Have you thought about using marble just on your stained island and using another material on your perimeter cabs? Might help make the Calacatta slab more doable?

I was able to find a calacatta marble called calacatta crema, more subtle veining than calacatta gold, that was about $130 or so per square foot. One place quoted a higher price for the calacatta gold but another one had them at the same price, so I'm not sure what's up. Both prices were installed and honed. Maybe you can see if you can find this type of calacatta-it has the same color tones as the gold, but just not the bold, thick veining. If you're comfortable negotiating, maybe you can settle on a price you are comfortable with for the marble you love.

Hello!

I do think your pricing is right in there, my cost would have been about $180/sf retail around here (Seattle area) however, I had a simple straight edge with a 1/8 easing. Also, my slabs are polished and came that way. I'm guessing you are paying about $500/slab for the honing.

I'm with you, the Carrara is nothing like the Calacatta. So, do you think you could save money on your edge detailing and what about polished? We've been living on our slabs since May and there are a couple tiny etches which no one else can see. Also, the veining stands out slightly in some places if you look sideways across the surface becuase when they polish it, the harder pigments don't exactly polish the same and that helps hide little problems.

My friend who did my install has honed Carrara and it is lovely in her kitchen. However, I see the etches in her stone more than mine because it is such a uniform honed surface. But, maybe that's just me. I know there are many on this forum who have honed and say they feel etching would show less.

We've spilled orange juice, wine among other things, as long as they were soaked up right away and cleaned with the 3 in 1 cleaner sealer, they were just fine, no etching. I did have one droplet of red wine sit for a couple hours and it did etch, but not stain. A bit of strawberry flew out of the sink when I was chopping them up for dessert one night, it did etch right away, but it's very small. One night I left tomatoes sliced on the cutting board which is also Calacatta all through dinner and it just wiped off. Our installer used Stonetech Impregnator sealer. We have surface scrathes - kind of like you can see in your car finish, but they don't bother me, you have to look to see them. All in all, I was afraid of polished, but the veining is so beautiful, we couldn't bear to hone it because it does diminish the contrast of the veining. We are very happy that we stayed with the polished, I would have disliked it honed in our kitchen. But, that's just us and, it's not for everybody.

These are just suggestions to keep the price down. If you get them polished now, you could have them honed later if you have a problem, when money might not be as much of an issue.

I wish you the best of luck whatever way you choose to go! You are going to have a beautiful kitchen!

could you call around to just get pricing from other places (vs. having to drive, etc). perhaps email them a pdf of the countertop layout?

this might be a way of checking places further afield without having to do all the driving. you could be looking at maine, vermont, massachusetts... maybe something will come up.

The times I have been in your situation, I have shopped my heart out trying to find what I want at a more affordable price and it doesn't always work out but sometimes it does. In the long run, it is probably at least worth the time to try and get what you really want...

How about White Moon Quartzite? Shop around and see if you can find it cheaper.

Homepro01

Here is a link that might be useful: Marva Marble Quartzite

mindimoo, thanks so much for your suggestions and encouragement. I have polished marble (Crema Marfil, I believe) in my master bath, and it has etched quite a bit. It's still pretty and I still love the polished look, but my kitchen will take far heavier use, and that worries me. Of course, I renovated my bathrooms before I knew about Garden Web and back then I hadn't yet learned about the proper ways to seal stone.

I'm going to find out how much I can save by going with a simpler edge treatment. Also, I saw some slabs at the stoneyard that were already honed, but they were only 2 cm. I'm wondering if it's possible to find a slab that's never been polished and save some money that way ...

Karen, I'm definitely willing to spend extra time and effort to get what I really want. My concern is that I get a skilled fabricator. I was able to get word-of-mouth recommendations for a few shops here in NH and another in Tyngsboro, but I would have no idea who the reputable shops are in Maine and Vermont or any others in Massachusetts. Maybe I can ask for recommendations in another post.

homepro, that stone is very pretty. Is it always so uniformly veined or do some slabs have more dramatic veining?

