I was definitely worried about hiring a contractor who didn't know what he was doing. I did a fair amount of research so when I spoke with them, I could tell how comfortable they were with the requirements and in our case need to modify the joists below the floor. Some even opening admitted they hadn't done one but were willing to take on the task. No Thanks! I monitored several forums on the web and set up a google alert for "curbless shower" and tried to get a sense of experience. One of the forums is particularly good and turns out one of the contributors was from our metro area. I could read how he communicated and also sense how the other experienced guys on the forum respected him. It was amazing to me how in such a large metro area where we live, how few contractors have much experience with this. From what I can tell, it was rather difficult though since our house has a "pier and beam" foundation, that made it a bit more straightforward. It was also very expensive but the guy I hired is good and he knows he's good so didn't have to low bid the job. (I also liked that his bid didn't change during the job). We have an old house and he personally lived in an old house so was accustomed to the eccentricities and surprises of old houses. Overall, I felt VERY lucky. Maybe in time, contractors will get more experience but for now, it is scary what a risk you are taking hiring someone for this job. If I hadn't had the extra information for this contractor, I might have just chosen one of those "kits" - check out the Schluter web site (linear drains are a bit expensive but worth it) and definitely the forum run by John Bridge. I think a homeowner shouldn't try hiring for this kind of job without doing a lot of research and having a lot of confidence in the contractor they end up hiring. Angies list had a couple of reviews that looked interesting if I hadn't of found the contractor I ended up with. Good luck.

@Daphne Schwarz...please don’t post misinformation. Not all soapstone is soft. There are quite a few hard varieties. In our kitchen, we have Belvedere, a hard variety from M.Teixeira. After four years, not one nick, scratch or dent, and ours is a hardworking kitchen. The key, like with any kind of stone you’re considering for a kitchen or bath, is to bring home samples, and test them. And, never buy a stone, sight unseen. Real soapstone will not stain, etch, or pit. Properly fabricated, it will have a smooth, matte finish. To make sure you’re getting the real deal, only buy soapstone from a soapstone dealer/fabricator...not a stone yard that mainly sells granite/quartzite/marble/quartz.

archie123, my drainboard is 16 inches long. The standard for Stonemasters is 18 inches but I wanted to preserve some flat countertop next under the corbel shelves and they were quite flexible. It is about 16 inches front to back but I did not specify that, I think they decide that depending on the sink measurement. Many people get the runnels which are prettier but I wanted the smooth drainboard of ease of cleaning. I thought I would mostly use the Stages sink shelf for drying things but that shelf does not slope down at all and there is always a ittle water on it unless I wipe it off , so this integral drainboard in the soapstone is my most used drying area. Also, that sink including the raised shelf has become my most often used prep area so the integral drainboard adds even more functional real estate. I use this very low profile drying rack from Ikea which easily stores in the sink out of view if needed. BTW the templater mentioned that Kohler dxf files were very accurate and they trusted them. Mags438, the sink is I think my favorite thing! You are too funny. tea4all, the corbel shelves are already holding our most used bowls and mugs. The bottom edge of my cabinets are 19 inches from the countertop with an integral 1 inch hollow area underneath for undercounter lights etc. I designed the shelves to have the bottom 7 inches below that bottom edge of the cabinets (12 inches above the countertop) and 7 inches front to back. I drew the corbels poorly but asked Dutchwood to make the top part 13 inches front to back. tapering down to the 7 inches front to back for the shelves. The shelf thickness is 3/4 inch thick, the thinnest that the cabinetmaker was comfortable with. My upper cabinets are 15 inches deep so the 7 inch corbel shelf depth still allows the undercounter lights (mounted towards the front under the cabinets) to not be blocked by the shelves. I designed the shelves i because I wanted to have easy access to my most used items yet get things off the countertop. The height was determined by the location of my preexisting outlets and switches which also happened to be the right height that my coffeemaker could fit under (just) when not in use. I do pull the coffeemaker and rice cooker out from under the cabinets when in use because of the steam that they generate. I will eventually post a picture of the corbel shelves in use. Here is a link that might be useful: Ikea Boholmen dish drainer

I am definitely #teamsoapstone. I first quenched my lust for soapstone many years before I had a kitchen remodel planned, by having local stone yard fabricate a replacement top for my coffee table from a soapstone remnant. This is a Brazilian soapstone that Dorado Soapstone (importer/distributor) calls "Anasazi". It is very hard and dense, and pretty much impervious to scratching, with intense contrasting veining. This piece (coffee table photo above) has NEVER been oiled, it is just that dark naturally. My initial experience with the naturally dark, and practically un-scratchable Anasazi stone might have lead me to underestimate how soft the majority of (less dense) soapstone is. Dorado / Anasazi I later put, what turns out to be, a much softer ss in my kitchen. For my kitchen I was looking for the soft grey (unoiled) look, with minimal veining. I kept my kitchen counters natural for the first three years. I fully embrace the texture and patina of the small scratches my counters have (no-regrets), that is part of the vintage "been here forever" look I love about my 100+ year old English-cottage-y house. (I've also had a copper kitchen sink for many years before my kitchen renovation where we added the soapstone, for us the copper patina showing wear, and constantly changing in appearance, was a feature we loved, so we are already "patina people" in general). But, the oil marks and rings that would mark/"stain" the surface my un-oiled soapstone, anytime anything remotely oily would touch the counters, drove me CRAZY, and looked very messy (and, well, ugly) to me. (Note, not really a "stain" - a surface mark that a degreasing agent can strip from the stone). The solution for me was to switch over to the "wet look". After 3 years of frequent scrubbing with simple green to get rid of (de-grease) the incidental oil blobs and rings that came from normal kitchen use, I started oiling my countertops, and embraced the jet-black, wet look, about 2 years ago. I've only oiled 3 times, all with an oil-and-beeswax blend paste. After the first two applications where the counters sucked up the oil/wax, I went about a year before a re-application, which happened last fall. Counters in photos below are about 6 mos from last oiling. Oil-Wax paste My kitchen counters are what Saratoga Soapstone (importer/distributor) calls "Mineral Black" (also quarried in Brazil). I think it is probably one of the softer soapstone varieties out there, that is sold frequently for countertops, which was a (mineralogy) trade-off, in order to have the uniform soft matte dove grey look I wanted, the quality that drew me to the unoiled mineral black. Between the Anasazi and the Mineral black I feel like I have probably bookend-ed the Rockwell spectrum for material hardness for soapstone. Saratoga / Mineral Black Photos showing use/scratches/wear/love, just to be clear on what soapstone "patina" looks like (eyes wide open): More frequent oiling would make the wear marking much less visible - but they don't bother me at all, and I've not had any issues with water rings or marks from water, before or after oiling. I did strongly dislike the oil splotches-stains that I found to be unavoidable when trying to keep my soapstone natural and unoiled, for me that was the only down-side to soapstone. In the last photo the cloudy area in the upper-left ,the "oiled look" is starting to fade or evaporate, and the natural dove-grey quality of the unoiled stone is starting to reappear). I would totally use soapstone again, (I love my kitchen), but I would have gone into the shopping planning for oiled wet look from the start, instead of shopping/selecting based on unoiled-look of the slabs. But definitely important to know what you are getting, and understand how it will wear.