Find your fabricator FIRST. That's more important than "the one". Then, ask for his input on which of the yards to go to to. He can smooth the waters of the pricing issue before you fall in love with something you can't afford by directing the yard to only show you things within your budget. Of course, a lower priced stone and marble do not really go well together in most of the country, so be prepared to up your budget. Here, marble starts at about $80 a square foot fabricated, and only goes up from there.

You are not kidding about the stone counter top pricing being strange.
We recently had Carrara counters put in.
If I were you I would go to a fabricator that has its own stone yard. If they don't have what you want they can find it for you and, in our case anyway, they charge less if you pick from their inventory. We were able to pay per square foot rather than buying whole slabs, that is how we saved the money. Also, they have a bigger business.
Be sure to check BBB and yelp, etc. We are about to sue our first fabricator because he still owes us the $1800 deposit that he was contractually bound to use for a slab I PICKED OUT WITH HIM at a stone yard. When my cabs were in - three months later - he did not have the slab because he never bought it!
I had to scramble to get some Carrara for my kitchen suddenly. I got a good recommendation for a fabricator with their own yard and about 3 choices of different Carrara "bundles" (matching slabs cut at the same place in the quarry).

Catharine442, what a nightmare! We ended up getting our stone at the fabricator's yard like you, because when we decided on white Carrera from the wholesaler, the fabricator told us that he kept a small number of popular stones in stock and white Carrera was one of them. Like you, we got the cost down to $61/square foot because we were charged only for the marble we used, instead of the two entire slabs we would have had to buy from the wholesaler. And unfortunately like you, we're having problems with our fabricator: at least two of our four pieces were cut incorrectly at our first installation attempt, and when DH went yesterday to lay out the templates on new slabs, there was a fiasco with missing templates and epic miscommunication between the yard part of the operation and the business office. We're not to the point of suing yet, but if they screw up our installation again (scheduled for Monday), we're calling American Express to challenge the entire cost of the job.

I still think the wholesaler visit was a good idea (which was why I posted above), because we got to see much more variety than our fabricator had on hand.

Just a word of note, depending on your area, the practices may vary. My KD had a set of trusted fabricators but slabs were procured under their name; At the larger yards, I simply gave the name of my KD/firm and picked slabs, which they priced out for me on a materials only basis. Then the fabricators gave a fully installed price. At others, I did have to wait for the full price but they gave an idea of the price band. A few yards even slapped the full retail price on the slabs, as a "MSRP" type of gauge.

I am a fabricator.

In my area the slab suppliers sell wholesale only so while they can give a person an idea of the final cost the actual quote has to come from the fabricator.

There are some good reasons for this.

1st, as you'd expect, there is considerable variation in the raw price per sq. ft. of the stone. Also, the same color can be priced differently (and be a different quality level) at different suppliers.

2nd, unlike most other construction materials, there is considerable variation in the size of the basic unit of material. You have a square of shingles, a sheet of plywood, a box of tiles, etc. For stone slabs the slab size can vary from a small slab of 45 sq. ft. to a jumbo slab that is over 65 sq. ft. The number of slabs required is dependent on your layout, access at your job site, the fabricators expertise, and your flexibility regarding seam locations. All of these factors impact your final cost.

3rd, some stones are a lot more work to fabricate and also entail a higher risk of breakage.

All that said, a competent fabricator with good office processes should be able to give you a quote for an alternate material in a few minutes.

Also, don't ask for pricing for 10 colors. thats a warning flag to the fabricator that you don't know what you want.

Thanks for all the support!
I was joking about the 10 prices but wanted to see if it's appropriate to ask for a few various slab costs (low, medium and higher level marble)?

I love the look of marble as well.....but, have been a little 'spooked' by the maintenance nightmare stories required for marble.

How have you resolved this up-keep issue with your decision to go with marble vs. granite?

I'm at the counter-top selection stage of my project as well....btw....

saintpfla: I live in a modest 1920's dutch colonial in New England and my feeling is the "more worn in" the better. A friend/neighbor has had marble in her kitchen for about 10 yrs which is very lived in (she has never sealed/treated the stone). She treats her marble like it is granite and it does indeed look worn! What I love is that it doesn't look new, but like a kitchen in Europe and really fits the age of the house.