Erika, if the 2cm honed calacatta you found is more affordable and you love the look, is there a reason why you wouldn't be interested? The reason I ask, when I first started using marble (about 20 years ago) only 2cm was available and the end result was gorgeous. I've done about 9 or 10 kitchen and bath remodels in the past 10 or so years and I've only used 2cm (I've nothing against 3 cm...I just fall in love with slabs that happen to be 2 cm).

Anyway, back to your original question, my polished 2cm Calacatta Oro Xtra was approximately $220 to $230 sq. ft. installed (I'm in Portland, OR).

I just talked to my fabricator about Calacatta and he did say it is way more expensive than other marbles or basically anything else I asked him about. He said a happy medium (between Carrara and Calacatta) is Statuary. You might look into that.

Hi marlene!

I hadn't even considered the 2 cm because I was always pointed toward the 3 cm slabs. Can you still do an ogee edge with 2 cm?

The price you paid is almost exactly what I was quoted. I was hoping they would give me a break on the price of the Calacatta slab I loved because when I asked if they could hold it for me she said, "Don't worry, that slab has been there for ages." Apparently, not many people do marble kitchens in my area.

Hi.

We are going with honed Calacatta for our island. Our slab is 118" by 69" (5 cm-they rolled that baby out to show us and there was no going back). The island is approx 8' by 5'. I am having our cabinetmaker basically copy Alliern's island-I fell in love with hers. For the slab, we paid $129 sq. ft. Fabrication etc. will be additional. We only paid for the slabs & have them on hold b/c the house is only in the framing stage. We will have white cabs on perimeter so we went with soapstone (when my DH and kids come near the marble, I'll direct them there).

We went through Majestic in Canton, MA. They are fabricators so they take you to a contractors' only yard/warehouse in Westwood, MA for selection. They had a great selection of marble (and soapstone).

Good luck-I've seen a lot of your threads and your kitchen is going to be fantastic...

Yes, I HAVE an ogee edge! I've heard that some believe that when using 2cm, the problem is that you can see the seam in the edge detail with a light material, but if you were to see my counters in person, you couldn't see the seam at at all. I've used a lot of light marbles and the seams were never obvious. It's all in the fabrication and I've been very lucky with my fabricators (knock wood....or marble)

I'll try and take a decent picture and email it to you. I don't know how to post a pic.

kelleg, thank you for the suggestion, I'll look into the Statuary. I'm going to try and find someone who carries Vermont Danby marbles too. I'm thinking they may be more economical since Vermont is right next door! Much closer than Italy. =)

katieob, is the place in Weston called Marble & Granite Inc on University Ave.? I called them and they do sell to the public but you have to find your own fabricator. Not sure how that would work ... They post their inventory on their website and they seem to have an enormous selection!

Wow, it sounds like your island is going to be spectacular! I love those extra thick marble tops! Thank you for your kind words about my project. =)

Marlene, thanks! I look forward to seeing your photos whenever you have time!

erikanh,
I have not looked at many of these slabs but most of them have looked pretty much like that. Quartzite has the look of marble without some of the maintenance issues. Do a search on the forum as there have been some recents threads on this. I think Marva has a location in MA. They only sell to fabricators but you go and pick out your stone. They can ship the stone from their different sites to your location and fabricator.

Good luck!

Erikanh~

Yes, that's the place. It might be worth a visit-quite a selection of all types of marble. They could probably rec a fabricator close to you. They had some Danby too.

Good luck.

$200 wow!!!!! you are killing me. what state?

Installed Copper Canyon Texas August 2008 : 43 sf kitchen: NO SEAMS:
$1150 daltile subway tile installed: 50 sf installed. $900 kohler farm sink; $84.88 sf installed: ($1685.00 2 slab danby calcuta gold(eureka); standard edge: ease edge: 43sf fabricated; she kept all the left over marble) $3650.00. Then she spent $15K on appliances! august 2008

I don't mean to hijack, but is the above picture just Daltile white subways with white grout? I love that look..

Petra, I'm in New Hampshire. I thought for sure I'd be able to find lots of stoneyards that carry Danby marble since we're so close to Vermont. The only place I've been able to find who carries it is over an hour away, and they only have a few slabs in stock.

Hi,
The Stone yard is in Walthan and it is called Marble and Granite on University Ave. I got my Calcutta marble from them. They had a big selection and a great on line viewing capability.

