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erikanh

How easy is it to put a dent in your soapstone?

erikanh
15 years ago

I just got this email from the kitchen showroom that is quoting my countertops:

"Soapstone is not a good surface for the kitchen as far as I know. It is soft and it stains also. I had it when I was a kid and it was very soft. We stripped the tops and threw them away along with a soapstone farmers sink. Wish I had it back, probably worth some money. It seems like a good looking top but dents easily. You could peal it with a fingernail."

I know he's mistaken about it staining because it's completely non-porous, right? I guess I need to get a sample of soapstone and beat on it for a while and see just how soft it really is.

Erika

Comments (20)

  • amck2
    15 years ago

    If the person giving you quotes thinks a vintage soapstone sink is "probably worth some money" it's a pretty good indication he isn't very knowledgeable with regard to soapstone. When he states that it "stains" that pretty much clinches it.

    I've had my soapstone counter/island tops installed for over a year. With heavy use I've only suffered one tiny ding - a heavy bottomed glass slipped from my hands when I was putting it on a high shelf - and DH was able to buff it out easily with low grit sandpaper.

    There are a number of varieties out there with different properties, and there are many people on this forum (Florida Joshua, for one) who can speak to them better than I can.

    Bottom line - Soapstone may not be the surface you will ultimately want/choose, but the person you are quoting is misinformng you.

  • amck2
    15 years ago

    I didn't even mention in my above post that I also have a large, single farmhouse soapstone sink. I've used that sink for everything in the past year - metal kebab skewers and utensils have been tossed in, cast iron Dutch ovens, lobster pots, baking sheets - you name it. Not a ding, dent or scratch in that sink!

  • live_wire_oak
    15 years ago

    I think different people are going to have different perceptions of what "easy" means to them. Yes, some varieties can be carved with a fingernail. Those aren't the ones suitable for countertop use. It's best to assess personally the characteristics of the stone you are considering and make your own determination of how "easy" it is for you to nick and scratch it. And then make your own determination of how it will feel to live with the damage you're able to create. Some people want items to look new and shiny far past their original date, while others won't even look at a piece of furniture unless it's an antique with some signs of age on it. You know yourself best. Will you be one who is upset with that nick happens? What about a dozen nicks and scratches? Are you a "patina person"? Or not? If you're not, then soapstone isn't for you.

  • erikanh
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Hi lwo, as usual you're able to get right to the crux of the matter. I guess I am a patina person. I chose a distressed top for my Ethan Allen table so I wouldn't have to worry about my little one scratching it. I'm doing honed marble in my kitchen, and I'm not worried about the inevitable etching. The reason I didn't choose granite is because I didn't want anything shiny on top of my matte white cabinets. As far as soapstone goes, I wouldn't mind 1 ding per year like amck has. I wouldn't want a dozen dings in a year though ...

    Erika

  • pluckymama
    15 years ago

    Erika,
    Come see my soapstone and check it out yourself. It may or may not be for you, but it doesn't stain and you can't peel it with a fingernail. It can ding and it also is easily sanded out (kind of like wood) if it does.

  • lesmis
    15 years ago

    The mark up on soapstone must be much less than on granite because nearly every so called stone fabricator I spoke to tried to dissuade me from soapstone and steer me towards granite or solid surface. Even stone sellers and fabricators who clearly stated in their ads or on their websites that they sold soapstone were misinformed about it.

    I heard everything from "oh you don't want that, you have to seal it all the time (not oil it but seal it!) to, it cracks if you put hot stuff on it!" Just a lack of training or perhaps as I said, the mark up isn't as great as it is on granite?

    Where are you located? Once you find someone who knows about it, they can honestly tell you the pros and cons of it as a choice for kitchen counters in your own home.

    The forums here have tons of posts regarding soapstone and you'll find some of the most informed opinions here. Just be sure you are getting "real" soapstone and not something they "say" is soapstone.

    I don't have mine yet, but with the white inset drawer/door kitchen I'm going for, it was the only choice in my mind for me to have the look I'm after.

    Kat

  • amck2
    15 years ago

    Erika, I just noticed that your user name is erikanh. Might the nh stand for New Hampshire? If so, or if you're from the NH area, you might be interested in checking out thesoapstoneworks.com

    That is the fabricator we used for all our soapstone (in addition to the kitchen counters, he made a ss vanity top for our bathroom and a ss hearth for our parlor stove. The owner, who built houses for years, has been working almost exclusively making soapstone and handcrafted wooden countertops for the past 10 years. He fell in love with the product long before all the recent hype. Soapstone is very different in its fabrication and installation from granite. I think the reason a lot of places dissuade people from it and toward other materials is because they may not have fabricators who have the experience working with it.

    There is contact info is on the site, and I'm sure he could answer specific questions and concerns you might have.

