SOAPSTONE - counters, sinks, etc. advice/discussion requested.

[Steppenwolfe]

First of all I am very fond of soapstone. I managed to get a small soapstone woodstove for a modest price a few years ago.

SWMBO and I want soapstone counters in our kitchen in Mississippi which we are slowly remodeling, and may put it in our Virginia kitchen.

We've gone to 1 quarry in SCHUYLER, VA a few years ago and almost bought some of their "remnant" slabs but going to their website now it looks like they were bought out by a Canadian conglomerate.

Soapstone looks like I could work with it.

In my travels between my properties in Vermont, Virginia and Mississippi I go near the two major quarries of soapstone in the United States.

So - questions -
Anybody done their own soapstone installation?
Where's the best place to buy?
Should I plan on pick up? (I've an F350 dually that'll take a 4K payload AND a 10K trailer)
Can it be worked like Corian? From everything I've read it seems like good tools (diamond blade etc.) would let me shape it.

Ha... this is funny, we just put soapstone countertops in our cabin in Virginia. The slab came from Schuyler, Va, but I purchased it through a dealer in PA. Had him do the the cutouts and make the soapstone sink. We searched hard to find the right look and quality, as some of the cheaper soapstone can be quite soft, where as the material from Schuyler is not, and it colors up beautifully with the mineral oil. Did the install ourselves including faucet cutouts, etc. This is real easy stuff to work with, and almost can't screw it up.
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[Steppenwolfe]

My experience is much different than CalG's. We have a soapstone fireplace (well "masonry heater" if you want to be picky...). It is Finnish from the Tulikivi people. The local dealer builds up orders for several months, and then gets a shipping container's worth of them at once, as they are all build to order. They quarry it locally in Finland, as I understand it. It picks up oil like crazy. If you are sweating and touch it - dark fingerprint. Leave a cordless drill with rubber grip sitting on it - dark spot where the rubber touched it. Anything oily and it leaves a mark. You can remove stains to a degree with soap, water and scrubbing, but that it a lot of effort that you would need to do frequently to keep it pristine. We could seal it, but I think that unwise on something that gets fairly hot. Perhaps it has something to do with where the material comes from. Different quarries may have very different properties - I can't say one way or the other. What I can say, is that ours is far from "unaffected by anything" as it stains like crazy from anything oily at all. Everything stone in the pic is soapstone, and was part of the install. I like it overall, but the oil stain issue is a hassle. Using it in a kitchen without sealing would seem to be pure folly based on my experience. You will probably have to seal it often too. If that works for you, then go for it.

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This is why you need to buy good quality soapstone... they are not all apples to apples.

 

[CalG]

How could one possibly know or compare?

Walk through the "show room" with oily hair to run ones finger's through before touching the slabs?

But really, "oils" do not stain soap stone. only temporarily darken it, Much like oils on wood.

Those who choose to oil soapstone counters must repeat the treatment regularly, as the oils dry and lighten. Perhaps oil treatment could be done with CANOLA oil. That vegetable oil polymerizes rather quickly. A drop or two of Japan drier, would assure as much.

But I don't like the dark (and dust catching) oiled look. It mutes the sparkle of the inclusions.

 

[atsah]

I have a Hearthstone wood stove and love it but I don't know anything about counter top soapstone, the soapstone stoves are made with a soft soapstone but I know there is a harder type stone used for other things. I like granite for counters.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

How could one possibly know or compare?

Research... seriously. Know what you are buying.

 

[Stimw]

I am finishing up a kitchen remodel/full gut and will add my 2 cents.
With an "L", a large island and a straight section of counter tops needed (92 sq ft) I priced granite. COUGH!! COUGH!!
For what I needed and liked they wanted $7900.00 installed!!!
I ended up going with Laminate, make my own.
Total Cost including partical board, a new router and belt sander- $600.00 !!!
I watched a bunch of utube videos on how to and it turned out great.
Call me CHEAP! But I kept fast forwarding to when I am dead and gone and the new "Latest and Greatest" comes along and they take a sledge hammer to remove that old granite.
Also, to me most granite looks like Vomit.
I know it's not soapstone, just giving an opinion from the cheap seats.

 

[CalG]

Research... seriously. Know what you are buying.

The problem with "research" is that you are dealing with STONE.
It changes by the foot. A vein here, a run there. Side by each in the carry, and the slabs may go to entirely different regions of the world to be retailed.

Stone has it's own ways.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

The problem with "research" is that you are dealing with STONE.
It changes by the foot. A vein here, a run there. Side by each in the carry, and the slabs may go to entirely different regions of the world to be retailed.

Stone has it's own ways.

We went to four different suppliers. Finally found the right place and hand picked our slab. Wasn't that big of a deal.

 

[CalG]

We went to four different suppliers. Finally found the right place and hand picked our slab. Wasn't that big of a deal.

So, You could tell stain resistance by "hand picking". What a guy! I sure can't.

 

[dstig1]

So, You could tell stain resistance by "hand picking". What a guy! I sure can't.

Same here. This was not "cheap stuff". These guys have been around a Looong time and know what they are doing, but this is the reality of soapstone; it picks up oils readily. It sounds like CalG agrees with me on that point, but likes the way it looks with age. That is a personal preference which is perfectly fine. Perhaps that makes more sense on a countertop, but on the FP it makes it looks like there is a spot there that "isn't right"

As for the question on wood use, I can't give you a good answer, yet. I have been so busy building the place that i have not have enough time to stock any real amount of firewood. We used about 1 face cord the first winter and a little less than that last winter. Only because i did not have time to prep any more. We could have easily used a ton more, but my wife does not understand the act of keeping the FP going, and I am too busy building to tend to it.

The one HUGE downside to this FP that I did not realize until install was that it requires 12" wood. Good luck finding that. I have had to chop down 16" wood to 12" (keeping the cutoff blocks, of course) so far. I Have used a crappy chop saw for that. When I get into making my own, i will naturally just cut to 12" from the get go. That is, IMO a MAJOR mistake on the part of the manufacturer. Know your market, and don't sandbag them. Yeah yeah 12" burns "better" but if you can't find it, it doesn't burn at all.