I know absolutely nothing BUT I know this: there are many different types of Brazilian soapstone. In fact, I can quote Gary from Maine Soapstone who emailed me a few minutes ago: he has eight varieties from Brazil.

Most of the yards I looked at had a couple kinds of soapstone but just referred to it as "soapstone" or possibly "green soapstone" and "gray soapstone". I saw a lot of slabs labeled "Italian Soapstone" which did not seem to be soapstone to me. The "Brazilian Soapstone" I saw seemed to be similar to the speckled-veiny varieties carried at M. Tex. (I ordered samples to compare). I found it very difficult to get any accurate info about the types of soapstone available. Very frustrating!

Regarding your Question #3: By Cardoza I am guessing you mean Pietra de Cardosa which is actually what I ended up getting for my counters. I just couldn't find soapstone without lots of green veining and I wanted something quieter for my counters. The yard where I bought it actually called it gray soapstone by it is NOT soapstone. It is a very pretty stone, dark gray/black with very subtle movement. But it needs to be sealed well and it can etch. Overall I am happy with it. I get lots of compliments on it but I do still wish I had been able to get my first choice (real soapstone).
My kitchen isn't done but here's a photo of my Cardosa countertop.

Jaymie, I would take some oil to the yard and just ask if you could oil it up yourself. You can't possibly pick soapstone if you don't see what it looks like oil (unless you don't plan on oiling it).

If you want to see samples from Brazil, go to the M. Teixiera site. They currenty have around 15 different soapstones in stock. I recently ordered their sample pack ($35 to cover shipping) and they sent me a sample of everything they have in stock. Some of it is stunning.

They also give a great description of the properties of each of the stones on their site.

Here is a link that might be useful: M. Teixeira

donna, Thanks for the information. I have looked at the pictures at M. Teixeira before but maybe I should order a sample kit. I do have a bunch of samples sitting around here from other places. I have Maine Soapstones Amazon, Emeral Sunshine and Ice Flower. I have a sample of light and dark Julya soapstone and a sample of the Cardoza. My problem is that I REALLY want to purchase and have installation done by a local installer so that I don't assume liability for the stone in process, but I may have to do some creative detective work to get the slab that meets my needs to that fabricator.

As I stewed on this all night, I realized that my bigger problem is the length. As I said, my island is 112" (114" with the overhang). I really don't want to shorten it in order to accommodate the soapstone so now I guess I have to figure out how to find a long slab AND somehow get a local fabricator in possession of it.

A lot of questions for me, but I'm working through them. If any of the soapstone experts (azstoneconsulting?, florida_joshua?) hae any words of wisdom on how I might be able to work with my local fabricator to find a large slab, I would really appreciate it. TIA!

Jaymie

California Dreamer
your counters are gorgeous. We are considering soapstone.
How do you like the feel, is it smooth to the touch or some what textured. The soapstones we looked at felt too coarse for our taste but was told some have smoother texture.
Also if you don't mind me asking what was the price per square foot for your soapstone.

HI Jaymie, Joshua may respond to parts of your question but he's in thick catching up on e-mails so I thought I'd answer the one on the size of your island.

There are very very few soapstone quarries that can produce big slabs. Most of the equipment at soapstone quarries are smaller due to the quarries only lasting a year to two and it's not worth it for them to bring in the large slab cutters like they would have at granite yards... HOWEVER. There are two types of soapstone Julia and Brazilian Black that we have that are roughly 117"x70" give or take an inch. So don't give up hope. The Julia and Brazilian Black are plainer type of soapstone that don't typically have any white veining patterns. What they do have is a lot of swirls of dark greens and some rust colors.

What I would do is call the suppliers and the first question to ask is what size they have in the stone and then ask for the samples of just the stone in the larger slabs to choose from. But if you find a stone you have your heart set on, find a GOOD fabricator that can book match the seams and request soapstone from the same cut bundle that is book matched. The stone is cut like bread and then they polish the tops down at the quarries of the opposite sides thus a book match. We did a HUGE island in Santa Barbara not too long ago that we book matched and it was almost impossible to see the seam.

Best of luck to you!!!

Hi Jaymie,

You may also want to contact Dorado Soapstone in Denver. When I visited them in September they had some very large slabs and they own their own mines in Brazil. Their website states they have slabs 116 inches in length. I ended up finding soapstone I liked in St. Louis so I did not go with them, but I was impressed with their product. They ship all over the U.S.