  • eandhl
    15 years ago

    Not sure what mine is but yes it dings and scratches and I love it. One thing I was afraid of is the sink having more water soap etc it would look different than the counters but it doesn't.

  • polly929
    15 years ago

    I love the look of my soapstone, but I am still annoyed when my 2 small children put dings in it that are NOT oiled out easily. The first one happened after the first week it was installed. My kitchen gets heavy use, we don't eat out often and the kids sit at the island for breakfast and lunch. I have Santa Rita soapstone which is a softer variety, the veining is really pretty, but I don't like the dings. With all that said I chose soapstone because it doesn't stain like marble, and I don't care for shiny granite in 100+ year old homes.

  • erikanh
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Mary, I would love to get out of this construction dust and come see your soapstone! =)

    amck, you guess right I'm in New Hampshire. I checked out that website. Some gorgeous photos of their work on there! The kitchen showroom that I'm using has their own fabricator. I'm wondering now if I should be worried about using someone who's much more experienced with granite than soapstone ... I really want runnels too.

  • pluckymama
    15 years ago

    Erika,
    I got my soapstone from Dorado Soapstone in Shrewsbury, MA. I know you followed my countertop saga so I won't repeat it all here. But in a nutshell, I had 2 slabs of Nordic Black Antique granite on hold with a local granite fabricator when I drove down to look at soapstone one more time. I was so pleased with the selection and the education I received at Dorado. They only deal in soapstone and knew so much more about it than granite dealers/fabricators. They referred me to a strictly soapstone fabricator, who gave me an excellent price. However, I had already put my deposit down w/the granite fabricator and they were going to charge me a restocking fee if I did not have them do the work (the granite was still at the stoneyard BTW), so I had Dorado deliver the soapstone to them and they fabricated it for me. They did a decent job. But if I had to do it all over again, I would definitely have a soapstone fabricator do the work. We had to call down to Dorado several times with questions as the granite fabs did not know enough about soapstone. They were trying to treat ss like granite and it is a totally different stone. The good thing is that they did listen and were open to being educated about soapstone.

    I can't say enough good things about Dorado. They even called and checked on how our install went after the fact and have been available to answer any questions I have had along the way. If you decide to go with soapstone, drive down there and talk with Dave (the owner). You will have a much larger selection than you will at Marble and Granite, Elemar or Boston Granite Exchange. (Boston Granite Exchange has an enormous selection of granite and marble, triple anyone else around, but they know very little about soapstone and some of the stones they call soapstone are really serpentines.) I did not get runnels. If I had to do it over again, I would definitely get them.

    Private email me and we can set up a time for you to look at what my installed soapstone looks like.

  • erikanh
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Mary,

    Thanks so much for all the great advice. I'm in a similar situation ... I gave a deposit to a kitchen showroom and now I'm stuck with them and the fabricators they use. Long story short but you may remember for a long time I was trying to decide between Crown Point and Cabico from a local showroom. By the time I made the decision to go with Crown Point, the other KD from the showroom had spent a fair amount of time working on providing quotes and drawings (not her design, but mine). You know how they do the free preliminary design quotes? Anyway, I felt guilty about the time she'd spent, so I decided to do Cabico cabinets for my dining room. It was also a way to save a few thousand dollars, but to be honest it was more about my guilt. So I gave her a deposit for $2500. Big, big mistake!

    About a week later, I find out the KD quit (never found out why ... hope it wasn't me!) That led to a series of delays while the new KD took over my project. Eventually I realize that I made a big mistake not just ordering everything from CP. The new KD's quote ends up being only about $1000 less than CP, I'm still not sure how. So last week I told him forget about the cabinets, I'll use my deposit to buy countertops from him. Problem is that he keeps telling me not to use marble and/or soapstone and he says he can't find a stainless steel fabricator. Blech.

    I guess my story turned out long after all. Anyway, he said he's going to "look into" soapstone for me. I'm on my own to find a stainless steel fabricator, but that's fine. I got in touch with a guy in MA who did some work for Bob Vila.

    Anyway, I'm still wavering on the soapstone. Can you believe I'm still so undecided at this late stage?? If I do decide to get soapstone, maybe I'll just buy the marble from the showroom and get the soapstone on my own. In that case, I'll definitely go to Dorado for my slab.

    Erika

  • Babka NorCal 9b
    15 years ago

    No dents here, and I've had Mariana soapstone from Walker-Zanger installed for 3 years. Only if something pointy and heavy hits just right do I get a miniscule chip. I had the left over pieces from my cooktop cut-out that I kept outside for a couple years. I took a 16 lb. hammer to those pieces and there were NO dents. It took several big swings with a sledge hammer to break up the pieces enough to put into the trash. Very dense and very heavy.

