Lien laws vary by state, but my general rule is that you should not give final payment to the GC until he provides you with signed lien release forms from all subs, precisely because the subs can file liens against your house even if you pay the GC in full but he fails to pay the subs. You contracted with the kitchen company, and they hired the sub that did the faulty work, so the kitchen company is ultimately responsible for the quality of the work. Assuming you have not already paid the kitchen company in full for whatever you owe them, I would inform them that you are withholding payment in an amount equal to the full cost of the counters until they provide you with a signed lien release from their sub (it is between them and the fabricator what financial arrangement they come to to get the release signed) as well as properly installed counters. In other words, don't pay until you get exactly what you are paying for plus a lien release from everyone.

Congrats, khallock! Isn't it a treat to actually use the sink? What are your thoughts on backsplash on the range wall? Hood height between the windows? Between windows and cabinets? I think the layout will be as difficult to decide as the material itself. As for color - if you don't want to go green, I think you could get away with a brownish/reddish tile slightly darker than the counters, since everything else is nice and light, and you have such good lighting. I see maybe a uniform color, glass tiles perhaps, with varying tile sizes, like the second picture EAM44 posted.

Yes, worth the wait, mamasheshe! a2, are you going to keep it a surprise until the table comes in, or are you going to post updates? Which trim did you have installed today? As for the calls for more pics: it's REALLY not finished. I keep the area in the shot above looking nice most of the time (except when I'm in the throes of cooking or baking), but the rest of my house looks something like this: Under all that mess, which is stuff DH is using for the punch list, is my walnut desk top. Can't wait to get to the bottom of the pile and waterlox that beauty! You all will be the first to see it when it happens. Thanks for all the support!

Joseph - you keep saying resin pools but what I have are chipped slabs and a large filled divot. Fabricator did not try to correct a resin pool, they said they installed the slab and then noticed a defect which was a divot in the surface and attempted a field repair post install. They claim the slabs came with all these chips and there is no repair that will create a consistent finish, and that all this is normal. I'm getting some conflicting opinions from this board for sure. These chips are not near any fabricated areas (not on miters or edges). These are between 4” and 2 feet from the edges of the counters depending on the chip in visible work areas of the counter. I really don't expect things to be perfect, but when mistakes happen I want to be given a straight and accurate answer as to what is normal and what I can expect to be done about it. I'm sure it will be worked out though between Cambria and the fabricator. I'm pretty over it at this point. Like a new car - the first scratch is always the most painful. I just would have liked to be responsible for it!