We are considering soapstone countertops to replace formica in our 1922 house in Berkeley, CA. I’ve read all the discussion threads I can find in here about the topic.
1) My biggest remaining concern is chipping (I can live with the issue of scratching.) Does anybody have longer term (i.e. didn’t just put it in and still in the honeymoon period) actual experience with soapstone for kitchen counters? Is this a problem?
2) I understand that there are different degrees of hardness, but all the dealer websites I have found do not discuss which vareties they sell are hardest. Is there a standard measure I should be asking about? Does anybody know which types are the hardest?
3) Anything else I should be looking for to differentiate quality of the stone I am looking at?
Does anybody have experience with Fireslate? I would also appreciate any pros and cons about that.
I am dealing with about 30 running feet, placed on Woodmode cherry cabinets. Thanks for any help.
Replies
No personal experience, but I remember an old post (don't know if it was here) discussing how hard it is to cut some of the Brazilian material. A bullnose edge would be less prone to chipping if struck, than a square or eased edge. I've never had the impression than soapstone is fragile stuff however. Good luck, post some pics.
Marty,
try http://www.soapstones.com
This company sells a low talc soapstone that is less prone to scratching and chipping.
I think they call the low-talc product "Cobra" soapstone. Give them a call and they will send you samples.
Good Luck
Mike K
Amateur Home Remodeler in Aurora, Illinois
Both have been discussed before--if not here then at "House Chat". You can search using "Fireslate" or "Soapstone" and/or "counters" and probably find quite a few discussions.
Mike is right.COBRA soapstone is awesome....I believe it comes out of Africa and ain't cheap and takes months to get but its gorgeous.
I installed a huge amt(not the Cobra....couldn't wait that long) on the job I'm doing on my 1680 house about a month ago....I did all the cutting etc etc and its pretty damn tough stuff.
The scratches are no biggie because you can sand em' right out if you so desire....easily.
I've actually..probably been abusing all the edges more than normal using the island as a work table for the rest of the work in the room...so far....no chips or cracks and I have a great company at REAL good prices if you want....I know they even have a place in California besides the one I used in NJ.
The reason they have such good prices is because they own they're own quarry in Brazil.
I had one problem though.two of the pieces were way different in color....where I had to fabricate a corner....they're delivering me another two pieces tomorrow.
Real stand up company...would be nice if they installed it too but....
Now a days yer lucky to find someone to even replace it cause they didn't legally have to.
I know my friend Shglaw who is here in BT has had his for yearsss and I was just there last week......looks perfect.
BE stoned
a...
The secret of Zen in two words is, "Not always so"!
When we meet, we say, Namaste'..it means..
Allright Andy, spill yer guts. Where'd you get the soapstone? Got a link? Thanks.
Andy & Mike - It sounds like the place Andy is dealing with is M. Teixeira Soapstone -- the company that has the website Mike referred to. (soapstones.com Locations in NJ and San Francisco and they carry Cobra, which is from India.) Thanks for the help.
Thats the place alright.real standup people as I said before with great prices..they should be here today with a replacement....ughhh....more volcanic ash.....maybe I'll wise up and do it outside now that the snow is gone and the torrential rains are over (I think).
Be stoned
a...The secret of Zen in two words is, "Not always so"!
When we meet, we say, Namaste'..it means..
I honor the place in you where the entire universe resides,
I honor the place in you of love, of light, of truth, of peace.
I honor the place within you where if you are in that place in you
and I am in that place in me, there is only one of us.
I've had soapstone counters for years. There is NOTHING better in an old house. Unfortunately, it cannot be used with woodmode cabs, and woodmode cabs are unlawful in old house restorations in 46 states. Especially the pretend antique looking ones, which carry a significant prison sentence.
You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say will be used against you in a court of law...
Guilty as charged... but no froo froo antiquing. Simple cherry cabinets to match the existing gumwood trim in the rest of the house. Best I could afford 20 years ago when I bought the fixer upper that nobody looking for a fixer wanted. Thanks for the rest of the input, however. Guess I'm finally seeing the light on soapstone.
No experience, but we were looking at countertops at a place here, and they had one I've never seen before called, simply, Greenstone. We really liked the look, and it had some better properties than both granite and soapstone, though for the life of me I can't remember what now.
Our company started installing soapstone last year. It is beautiful, unique and incredibly heavy. It's pretty soft. I haven't heard of anyone having a problem with chipping, but being a natural material it would tend to be susceptible to that along with any other kind of countertop, save stainless.
I didn't know about soapstone from other countries. Seems amazing to import the stuff when the best in the whole world comes from Vermont, USA. Guess I don't understand, probably a matter of economics?
