Beautiful stone--of course, I may be partial because it looks very much like our stone, White Galaxy. Ours was more diagonal so we laid out the island first. The kitchen is L-shaped so we just laid out the corner at the corner of the island so the diagonals completed into the corner and went around the stone from there--no sense in trying to improve on Mother Nature! Hope this makes sense or helps a little.

Beautiful! what kind of granite is it?

It is called "Bianco Regina"/"White Galaxy".
http://www.findstone.com/daniel2.htm

I had a sample which is not sealed and failed 24hr wine test. I think I need to find a sealed piece and try it again?.

With your dimensions, you'll need at least 2 slabs. Maybe 3 if you want perfect seams with all of that movement. 1 for the island , and 1 for the perimeter cut into two 26" deep blanks. Matching at the seam can be an issue with stones with movement, so I'd reserve 3 slabs and hope to only need 2.

I'm too much if a newbie to give any truly helpful advice, but I can say that it is beautiful!

Greendesigns,

I have no idea what you mean , sorry not upto the vocab yet with this home remodel.

Please elaborate why I would need 3 slabs?.

Thanks

Granite slabs average around 58"x 108". Some shorter, some longer.

With your island being 94"x44", that's one whole slab right there. There won't be enough left over out of it to do anything but maybe a vanity. Not enough for the perimeters.

Your perimeters are 111" which is longer than most granite slabs. So, you'll need a seam. Granite that has lots of movement in the stone tends to have seams that are difficult to make look right without a lot of care. You can get a black section next to a white section and it looks like two jigsaw puzzle pieces that don't fit. A good match looks like two puzzle pieces that DO fit together.

To get the best possible seam, you get what is called bookmatched slabs so that the seam can be a mirror image of the other slab. Granite slabs are sliced up like bread, but with the faces facing each other being buttered (polished) so that it transports without scratching the other face. When a seam is bookmarked, the veins flow across it, sometimes in a "butterfly" pattern.

The fabricator is the most important part of getting a good countertop. Not the stone. Do your homework there and see their past work, especially the seams, before you let them touch any stone.

Wow, live_wire_oak! I'm always a fan of your posts, but this one with all those pictures is a keeper, for sure!

That slab is 115"x92" hence it is barely enough for the longer section of the counter top. Since there is only one edge on the 25" side.

Live wire Thank you for all that information and those pictures. I never knew what bookmarked means, but now it makes sense.

You're welcome to the info.

Looks like you found a jumbo slab! Sounds like it will do what you need from the single slab if everything goes well. I would use the bottom portion with the more intense movement for the island, and leave the plainer portions at the top for the perimeter.

Hi Live_wire_oak,

thanks for the suggestion I am leaning towards your suggestion but my wife is going the other way.

More decisions to make :(

thanks

I would love to see that river section down the middle of the island. It would be a real conversation piece in your kitchen. I love that! It is the definite strong characteristic in the slab and should be the center focal point IMO of course! I think the most dynamic part of a slab belongs in the middle where it can best be seen and the perimeter would be more uniform.

LWO those last pictures are sexy! I love the look of bookmatched slabs.

Yes a good seam is very important. Have you found a fabricator yet? Make sure you find a great one. If you have, I'm surprised they didn't tell you that you would need 2 slabs. I love the movement and would love the bottom of the slab on an island.

LWO--now I understand bookmarking. Thank you.

I love rocks and granite and natural history in general, and those granites are beautiful enough that I could easily imagine hanging them on my wall like art (not the whole wall, but part of the wall, like art). But just like I wouldn't want to prep dinner on a Van Gogh, likewise I wouldn't Twant to wake up and make coffee on those granites every morning. Too busy for me. I prefer simplicity. Of course this is 100% personal preference, so the value of gardenweb input for such things in questionable...