

Also, I want to second the warning that quartz isn't an appropriate backsplash in a kitchen. There are countless postings on Houzz from people who found that out the hard way. Using quartz is very likely to result in eventual heat damage. In our case, we opted for ceramic material instead, but natural stone or metal is also viable. Glass might or might not work, depending on whether you can source heat resistant glass (noticeably more expensive!)

"Installed vertically"

@Mark Bischak, Architect, which comment are you replying to. Quoting out of context makes it hard to figure out what you are trying to say.

And just for the record, since I keep talking about "backsplash" in my comment, I am obviously referring to material that is installed vertically. So, I assume it isn't my comment that you are taking exception to.

I was answering the question, "What is it called when you put stone slab on the wall?"

A backsplash is mounted vertically, but stone mounted vertically is not necessarily a backsplash.

"You can get a similar “look” with a good porcelain tile for much less money."

There is much more labor involved in a tile installation than in a full height backsplash installation and labor is more expensive than either material. Compare total costs, please.

I guess this varies but I am certainly used to tile install labor being significantly cheaper than slab install. And for quartz or high level granite, I am used to material being more than labor. Although this typically gets murky when the pricing is not transparent - which is often the case with slabs.

A slab is unwieldy and awkward but it is not necessarily heavier or thicker than a wall full of tile. Or more expensive.

Definitely a good idea to plan for it from the start!

I am a fabricator. If it's a new kitchen or extensive remodel with new cabinets suggest that the full height splash be installed BEFORE the cabinets are set. This allows the backsplash to be in much larger pieces which eliminates seams. ALso makes it much easier to accommodate the various penetration in the splash for outlets and switches. This approach takes good coordination by the GC but it's a great way to do it.

Porcelain panels are an option. They offer thinness.