Do you have a Lowe's or Home Depot near you. I recently had WA Oiled Soapstone priced out at 11.00 per square foot no up charge for leaving off the backsplash and increasing depth to 26", and my choice of edges from 4.00-7.00 per running foot. The 2 standard egdes were free. Maybe your price is cheaper, but I would hate to see anyone pay more for leaving the backsplash off.

I don't know about Lowe's but our Home Depot no longer has the precut pieces of Basalt Slate sitting around. I went over there specifically to look at it and was told that they don't have them anymore. You might want to call ahead.

$11/sq. foot! I hope that's without installation - our HD was $24/sq foot + anywhwhere from $7-10 for the custom edges...but that's with installation. I didn't get the price without yet.

I think it's worth it to get it without the backsplash - especially if I'm trying to get a "soapstone" look.

What you want to have priced out is a Single Roll Bartop in a 26" size (comes in 30" also if you're going for deeper counters). Anyone who orders even a couple of laminate countertops and reads the specs should know that, but unfortunately, big boxes don't always have the brightest bulbs. That's a "regular" countertop with only one postformed edge. There is no backsplash, just an unfinished back edge. Because it's postformed, it can come in any of the postformed edges and doesn't have to be a custom edge like the square of bevel---which to confuse you further can also be postformed but are typically field created for a larger profit margin. A post formed edge counter is one "manufactured" by a large distrubutor in a facility with heat and pressure to create a rounded type edge. It's purchased locally in "blanks" to be fabricated by local fabricators. They are the preformed counters you see in most big boxes, but come in many more colors and edges than your typical big box carries. The two big players in the industry are Hartson-Kennedy and and VT Industries.

For the Wilsonart product in a special order color (most colors) with no installation, you should be looking at around $8-15 a square foot, depending on which edge you choose. If you have a tricky kitchen, like a U shaped one where the middle needs to fit exactly, or have a drop in range or other specialty cutout or angle, or a bartop peninsula meeting a regular top it's worth it to get the countertops measured and installed by a professional. For most any other type of simple kitchen with maybe a 90° angle or two, DIY makes sense if you can measure accurately.

I just ordered Wilsonart Luna Night HD for 25.00 sq foot installed with a double roundover edge, no backsplash. For the longest time I was torn between OS and Baltic Slate. The Luna Night is close to both of them but with the shiny HD look and texture.