Oh excellent, thank you, it looks lovely! I have been to many of the suppliers but QQ is too far away for me with a screaming baby in the car and they won't mail me samples! Once I choose a stone mason I will view them in person because I hear even with Quartz each slab can be a little different. I was thinking maybe Lexicon quarter...warmed up a bit...but I'm not sure. Thanks for the warning, I do have time on my side so I might go get some sample pots and see what actually looks ok with our lighting.

Hi. From what I've read, flush mount sinks are fairly new. Surely the cabinet maker who organises the stonemason has many ways of reinforcing the sink from underneath to ensure the installation is solid, and addresses the obvious weakness. Perhaps do some research (there are forums and Q&As online) and see for yourself the issues involved and what others have to say or recommend about it. I'll see if I can find some for you as well. Otherwise, I would be looking for the advice, opinions or suggestions from other cabinet-makers, joiners and stonemasons with experience in flush mount sinks and engineered stone. It does sound like they are just making you aware of warranty limitations and this is understandable. I would definitely be making sure the folks doing the work have experience. Best wishes!

Stone Ambassador here in Australia carry good stock and provide good customer support, I am not aware of any problems with their products, supply or service. Stone Ambassador's customer support can also provide you with information about how to look after Reconstituted Stone tops so you get the most out of your investment. All brands of Reconstituted Stone require a certain level of care because they are made using a small amount of polymer resin. Care needs to be taken when using strong Acids or very high temperatures. If you are unsure that Reconstituted Stone is right for you (as opposed to say natural Granite) then I suggest you contact Stone Ambassador and any other Reconstituted Stone brand you may also be considering and ask them to send you out samples; where you can then put these to your own tests. If you do purchase a Reconstituted Stone material, also be sure to register your benchtop purchase with that particular Reconstituted Stone manufacturer (not the fabricator) straight away, be it Stone Ambassador, Caesarstone, Quantum Quartz, Silestone or others so that your top's details and warranty are registered. Hope this helps, Malcolm

Hi Kate - my kitchen doesn’t get exist as the renovation starts early in the New Year. The attached link has some pictures of my parent’s kitchen. They used Neolith Statuario in the Silk finish - it is greyer and has a more dramatic vein than the Calacatta (which is also a bit browner and then the Calacatta gold is browner again). https://designerkitchensvictoria.com.au/gallery/item/137-coffey The photos do not do their kitchen justice - it is lovely in real life. There are quite a few different porcelain brands in Australia now - Dekton (as mentioned above) is another option and there are others. The different companies also do various different marble looks. You could have a look and decide what style of marble look that you prefer. They can then provide you with pictures of projects using that style of stone (Neolith has pictures on its website). There are also a lot pf photos on Pinterest and Houzz. Neolith gave me a really generous size chip (about 1/2 the size of an A4 sheet of paper) - that has been really handy for selecting other finish colours (eg paint for the 2 PAC and walls and trims and the Polytec laminate and tiles for the bathroom and laundry - if you do decide on Neolith, I could give you the Haynes paint and polytec colours that I am using if it helps). Porcelain is more expensive than Quartz (both in raw material and in installation costs), but then so is marble. I am using a lot of Neolith in my house, so I shopped around to find a stone cutter who was crafty with maximising the use of each sheet of Neolith (to avoid wastage and minimise the number of sheets needed). It made a huge difference. My house was also designed around the sheet size - Neolith sheets are 3.2 metres long (so you can have a 3.2 metre benchtop or island without needing a join). You need to use 12mm (or thicker) sheets for benchtops. (Splashbacks and showers use 6mm thick porcelain sheets - Neolith does 2 different matching sheets for each marble design, so you can bookmark and pattern match the splashback). Also be aware that the marble pattern is only printed on the top of all of the brands of porcelain. If you want to continue the pattern on the “lips” of your benches, this needs to be a beveled edge (which you also need to do with quartz or marble if you want any thickness of “lip” to your benchtop). So you also have to factor in the stone cuts needed to create the benchtop “lips” when calculating sheet cutting and usage. I am not having edging on my benctops and am instead going for the slim European look of “floating” benchtops. I am not worried that the 1.2 cm edge all the way around the benches will be plain white. On the marble etching and staining - at my brother’s house it is everything that has been a problem - from wooden chopping boards, tea cups, wine glasses, metal cans, citrus, vinegar, tomato, water (yep even water marks marble!), oil, certain plastics, berries, juice, even some metal cans…. I understand what you designer is saying about the beauty of natural marble and how it has been used and loved for hundreds of years in European houses - but frankly the modern day types of stains (where the toddler smeared their blue playdough, the round marks of tins, the outline of wine bottles, coffee and tea cups and tins etc) are just not pretty!