My fabricator was AWFUL - INTERIOR STONE on Lexington St in Waltham - A TOTAL BOTCH JOB. They templated my stone wrong - They cut it too short. When they tried to install it I told them it was too short and to stop the installation - they argued with me. They finally took it back to the shop and bonded a piece to the end (luckily my appliance garage hides the seam). The marble was also cut so bad I could slide all my fingers between the wall and the marble - They caulked it and all the caulk just dripped away. So many other issues as well...I told them it was unacceptable and would not pay for such awful work only to find out they had already charged my credit card three days before the work was even done.

They offered to take it out and replace it (only after my cabinet installer installed my upper cabinets which sit on the stone) but by then it was too late to change. Also, I had no trust that they wouldn't just screw it up again. (As I had problems with with both my kitchen installation and my fireplace surround)

Luckily, my general contractor was able to add a false wall of beadboard to cover the horrible gaps and I am living with the fact that it is not cut straight and my counter overhangs range from 1/4" to 2 1/2" along the perimeter.

I won my fight with American Express and got the final charge taken off my credit card - BUT BEWARE OF INTERIOR STONE - not only are they incompetent they are also unethical !!!

Hi willow, so sorry to hear about your bad experience. Thanks for the head's up about Interior Stone. The two fabricators I'm considering are Gerrity Stone in Woburn (used them for my master bath granite when they had a location in Salem, NH) and Ripano in Nashua. I'm going to head down to Marble & Granite on Monday.

I haven't checked your blog lately ... have you posted pics of your finished kitchen there? I gotta go peek ...

I went to Elemar in Lowell today. Saw some more beautiful Calacatta slabs ... sigh. They had quite a few slabs of Carrara in both honed and leathered ... the guy recommended to stick with honed.

I also saw some beautiful soapstone! I eliminated soapstone as a choice a while back, but seeing those slabs today started me thinking ... maybe I can save some $$ by putting soapstone on the perimeter where the cabinets are white ...

Somebody stop me!

Erika,
I won't stop you with the soapstone as I'm loving mine. I will encourage you to take a drive down to Dorado Soapstone in Shrewsbury, MA and look at their huge selection. Dave and Ben are so knowledgeable and you will feel confident after you spend some time with them about soapstone as a countertop choice. Also, Dave's son Nate is a fabricator who is very talented and reasonable priced (I didn't end up using him as I had already contracted with a fabricator), but I've seen his work and he knows soapstone and does a great job.

The honed Carrara at Elemar was the nicest I've seen anywhere and very reasonably priced. If my cabs had been more white and less creamy I would have gone with some of their Carrera in a heart beat. The Calacatta they had was gorgeous, but was out of my reach, especially having to add the honing cost on to the fabrication. The people at Elemar are some of the nicest I've met in all my granite and soapstone travels. Ripano has an excellent reputation for fabrication.

If you are still considering the Imperial Danby, I know that Marble and Granite in Westwood (long drive) has it and it is already honed. I had a slab on hold there for 2 weeks and it was a really nice slab. HTH.

Mary, I'm so glad you replied to my post ... I was about to email you some questions about your soapstone!

1) How often do you have to oil it to keep it looking black as opposed to gray?

2) My kitchen will have blue accents so I worry about soapstone's green tinge clashing with that. Are there soapstones that look pure black when you oil them?

3) Do you get water marks from glasses?

4) It seems like soapstone would complement Carrara well because of it's gray streaks, but if I do find a marble for my island that has some cream/gold streaks in it, do you think soapstone on my perimeter would still look ok?

5) Do you mind telling me how much you paid for your soapstone per square foot?

What color was the Imperial Danby that you saw? Elemar didn't have any Danby marbles, and the guy told me that they are even more expensive than the Calacatta! Did Marble & Granite give you a quote for the Imperial Danby?

If I were to go for soapstone, I would end up with something like this:

{{gwi:1617912}}

My hutch area is topped with stained wood. So that would be 4 different countertop materials: wood, soapstone, marble and stainless steel (cooktop wall). I think I could pull it off because my kitchen is pretty big. What do you think??