Mad Dog,
From what I have been told they no longer mine soapstone in Vermont, haven't for years. Apparently they can get it cheaper from Brazil. Mike K
Amateur Home Remodeler in Aurora, Illinois
No soapstone from Vermont? News to me:http://www.vermontsoapstone.comhttp://www.greenmountainsoapstone.com
The first one says;" We are miners, importers, and custom manufacturers. Our primary business is mainly fabrication of custom soapstone products. "The 2nd one says that they search the world for soapstone.
Mad Dog,I talked to the people at Vermont Soapstone a few years back. If I remember correctly they are the ones that told me they import all the soapstone they sell and have for years.Their website says "But, due to Vermont's ever changing seasons and to meet our large demand for soapstone, a need for importing stone exists. We travel to Brazil 3 - 4 times each year to visit the quarries we are harvesting our exclusive soapstone from. "Mike K
Amateur Home Remodeler in Aurora, Illinois
Interesting. I feel like I've been lied to.Vermont soapstone? Comes with a tag on it saying, "made in Brazil"?Next thing Walmart will be selling it too.
>> I feel like I've been lied to.You've got to be kidding. Next you'll be telling us you thought the Chicago Pneumatic tools at Harbor Freight were made in Chicago.
I started a thread about installing soapstone a little more than a year ago. The stone I was using was from Medimers in Sacramento. I am no stone expert but after looking at a lot of stone at a lot of different suppliers I found out the stuff I was using is actually called Brazilian slate at most places. It comes in green, blue and black, either polished or cleft. Medimers sells it in slabs or tiles. This Brazilian Slate does not stain and it is very heavy and dense. It does chip a little. It has not chipped anywhere since it was installed. I confronted the salesman at Medimers about them calling it soapstone when everyone else calls it slate and he said, "Soapstone is a kind of slate." I like the stuff and it does brighten with a coat of mineral oil.
Working with it was not as easy as I thought it would be. If it was the Vermont type soapstone then I may have been able to use a router with carbide bits. It did not shape with a router. I roughed the sink cutouts with a tile saw and radiused the edges with a belt sander clamped to a table outside. I finished polishing with a disc sander. The tiles were hard so the polishing took a while. I layed the tiles tight with PL adhesive over plywood. It took a little shimming to get the tiles flat because the thickness varied a little. I grouted the microscopic seams with a colored grout to match. The tiles were 2' X 2'X 9/16ths". Although I just passed my final inspection for the house, I have been using the kitchen for about a year now. I used some of the left over tiles in the half bath on the main floor for a baseboard and countertop. Some of the scraps were used in the border around the mirror. All the stone for the counters were less than 400 dollars with a contractors discount.
Mike - Your experience doesn't sound like any other I have read about what it takes to work soapstone... does sound like your dealer sold you something different.
With that said, the job looks great. I am very interested in the sink, since I have not liked the look of a stainless steel sink "glowing" up out of the soapstone. (And my 1922 house will not look good with a soapstone country style kitchen.) Can you give me any details about it? Thanks.
We were going to use a stainless sink at first but also I didn't care for the contrast. We did a lot of looking around and ended up buying the sink off the shelf at Home Depot. It is supposed to be made from granite. Looks lke a composite of resin and stone. I think the brand was Pegasus. I like the deep basin because I often cook with huge pots. I tap the coffee grounds out of the basket on the divider and there is no clang clang that you get from metal.Mike Callahan, Lake Tahoe, Ca.
Why not use a soapstone sink? I don't think they look too "country" if that's what you're worried about. You can get standard ready-made under-mount sinks, like these
http://www.greenmountainsoapstone.com/sinks_standard.html
That is gorgeous stuff, Mike. I think it has just been put on my list. That kitchen is quite nice, too. Did I still see wood trim around the edge of the counters, though? Is there a reason you did that instead of simply displaying the edge of the soapstone? Is it too prone to damage on the edges?
Regards,
Tachitachi
Family in Tucson, business in the Far East, and heart in the Colorado mountains!
The soapstone tiles were only 2' wide so they were not wide enough to create a lip or overhang. Also the tiles had a few chips in one or two of the edges. I had to build up the backsplash enough to cover the chipped edge and still I needed to make up some distance on the front edge of the tile. Here is a detail I drew of the nosing.Mike Callahan, Lake Tahoe, Ca.
just to update you http://www.soapstones.com traveled three hours for me to replace two small pieces of soapstone yesterday that were mismatched in color.
Now a days thats unreal to me.
I highly recommend them
Be well
a...
The secret of Zen in two words is, "Not always so"!
When we meet, we say, Namaste'..it means..