I have Carrera in my upstairs bath. It is breathtakingly beautiful and so soft looking. It makes me sigh when I look at it as it just surprises me how beautiful it is. However, I must say that I do worry about it. I am not one of the easy going types who could live with etching. The reason is because it is just so beautiful it would be like the young Brad Pitt with acne. It would be a shame, a tragedy!!! I know I could never live with that in the kitchen. As much as I drool over it I would have a cow if it didn't always look as it did on day one. Call me shallow, superficial, I don't care! It's too expensive to think of it not holding up to the look it had on the first day. I have been looking at some of the white granites and find they vary so much. I love some of the Bianco Romano slabs but others are just plain and unexciting and so nothing for me. If you could find the right slabs it would be a contender. I don't mind the yellow in them, it's the ones that don't have any veins or character and are just speckles that I don't like. I am having to replace my kitchen granite since we had a sink failure and also the granite I have is all pitted and chunks of quartz or mica whatever are falling out. The guy who sold it to me is out of business and the fabricator who agrees it has "issues" and probably was not resined and has too many cracks and pits has offered to give me a great deal on replacement which turns out not to be so great, it's still in the $4K range, but it would be closer to 6K if full price. I'm sick about it. But that is why I am still in the market for granite. For some reason I have had such bad luck with everything we have done in our reno. I am not happy with any of it. I should have used a KD and not tried to do this on my own. But back to slabs, it's hard to not love the quartzite and marble but I just know I couldn't live with it and not obsess. I admire those of you who can!

I really like the entire backsplash with solid surface for sleek Euro modern look. The lines are clean and crisp. For this type of look, I think it is better to do a minimal number of material and not use tile. Often tiles go out of fashion very quickly. For example, glass mosaics will be out of fashion in a few years, just as 4 inch stone tiles are so passe now.

I am so sorry this happened to you. Since you live in Toronto, I am sure you are probably familiar with Mike Holmes' show(s). Some time ago, he had a show that touched on this same problem. A couple had paid over $8000 for their countertops as part of their kitchen remodel and their problem was very similar to yours. The fabricator didn't take responsibility for a very lousy job either: almost mirroring yours. There was a large gap in some areas at the rear and only one seam lined up in height. The kitchen had 3 straight runs, no corners. One of the runs was 7' and he used 3 pieces of quartz. It was as if he was trying to use up material he had already. The rest of the seams were so unlevel that the level actually rocked when put on it. There were big globs of resin/glue on all of the seams. It was as if they didn't smooth anything out and used the resin to fill gaps that they hadn't fit properly. Mr. Holmes contacted Caesarstone and lodged a complaint on behalf of the homeowner. Caesarstone sent a representative to investigate. The second guy was appalled. He said that in this day and age, the only way to get the most accurate template, was with a laser. Even a paper template is so difficult to record every "wonk" in the walls and impossible to determine cabinet level. This second installer had the countertops removed, suggested the cabinets be shimmed to as level as possible, and suggested plywood be installed level with all the cabinet tops. This way, if the countertop had to be shimmed, there was something to slide the shim onto. In the end, Caesarstone replaced the second countertops at no cost. Their rep. said that the bad publicity was more costly than the cost of the counters. Unfortunately, they didn't post the name of the original contractor (wonder if it was the same guy). I think you should definitely contact Caesarstone. If no one complains, these "cowboys" keep getting away with this. There are a LOT of cases in small claims court for shoddy contractors who take the money and have no idea how to do the job they're contractored for. If Caesarstone doesn't satisfy, contact Mike Holmes (lol)

@Emily Brees yes we went with the raw concrete and I LOVE IT! I have had to treat this countertop differently than my old laminate countertop. If I am working with blueberries or something oily, I use a cutting board, even if I am just pouring into a bowl. You can get oil and other “stains” out of the raw concrete, but it requires a bit more elbow grease because of the increased surface area. I have also gotten into the habit of wiping them down thoroughly at least once a day, if not twice because of my sons dirty finger prints. I haven’t had any issues with water stains that others have mentioned. Water dries up nicely. To remove an oily fingerprint that the installers left, I had to use dish soap. On another occasion (can’t remember what it was) I had to use barkeepers friend. I used nail polish remover to get pen marks off. None of this has damaged the surface, but I avoid their use except in dire circumstances. what I use daily for cleaning and that does a really good job is the Method granite and stone cleaner. It does a great job and the pH is within the recommended range for Caesarstone countertops. if you have any other questions, let me know!