    -Babka

  • zeebee
    15 years ago

    I don't have a full soapstone counter, just a soapstone surround in a vintage freestanding sink cabinet. From July to the end of December, that sink was our contractors' slop sink for our ongoing renovation (alas, not yet the kitchen reno!) I knew they were going to trash the counter and the stainless-steel sink with buckets, washing off tools, and general workmen-crashing-around activities. We moved back in December 31 and I cannot find ONE dent, ding or divot in the soapstone, even in the front edge. Ours is a very hard variety with no veining, looks just like a chemistry lab table. If I can find my camera cable, I'll download pics.

  • pluckymama
    15 years ago

    I can completely understand being undecided so late in the remodel. I am still up in the air on my backsplash and pendant lights. This has been such a huge and long project and there are days I'm just plain weary of it, mostly because I agonize over decisions which drags everything out.

    I'm sorry about your situation w/the kitchen showroom, but I think in the end you will be so glad you went with Crown Point. They are the creme de la creme of cabinetmakers and you will be glad the kitchen and dining room are the same quality and look. Personally, I wouldn't get my soapstone through the showroom. Soapstone comes in many varieties and you are going to want someone who knows soapstone to help you pick a slab that will go with your marble and fits with your lifestyle. It's a big decision and one you have only recently been considering, so I understand your hesitation. It makes total sense for you to be undecided.

    When I was getting my granite bids I noticed that granite fabricators have a wide range in their pricing. The price I got from my cabinetmaker's granite fabricator for the Nordic Black Granite install was almost 3K more than 3 other quotes I got on my own. I was so shocked at the markup. I told him thanks but no thanks and took care of that part on my own. I share that with you because I know your first love is the marble and I'm wondering if you were to get quotes from some other fabricators if you could get the price within your reach. Ripano was high on their bid with me. Also, I found out that Marble and Granite charges more for their slabs than Elemar and Boston Granite Exchange. So, if you could get a quote from Napolitano Marble and Granite in Lawrence, MA (who was my lowest bid on the Nordic Black) on marble slabs at Elemar you might shave thousands off of the bid. Just a thought.

  • guy_in_newhouse
    15 years ago

    ditto on plucky's pricing comments. I had two estimates on soapstone from two different kitchen remodeling firms and both were $8000-9000. I worked directly with a stone fabicator I located on my own and had Minas soapstone installed (including a 30" farm sink fabricated & installed) for $4900. Actually, through the stone fabicator, granite would have run me about $500 more. Corian estimates from the cabinet maker I used, HomeDepot, and a kitchen remodeler ranged from $5200-$7000, without a sink. Find a fabricator or two and get estimates from them..they're the same ones that would do all the work regardless of how you buy it.

  • debsan
    15 years ago

    My soapstone is about three months old. Like anyone with a new counter, I sort of want to baby it, but the reality is that I'm cooking in this kitchen. We've scratched it several times, but the scratches disappear with oil. My biggest concern was the use of my cast iron cookware, because it has a rough surface and is very heavy. I try to not to slide it across the counters. I've found the soapstone to be delicate but durable. The big question is how much imperfection you can live with. The scratches are a non-issue to me, because they disappear, but the other idiosyncracies of soapstone may be an issue for you. I suggest you read the numerous other posts regarding the oiling/non-oiling before you decide. I'm convinced that soapstone will stand up to the heavy use it will see in my kitchen, but I'm still adjusting it's other qualities.

  • berf
    15 years ago

    I have Green Mountain Original PA and it's been installed for 10 weeks and we love it. It is quite hard and we haven't dinged it yet which has amazed me. There are some small rub marks on the inside front edge over the sink from where pots and pans hit it on the way in to the sink...but that's it and I"m imagining that whole edge will take on a more rounded, softer look as time goes on. I love throwing hot pans and lids right on to the counter and love not worrying about stains. Everyone who visits is drawn to the peninsula where I find them stroking the counters...really! It just begs to be touched. Anyhow, with your situation as far as the deposit--
    see if you can get the guy to tell you the name of the fabricator. Call the fabricator as if you were just some consumer doing research--ask them which stone yards supply their stone (and mention soapstone specifically.) Then call the stoneyards and make a visit. Those guys should know more and you can limit your reliance on the knowledge-less go-between. You'll have to buy from him but that doesn't mean you need to get your information from him. Decide what you want and then just tell him to get it for you. :)

  • grannabelle
    15 years ago

    i have green mountain original(for over a year) - mine is very soft - dings and scratches very easily...long story, that i will not go into - had not planned on it being so soft, but it is what it is...anyway, at first it was upsetting, now i love it, dh loves it (and he is very hard to please when it comes to anything having to do with construction and renovation) - my suggestion is to get samples of the exact slabs you will be installing and beat them up for a while to see if you can "live" with the results.

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