Option 6, you're being nutty ocd. let the pros do their job.

Fair enough. Seen lots of posts about vein matching issues and wanted to avoid that regret if possible.

Many slab yards said to get a taped template review prior to cutting, many of our friends and family also had a template review. The lack of up front info from the cutter has us concerned but it may come down to just saying go.

Haha,. I was kind of kidding. I really dont see why its a trouble for them to tell you their plan or at least verbally reassure you if its something that is important.

It's all good, totally understand let the guys work. "Trust me" on a >$9K irreverisble decision without clear planning is daunting. We've had lots of mistakes and rework on our whole home remodel due to poor oversight and planning from the contractor. Don't want to repeat that here.

Added Option 6 from your inspiration lol.

I kind of thought counter templating was always a sign-off affair....

I'm totally in the camp of you need to make sure you get the design you'll be happy with going forward. You're specific with what you feel will work because you've been capable of analyzing and plotting the possibilities. Most people will not have done that. Take in your info and ask for an evaluation of your preferred choice. Ask for a scheduled meeting at a time convenient for him. He may explain any problems, based on his experience, with your choice. If he isn't open to working with you, find someone who will. The stone yard will likely know fabricators who use a lot of stone.

I’d probably ask around and get another fabricator or two and see if they have a process with a sign off process that makes you feel more comfortable - make sure they have a lot of experience with quartzite

I would look for someone else ... unless the fabricator's name happens to be Michelangelo!

My fabricator was a bit old-tech, but we laid out balsa-wood templates over the 3 Taj Mahal quartzite slabs at the slab yard and moved the templates around until we were happy. Mine was easier because I wasn't doing a slab backsplash.

Modern dishwashers are heavily insuated and modern adhesives are very durable. Adhere a cleat under the seam if it makes you feel better. The no seam at dishwasher rule is obsolete.

"Option 6, you're being nutty ocd. let the pros do their job."

That's a fair enough thing to say. It's up to a fabricator to determine the fussiness and sophistication level of every customer and charge accordingly. In fact, customer selection skills are far more important than any others.

Thanks for all the feedback. Appreciate hearing about your experiences. It was very helpful to get confirmation that layout review is very common.

We've started looking around for another fabricator that will have a design review before cutting. Good news - One already told us they like having shop visits and design reviews.

@dan1888 They are the pros! Hopefully the next one can at least provide guidance on how things work, trade offs, and why my idea is/isn't feasible. I have a background in industrial construction projects, so I'm familiar with drawings and design tradeoffs hence all my design options to review. But there are limits in life so we'll do our best to design around them.

Good point @Joseph Corlett, LLC: This fabricator has chosen the low-customer involvement business model, and doesn't want to deal with fussy customers. His business, his rules. Probably lets him work through jobs faster.

@Joseph Corlett, LLC - thanks for the tip on the dishwasher seam. I've seen conflicting info on this. We just bought a new Bosch dishwasher, so we've upgraded to modern insulation over our 20 year old model. I'd be happy to pay for extra prep to make it work. I prefer that layout so I'll discuss with the next fabricator. Appreciate the tip.

@chispa I said the same thing to my wife! Who knows - maybe he's a modern day Michaelangelo, but searching for that 1: 1,000,000 stone mason on "trust me bro it'll be fantastic" is a huge risk to our budget! Guess we'll never know.

It sounds like you're on a better path. It's worth the effort.

Glad you are looking around. Not being able to view the template on the stone or through computer generated design is a bit unnerving with that busy of a vein.

On another note - you have a U shaped counter and you are going onto the backsplash. Perfect vein matching is nearly impossible even with book match slabs. A good fabricator will do the absolute best they can but you have know that it will be great but may not be perfect!

Best of luck!

Thanks @Debbi Washburn and @dan1888!