We did an addition with a kitchen remodel last fall - we live in northern VA. I think you can easily look around for other stone fabricators - there are so many around here. Unfortunately, I wouldn't recommend ours (Discover Granite in Chantilly) - they trashed the wall when they installed the countertops (it's fixed, but still). The countertop process can be pretty separate from the reat of the kitchen - they come template for the counters after the cabinets are in, so they don't need to coordinate ahead of time or anything. Ask around for recommendations - people here have used all different installers.

I used Capital Marble and Granite and LOVED them. Ask for Mercedes at 202-290-1306 for fabrication. I got my granite at IGM on Pickett Street in Alexandria. They had a great selection--1000's of slabs. I also went to 4 other granite yards but they didn't have as good as selection as IGM.

I do not know what your GC would do if you do not use the folks he recommends. He may have a relationship with them and is used to working with them. Nevertheless, it's your kitchen and you are paying for it--get what you want!!!!

Avanti in Frederick has a great selection and they are very helpful...I wish we could have gotten our granite from there but alas, no true black absolute black (btw...they're one of the few places that checks to be sure the black granites are not dyed).

Universal Marble & Granite (Halethorpe/Baltimore, near BWI) also has a pretty good selection, but they don't let you reserve specific slabs...you reserve slabs from a "lot". They turned out to be the only ones who had a true black AB...in one very small lot (all other lots were coming in as gray).

Stay away from Granite Source and .

We bought from Avanti - we had a problem with our initial installer and Avanti was a huge help. They say they are slightly more $$$ but we didn't find that to be the situation. They were very helpful (all 4 times we were there) and well... wonderful. Arc Stone also has lots of choices but they are huge and it's hard to get help - but they have some amazing stones - going during the week might help vs. Saturday. We went to about 15 different places. And, shop around for your installer. We got prices all over the place.

Stay away from Stone Surfaces in Rockville - they took our money, never held our stone at Avanti and were nasty.

I made the rounds more times than I care to admit. In addition to liking Avanti for selection I would also check out Daltile in Chantilly, NSI in Glen Burnie, Marva Marble and Granite in Beltsville, and Levantina in Jessup (MD). Marble Systems in Fairfax also had a nice selection.

We weren't thrilled with whom our Contractor recommended, so we excluded our marble and granite from the contract and have gotten counters separately.

Keep in mind that we are recommending granite yards - you may still need to find a fabricator. If you also need fabricator recommendations, let us know! I'm sure many can chime in. Personally, I have had a wonderful experience with Classic Granite and Marble in Jessup - Andy. He is willing to obtain whatever slab you choose - from any of the yards. I picked my marble from Daltile in Chantilly. He has some inventory at his location as well.

HTH! Good luck! It took me forever to make a decsion and find material I loved!

We were recommended by our contractor to try Luck Stone and Marblex. Both were outrageously expensive with little selection. Luck had a few slabs in the yard. Their primary business is done from the 10 or 15 well known granites like Verde Butterfly and Uba Tuba. For those, we were quoted prices 3X what other dealers were quoting.

We talked with Dominion Granite and Marble at a home show. They were super knowledgeable. One of the owners has grown up in the business and has relationships with suppliers all over the country. They sent me to several suppliers, but we found our slabs at Daltile in Chantilly. Dal was very professional and kind. They even let me "visit" my slabs every time I went to Costco (which is right across the street). They said they get that all the time and made me feel like I wasn't being weird at all.

Dominion did a superior job on our countertops. The only seam that is visible is bookmatched and just looks really cool. The installers custom matched caulk or whatever it is they stick the seams together with so that the seams would blend in. Our granite has a large gold river running through it and they templated it so that it ran over the counters in the most beautiful fashion. They also never tried to upsell anything, in fact suggesting that I go with the less expensive eased edge over bullnose because it highlights the thickness of the tops better. Very professional all the way around.

Oh, and they offer a lifetime warranty. Does it get any better?

Here is a link that might be useful: Dominion Granite