I have also heard that re-honing can be done every few years for a fairly minimal expense. For me, I would rather jump "all in" than regret getting a marble look alike!

Another reply to saintpfla: we live in an old house with original woodwork, tin ceilings, parquet floors and marble fireplaces. Granite, stainless, quartzite and other easier-to-care-for counters seemed inconsistent with those original elements. The house has a couple of pieces of very worn Carrera marble, in an old bathroom and our foyer, and DH and I are both comfortable with the etched and used look of the stone.

The suggested maintenance for kitchen counters doesn't seem bad: occasional re-sealing, using trivets, wiping up red wine, citrus juice, etc. to limit stains/etches.

@saintpfla: My new carrara counters are already getting etched but it is SO HARD TO SEE unless you get in the right position and bend your knees and tilt your head a little...Staining will be less of a problem because they are sealed.
I got some unsealed samples and tortured them with every conceivable thing. I left them out on my old formica counters in the sun so I could decide if I could live with some "patina" - and I could. Mine are sealed so not as bad as the samples but I am fully prepared for a "lived-in" look.
But it is so beautiful, soft, translucent, calm. Ahhhh

True....there is nothing like that look of Carrera marble! I love it...and like most of you, have an older home - not new construction. It does look more appropriate in an older home.

I do have a round marble café table I bought years ago - didn't know to seal it. It has a the worn in look for sure and some ring marks from wine glasses..etc...

I was concerned about counters having some of that on a counter. Do you just live with it or will sealing it prevent that?

sealing prevents staining as long as you don't leave wine a long time but it won't prevent etching.

Good to know, Catharine442.

I'm assuming the etching just gives it that 'luminescent look, correct?
'

Here's our experience:

We are working with a design build. Our KD took us to a very large wholesaler and they had lots of cararra and Calcutta. The Calcutta was way out of our league. I loved the cararra and it was honed like I wanted but their slabs were so grey with virtually no white and it was reading too cool for me. KD suggested we go to the fabricator because they carry Vermont Danby.

The fabricator was getting a shipment of honed in a few weeks later so I rushed over to take a look as soon as they had it off the truck. I needed two slabs and I was able to choose from 9! It was a fun process.

Haven't templated yet but I'm hopeful. Our design build used this fabricator almost exclusively. I've been extremely impressed by them so far.

Lucky viennamommy19!
We went this weekend where there was zero danby.
For our kitchen we found a slab of carrera that's more grey works better for us. I think this is the first kitchen selection where the less expensive option is what we prefer!

Viennamommy - pics of your slabs? We love eye candy!

I would not call the etching luminescent. I would prefer not to have it but it does not ruin the beauty.

About Danby marble: It's beautiful but be sure you look at it in bright light if there will be any in your kitchen. I thought that was what I wanted but I found that it was a little bit glittery compared to carrara or calacatta. And that was not what I wanted for my very sunny kitchen.

Catharine442- it def has some sparkle, and like I mentioned in a previous post, the veining has hints of green! But, head on I don't see the sparkle or green in the sample. It's only when I lay my head down on it and look sideways. The sample reads warm and cozy, which is what I wanted for this kitchen. The cararra we had access to was so grey/blue. I would have loved to do Calcutta but it was a budget buster. We do get strong afternoon sun. Once the addition is complete, we will have to do some serious landscaping and window treatments or I may go blind cooking dinner!

Romy- pics of slabs attached. Our bump out was supposed to start today but we had a permitting issue :( On the plus side, this gives me the weekend to pack up the kitchen.

Here is a link that might be useful: My danby sample is green!

Oh wow....that IS beautiful! Your kitchen will look amazing!

Just don't put Marble in. I did but I put ClearStone on...thank god but cost as much as the Marble.

To say people won't see the Etch or won't be annoyed is a joke. Or do you not turn on the lights...? LOL.

Marble shouldn't be in a kitchen, period. These KD pushing this crap are idiots.

This video from Marble.com is good for seeing what a good general gameplan for getting started is. It's general, but if you're at the price quoting stage, I'd say it's worth a watch.