how do you get them so thick, and what are they made of?

Kristine, These are silestone countertops and the corners are mitered edges. It's basically 3/4" material that comes in large sheets and must be fabricated together.

Question: were the cabinets made shorter or are the counters higher than standard due to the 5" thickness of the counter tops? If the cabinets were made shorter, how is this achieved if there are standard appliances under the counters? I want thick counter tops but I short and I don't want high counters. Thank you!!!

No Lev, The way you put this question, you can't have your cake and eat it. Simply put, it's impossible to achieve standard height everything when making thicker countertops.. because something will have to give.

In the above situation, the cabinets are shorter, the appliances are sub-standard, but sit higher to maintain the higher than normal functional toe kick (which has a hidden rollout drawer).

If your height is shorter than average, then stick with standard counter height and search for shorter appliances.

We have appliances in our island ( 36 inches in height) and our cabinet person is saying that we can't make our island countertop thicker than 1.5 inches. We really want to make our top thicker to about 3-5 inches. Would we have to increase the height of the island to more than 36 inches then?

Hi Art. Yes, if you are building around Appliances which are 36" in height you will definitely have to make the countertop taller. (here's the but!) ... but, many people, especially taller people like to work on a taller surface. I've customized countertops up to 42" because both husband and wife preferred it.