Good luck (my soapstone was installed last week and everyone finds it stunning).

Teresa

florida_mimi,

Thank you so much for this information. I can't tell you how grateful I am to hear from you. I know of one place in town that can get the Julia soapstone, so I will call on Monday morning to inquire how large a slab they can get me. I'm sitting here staring at a sample of the dark and light and they are both very pretty. Not as dramatic (in my 4" sample) as some other stones I've seen, but I like the "quietness".

If I can't find a large slab, it is also very good to know about being able to "book match" the seams. I had no idea if a seam would work on soapstone because there are such dramatic veins, but I now feel like I have two options that I can work with. If nothing else, I can go back to the fabricator I was dealing with with a a little more knowledge.

Thank you SO MUCH for your help. I am so grateful you responded.

Jaymie

Teresa,

Thank you also for the information. So, I have a procedural question for you. I don't know where you are located, but it sounds like you shopped for soapstone in both Denver and St. Louis. Did you procure the material and have a local installer or did you work with a local fabricator who bought the soapstone for you from St. Louis? I don't want to risk buying my own materials and having little recourse if there is a problem at installation, but I'm uncertain how exactly a stone yard procures its slabs. Do they usually work with just a handful of suppliers... You may not know the answer to this, but I'm just trying to figure out how to get the "right" slab into the hands of the "right" local fabricator/installer.

Thanks again for the pointer to Dorado. I'm going to go browse there website now.

Jaymie

Question 1, if the stone yard is showing the stone, they should oil it. So the oil may be on the stone for the next person looking at it. It will probably have faded quite a bit but can stay on pretty long.

Question 2, Because I work with it all the time I would know, but if you don't work with it there is really no way to know. Wetting the stone really doesn't show the way it will look oiled.

Question 3, Granite is out of my league as I only work with soapstone, check on stoneadvice.com and post your question. There are many qualified fabricators that will let you know about this stone.

Question 4, When someone says that they have Brazilian soapstone they prob don't know what quarry it came from. Just make sure that you get the same stone for your whole kitchen. Don't by a slab from here and a slab from there. I have slabs in my yard that are 116 X 70 so big soapstone slabs are out there. Getting them to your fabricator is a different story. Post a pic of the slab when you get it and I think everyone here will have some good ideas.

Gotta run home show is this weekend, I feel I'm repeating myself over and over . . .lol

joshua,

Thanks so much for your help and answers. I know you are extremely busy, but such a great resource. Your input is appreciated.

The Cardosa was presented to me as soapstone, but now that I know it is NOT, it is not what I want. I'm so grateful that everyone set me straight. It is very frustrating that so many stone fabricators are so poorly educated about the products they are selling.

I'm feeling much better knowing tonight there is hope of finding a slab large enough for the my project and especially heartened to know what types of soapstone to target. The search is on! It's funny. Reading through previous posts, I've always thought the posters who were searching for the "perfect" slab where a bit over the top. Who knew I was soon to become "one of them"...

Hey Florida Joshua,
Where in Florida are you?
Would you do a job up in the panhandle by any chance?

Dorado Soapstone is in texas

{{!gwi}}
{{!gwi}}
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I'm so glad I found this thread...I just came back from the stoneyard and have a hold on 4 slabs of Cordoso. Didn't know exactly what is was..they said it was very , very similar to soapstone. What does it have to be sealed with? The price they gave me was very good-but now I can see why.
The first yard I went to had Julia but it wasn't wide enough for my island which is approx. 72x36.
California_dreamer - where in Cali are you-I'm in So.Cal. What don't you like about your Cordoso? I'm so confused, thought I was going to put in granite, but like all you other stoners I am rapdily falling for SS! It's just so darn hard to find here in California.
I have a fabricator-or a granite guy that is willing to make me his first SS fabrication, now I have to get the product.

