Hi experts,

Our remodel is in full swing and our contractor told us today that he and the fabricator don't recommend runnels on our soapstone. Since we don't really like that answer and most people on this site seem to love their soapstone runnels, we have a few questions:

1. Our slab is only 2cm think (vs. standard of around 3cm?). We didn't realize it was thinner than others but wonder if we should be concerned in general (e.g. more susceptible to cracking?) and also if being thinner than usual would make runnels a bad idea.

2. Both our contractor and fabricator are discouraging the runnels due to the susceptibility of chipping on the runnel edges as pots and pans bang against them. We wondered what others have experienced in this respect.

3. To create runnels on both sides of our sink, we're getting a quote of $950 which seems quite high compared to what I've seen from others on this site. To those either in the business or who have had the work done, does that sounds radically out of line? Perhaps an easier way to break it down is to note that the fabricator charges $95/hour to do the work and since they don't do these often, they believe it's 10 hours of work. I figure labor rates may be more expensive in Calif so I wanted to take that out of the equation.

4. If we decide to do runnels, should I be seeking another fabricator? With this one seeming to heavily discourage and admittedly not do this frequently, I fear for the quality of work if we do have him do the work. This could get sticky as he has already done the stencil work and is ready to start work on the counter.

Can any of you experts help provide some guidance? We believe that it's time for a 2nd opinion but our slab is already at the fabricator - who the contractor typically works with - so I want to be certain there is merit in our concerns before rocking the boat too much.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts or feedback!