On June 2 2016 Canuck Designs an authorized company for Vicostone installed three slabs of Quartz tops Vicostone BQ100 on top of my existing cabinets of 24 years with a 15 year Vicostone warranty. On December 19 2020. I noticed a hair line crack that started in the middle of the countertop. I contacted Vicostone Calgary and told them the problem. They told me they would send a representative to look at the Hairline Crack. On January 13 2021. The company rep showed up. After serval days the company said, nothing would be done since my cabinets shifted and caused the problem. He also said my Installer should have told me to reinforce the cabinets. On a closer look, the crack happen above the lazy Suzie. That area has a solid top and attached with a support pole in the middle. It is the most’d supported area of the entire cabinets. I went one step further and talked to another authorized dealer for Vicostone. It looks like an issue with the stone itself says the authorized dealer. I also had a conversation with another authorized Dealer for Vicostone (They said, if there was a shift in the cabinets, the crack would start on the weakest point, in my case the ninety degree corner edge or the outside wall edge. I told them that the crack started in the middle of the slab and over a period of a month, it worked its way to the inside corner. (I have pictures before it moved to the corner) I was told more than once, if the weakest point was the middle of the slab, then it is an issue with the stone itself) I had a meeting with the company owner. As I tried to present the evidence. He ask me for my bill of sale from him. I said I handed the proof of purchase from Canack Designs to your rep. I don’t have a bill of sale from him since I bought from Canuck Designs, Canuck Designs bought from Vicostone.Canuck designs do not exist since the owner retired. I have pictures with a level, Cabinets have not shifted and perfectly level. Vicostone will not honor any warranty (Buyer Beware)

Hi Everyone - we just had our Neolith Calcacutta counters in silk finish installed in our kitchen. I DO NOT recommend going with this product unless you are okay with a number of downsides. We utilized a certified Neolith fabricator who has lot of experience in working with this material. We did the mitered edges so that they were not white as well. Not only was this by far the most expensive product, but it was disappointing as well. You can see the white edges where it was mitered and there are defects from the moment of installation from which I was told are "normal" and acceptable. My seams (only two, that is nice) are VERY obvious and not what I would have expected. The material itself marks up when ANYTHING touches it basically. Put a cookie sheet on it and you have horrible black / gray marks everywhere that do not come out. I have been told you have to be willing to scrub it for that to happen and they recommended using acetone to get them out. Um....so now i am left with counters that cost me over $13k that I am not happy with from how they look (they look great from afar) and that mark up when anything touches it and I have to use a special something to try and get them out and that is not easy. If I could do it again, I would go with quartz or quartzite. These are not worth the pain and suffering along with the high cost and disappointing outcome. I went to some friend's house over the weekend where they had their new quartz counters installed, by the same fabricators we used and they look far superior to ours and they do not have the same issues. I read the reviews on here and chose it anyway and am devastated I did. I wish I had taken these reviews to heart and not listened to the fabricator's comments that these were one off experiences.

Pllog, Well, we are in both in CA, as some would say! ;) I do agree with your comment about granite being the standard because of its perception as being a luxury item. FrmrsDghtr, WOW!!! Love what you were able to do!!! RosySunnyGal, Our counters are Floating Blue which is a mostly turquoise in white cement matrix color. We were able to pick our slabs at the factory when it was still here in the Bay Area years ago. We have several KDs in our area that had samples of Vetrazzo, Icestone and Fuez to look over. IF you are looking for the wow factor, these will do it. With that in mind, I do recommend that you really like your countertop color because it is a very prominent part of your kitchen. They also aren't cheap and I highly recommend that your installer be someone who knows how to work with this material. Our installation fabricators claimed they did and we had multiple problems with them that we finally had to hire a second company to fix. We looked at all of the green countertop materials, and this was the one that my DH and I were able to agree on despite the price. BTW, I don't include quartz or C-stone in this category. I do recommend that you do an online search for recycled glass companies because there are several others besides the three I mention above. The ones that I have ran across are: Gilasi in the Chicago area, Urbanslabs in SoCal, Vetrazzo is now in the Atlanta area, and more that I have seen around the US. I do recommend if you can using one that is near you because of the weight and shipping cost of the slabs. If you are interested in knowing more or seeing some pictures of my counters, please, PM me.

@Alex P In theory, cabinets could be leveled to precisely the same height so that a countertop material would sit right down flat on top with no shimming. In reality, this almost never happens. Even with the very best technology in cabinetry leveling like using EZ-Level bracing which remains intact over time, you are still looking at having to shim a countertop of any type at least in a few places even in the best of circumstances. Regular cabinetry shims can shift over time depending on how they are applied, affecting your long-term stability prospects. For a countertop material that is already prone to cracking such as porcelain is, this becomes a great risk to try to shim that material with no underlayment for support, even at a 20 mm thickness. I would be more comfortable relying on the MSI guidelines for something like a small bathroom vanity countertop rather than a full kitchen where you will almost be guaranteed to need to shim the porcelain to bring it level across the largest run of your countertop area, thus leaving gaps between shims rather than the full support a subtop would provide. That is why you rarely see porcelain countertops without an underlayment unless it is for a small area like a bathroom. If you want the edge to be thin and polished without an underlayment, what this means is that you will need to specify your cabinetry to be constructed with full subtops and then somehow get them all perfectly level and ensure that there will be no shifting of the cabinetry or foundation in years to come, and then lay the porcelain down without shimming it if at all possible. Your idea of metal trim to cover an underlayment is creative, but remember that Schluter is designed to be anchored into grout, so you would need to be confident that you could secure it in an alternate manner before going that direction since you won't have any grout or tile adhesive in that area. I mentioned honed Absolute Black granite because it is much lighter than the polished type. Some varieties present in a gray color like concrete which is why your description reminded me of it. Soapstone also comes in a matte gray variety. I put soapstone in my own kitchen and love it, and it is considered to be a modern material for current kitchen design. Prepare for heartbreak if you do go with porcelain under any circumstances. Cracking and chipping with porcelain can happen, and it can happen to you, sometimes beyond any hope of warranty coverage. I liked the look of porcelain and its wear properties, but after much research including seeing cracks and chips in finished applications and talking to experienced fabricators, I decided to spare myself the risk. I have been thoroughly happy with the soapstone instead and recommend it if you cannot find anything else suitable. Even a honed marble like Danby would present fewer headaches for you than porcelain or concrete, I think.