Could you possibly use a trim to hide the gap? Possibly a quarter round or shoe molding? Might be the easiest and least expensive in the long run. I would forego the thought of shiplap. I renovated houses for years and always tried to stay away from trendy and now that I’m a realtor shiplap wouldn’t be my choice.

Final thought on the company you used- if they become even more difficult report them to BBB. I have had great luck with the Better Business Bureau stepping in and getting help.

No stone fabricator will ever guarantee a perfect fit with an existing tiled wall. It’s not a reasonable expectation that the tile wouldn’t be damaged. Trying to keep the tile from being damaged means a bigger gap at the rear. Stone is never as thick as laminate. There will always be a gap. That’s why the tile goes in after.

The tile should have been considered sacrificed and removed. Before the stone was templated. That should have been made very clear to you on the front end by your GC.

No windows or walls need to be moved. That is a completely silly hack suggestion to deal with a simple issue. The tile all needs to be redone is all. Because it shouldn’t have been there to begin with.

Shiplap has jumped the shark already. Don't do shiplap.

Good choice, I agree that shiplap is not going to be around for that much longer.

If you really want to keep the tile then you need to have the fabricator replace the top. I wouldn't worry about being green since you already have discarded the original countertops anyway. There is always construction debris and it's nice if you can minimize it but don't let being green dictate your life.

Replacing the countertop is not gonna happen without paying the fabricator for that to happen, and paying for that tile to get removed first. . Because it is not the fabricators issue that the tile was in the way. This is a GC issue, and the wrong order of operations. He should never ever have called for a template with tile on that wall. That is an amateur hour mistake and he will pay to be educated about that now.

you've got great suggestions

no shiplap-I wouldn't care whether dated or not, but tile plainly better supports all the other choices of your kitchen. your kitchen is one mood, shiplap is another. with decor one can mix moods so to say..with "permanent" elements like stones and tiles, one is less free to do so.

A backsplash needs to be made of a waterproof, easily cleanable/scrubbable material. Shiplap is NONE of those. Why would anyone think this is even an option?(unless it's a show kitchen that never gets used)

I can't believe shiplap is even mentioned. :) Good luck with your fabricator.

Thems the breaks when you step outside of creating a Word document, or setting a bone, or flying a plane, or whatever it is you do professionally for a living. You didn’t have the education and experience to assume the job that you stepped into. You assumed that because it was construction work that it was “easy” for “anyone” to do. Nope. You’re getting some proper education now.

The GC is responsible for coordinating all of the aspects of the job, and verifying how it all interconnects. That was the role you assumed. Ignorance of what the job entailed is not an excuse to do the job poorly. You shouldn’t have put on the work boots if you couldn’t do the work.

And you own the issue because you are the GC. Even if you obviously don’t have a clue. So, better be ready to hire someone with a clue if you don’t have one. They can and will put a lien on your house and call it good. And you’ll pay one way or another.

Then you should have hired a GC or Designer to project manage this since you didn’t understand the order of operations, or how to plan this correctly. To fix this is going to require more demolition and more money spent. The GC’s money. Which is you.

To not pay a subcontractor when you the GC instructed them to proceed? That will result in a lien. In a heartbeat. Nitpicking colliquialisms as a response is a really desperate reach.

It's hard to know what you don't know. That's why you hire a Pro. Or you accept the consequences for not knowing and attempting the DIY.

You need to pay the counter fabricators. I'd remove the tile and run the counters up the wall. But that's only going to happen if you pay them.

May I ask what light fixtures these are? Also doing my kitchen and love them!

I came across this article because I myself are weighing out the pros and cons of shiplap vs tile. I do some design work and my take is this. Some say it’s not going to popular that much longer. I personally disagree just like they said tiny homes were a fad and would fizzle out a while ago and they are stronger than ever. I read that they replaced the countertops because they did not like the existing countertops. They can go with a different tiled backsplash but just like the countertops the next person may not like the style chosen as I don’t in my kitchen and want to replace it not to mention that the style that would be chosen may also go out of style. Because my house is over 100yrs old and the style of the home when it was renovated did not get a farmhouse sink. Because it’s important to me to have one it has caused a domino effect. My contractor was upfront with me and told me that the original opening and my cabinetry it would be very difficult to find a farm sink that would fit even cutting the part of my countertop to accommodate it. If I couldn’t, which I have not been able to, I would have to replace my marble countertops. That just hurt! The marble countertops was a big part of why I wanted this house. However updating my kitchen by putting in a farmhouse sink, painting all the cabinetry, wall, doors and all facings BM Natural Cream and my island and just the section above the stove BM Marlboro Blue I have found a quartz that mimics marble just not the color and pattern I currently have. He told me they would do the tear out of the countertops and there is no way to guarantee changing out the countertops that the backsplash doesn’t get damaged or if there will be a gap due to differences in thickness of the stone and to be prepared to change the backsplash. So I know upfront that more than likely it will have to be replaced but in my situation I don’t mind because as much as I like subway tile I do not like that baby subway tile and I do not like or recommend to anyone unless they are clean freaks or have nothing else to do but clean their house to put white grout! It’s just too hard to keep clean or at least in my experience. Again this is my opinion and others may not agree.

Paragraph breaks are needed.

It is very likely there is no reason at all to rip out your counters. @Joseph Corlett, LLC , expert on sink installation, can tell you how to do it, especially with a farmhouse sink that makes things easier. However, you DO need paragraph breaks if you expect people to read through.

Finally, you shouldn't tag onto a 4 year old post. You need to start your own post.

I suspect that run-on stream-of consciousness comment from @Brenda Austin-Martinez was a fly-by.

Thanks for the feedback and from now on I’ll make sure not to comment on an old post.

Addressing here only the request for paragraphs from M Miller and Mrs. S: when I post on Houzz I always use paragraph breaks, but my comments still show up as run-on, often with no spaces between sentences; perhaps it’s the fact that I use an iPad, I don’t know. I have the soul of a copy editor, and the fact that I often appear illiterate here is my least favorite thing about Houzz:)