Fitz-
I'm in S. Cal too- Agoura Hills and I got my slabs at Stone West in Ventura. They do have soapstone there but they wouldn't oil it for me and when I oiled it there was way too much green veining for me.
So I went with the cordosa instead. I didn't save any money this way (had to pay a restocking fee for the soapstone) but I think the look is better for my kitchen. The only thing I don't like about this stone is that it can etch. I already have a subtle ring left by a glass.
I sealed it with the Miracle Seal and Enhance which made the color really dark (which I really like).
I haven't had any problems with scratching or staining.
Overall, I am happy with my choice. I just think I would have preferred a soapstone with little or no veining. I just couldn't find that around here.
HTH

I thought the name of this post was funny when I first saw it...but now I have a "soapstone etiquette" question. If you take oil to the stoneyard, what kind do you take? Plain old vegetable oil or do you have to buy the kind you would use later if you had counters?

Any soapstone yard worth its salt will have oil right there and will oil a slab for you. Jay at Garden State Soapstone volunteered to oil a portion of my slab while I was there picking it out so i could see what it looked like. He said that rubbing alcohol takes off the oil and returns the stone to its natural color, so I wasn't to worry that he had ruined the stone.

I have an unhoned sample at home which I oiled but recently removed the oil with alcohol and gritty sink cleanser. Frankly, I prefer it unoiled - but we'll see what my actual piece looks like when it finally gets here. I fell in love with those big green veins and would like to use that piece for my island.

M Tex has a So Cal office in Escondido. Website is soapstonewest.com

Given my own experience, I will now always caution people against having non-soapstone folks fabricate soapstone. Soapstone isn't granite. It requires a different hand. I'm amazed and jealous that Mimi said they just did a nearly invisible seam in Santa Barbara soapstone (which is the kind I have). My seam is quite visible. And I think the overall texture of the stone could be better as well.

Wondering how to fly Joshua and Mimi out to California to install my replacement counter...Where's that lottery ticket!?! (funny note: Josh and Mimi live in the same town as my dad! So I could easily go to them, but I can't take my kitchen with me!)

Francy

ali440,

Do you work for Dorado? I noticed you just registered on 1/23/08 and have posted these or similar photos from Dorado a number of times. Or have you had soapstone from Dorado installed in your home? If so, which type of soapstone? Do you have pictures from your home?

Francy,
I'm in the Bay Area, too. Will you tell me where you looked and where you wound up buying? I'm trying to decide between black honed granite (yes, despite the horror stories--I think we've found a source for quality AB) and soapstone and have been checking the San Leandro/Oakland stone showroom circuit.
Thanks for your advice!

Yeah, New posts to my thread. Thank you for all the great information. With your help, I will get through this.

Bayareafrancy, Did I miss it? Are you getting a replacement counter? I better so search for your update on 20 in crack thread!

Carryless: I got the soapstone from M. Teixeira, and had Creative Stoneworks (iin Emeryville) do the install. But because problems can arise, I would now only recommend using one supplier/fabricator. I would never suggest that anyone buy a slab from one place (especially soapstone) and give it to another fabricator (unless they are EXPERTS with soapstone and can recognize the difference between a crack and a vein). But I digress...

Jay: I have the option of getting a replacement. But there are some details still to work out. So I won't be sleeping well at night for a few more weeks at least. I posted an update on the "compliments to M. Teixeira" thread.

Francy

Francy, Thanks for the update. I'll be thinking about you and praying that everything turns out well.

sail-away- No i dont work there, me and my husband are building a new house and We had just found Dorado, its brand new here and we (i) had such a time trying to pick out countertops. and it just seemed to me that no one around here, anywhere in Tx really except for Dallas had used or heard of SS but i am sick to death of granite. so i found something new, came accross this site and i cant believe how many threads there are rg SS. I just wanted to make sure i wasnt nuts for chooseing it and seems like alot of other ppl love it too... but no one yet has really been in TX? So i've been reading alot of what ppl on here are saying and i have a ton of pictures, DS emailed me a whole portofolio it seems and none of my pics look like all the others on here. Just trying to show off a bit ;-) We are still waiting on our stones to arrive in their next shipment in a few weeks, and no our kitchen is still being worked out so there isnt much to see at this point. Will share as soon as i can! oh and i write on so many of these dang things my answers just get shorter and shorter.. i like the reading but all the typing can get tedious... can the weather PLEASE get warmer so i can find something else to do! hahaha NO LAUGHING!! :)

I'll be looking forward to seeing photos in the future. How far along is your home now? I remember when we were building some stages seemed to go so quickly and we seemed to make so much progress in just a week. Then other stages seemed to take forever, with no discernible progress for long periods of time. Overall, it's an exciting adventure, isn't it?