Hope I didn't overwhelm you with too many questions. I've been waffling about my countertop decisions for too long and now I'm getting panicky. =(

Erika

Erika,

Your posted pic is really beautiful. If you want to come see my soapstone, you are welcome. The kitchen is not finished yet, but it would give you a good idea. I did a hutch with a walnut countertop. I love it! It looks great with the soapstone. You have a large kitchen and I think you can pull off several countertop materials like prettykitty did in her kitchen. You already know my countertop story so don't feel bad about waffling.

Now for your questions. 1) I have oiled my soapstone several times to build up the oil base. The oil is not absorbed by the soapstone. It sits on top of it and creates an optical effect of darkness. Slowly, over time the soapstone darkens (kind of like cherry furniture) even if you do not oil it. But it will never get as dark as if you do oil it. If you were to wipe the countertop with acetone it would remove the oil layer and you would be back to the original color. When I first saw the soapstone installed I hesitated in oiling it as I love the gray color, but since we did oil, it has remained dark. I didn't oil for 2 weeks when my family was here and the color didn't change much. 2)Yes, there are soapstones that look more black, but the green in my Minas and others I have seen is subtle and would look great with blue accents. 3)I only get water marks from glasses right after I oil. It is not a true watermark, but rather a ring from the water mixing with the oil, if that makes sense. If I rub the ring with a paper towel, it goes away. 4) I think soapstone goes great with Carrera, but also with Calacatta. Several of my favorite kitchens on GW have soapstone with Calacatta. Soapstone, like granite has more than one color in it. There is a depth to it that pics don't show. There is gold in mine. In fact, there are flecks of what appears to be real gold dust in some of the quartz like veining. 6) We paid $90.00/sq.ft. for the soapstone. The Imperial Danby I saw at Marble and Granite looked like lissa711's island (here's a link: http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg1120571422586.html). It was very nice. The quote I got from my fabricator was $110 a sq. ft. which was much less than the quote I got for Calacatta, but more than Cararra. HTH.

Erica, our calacatta oro price just came in and the total for the 60" X 48" island is almost as much as the total cost for the perimeter soapstone. So soapstone perimeters may be an economical alternative, if you are okay with the look. Personally I think the variety of countertops would be great in your kitchen, but again it is definitely a different look.

Mary, thank you so much for taking the time to answer all my questions. I'm so glad you reminded me about lissa711's island. I'm feeling hopeful that Imperial Danby might be a nice compromise for me.

You know, it might really help me to come see your soapstone if it wouldn't be too much bother. Nobody I know has soapstone and I haven't seen it any kitchen displays around here. I'll email you. ;)

BTW, which fabricator did you use?

Erika

Just read this thread and my mouth is hanging open. Please, please, folks with 5cm and such gorgeous stone choices, post your kitchens with plenty of countertop pics so those of us with other counters can live vicariously just for a few minutes :)

Erika - I haven't posted in a long while but just read through your thread and wanted to chime in. I have 5cm Calacatta Gold that I picked out at Marble & Granite in Westwood and had fabricated with Gerrity in Woburn - experiences with both companies were fabulous. I have to dig out my renovation file to find prices (which I'm happy to do) but I'm not sure they'd be relevant since I have 5cm. Nevertheless, I wanted to tell you to definitely get a requote for a simpler edge detail and see what they come back with. I recall I was originally wanting a funky ogee-style but when I got the price quote I nearly fainted over it's premium to an eased edge. I know it might not make up the $5k difference but it's worth it to see what it might be!

Also, FWIW, I have a walnut edge-grain butcher block top, a wide-planked walnut bar top and a walnut hutch top along with the marble and I think your various counter selections will go beautifully together!

Let me know if you want me to pull my quotes out of my file. Here's a link to my kitchen - you'll want to choose the album "finished kitchen pics" (sorry but I can't figure out how to post individual pics from Shutterfly anymore!!)....

Here is a link that might be useful: mnhockeymom's kitchen

willowdecor, if you're a member on angieslist, have you thought about writing up your experience with Interior Stone there?

Seems like this thread has great source and fabricator info. for those of us in the Boston area, anyone from other regions want to chime in with prices/businesses and their experiences? Might make it useful to the broader audience.

I was wondering who the heck to trust with fabrication, as it's a one-shot thing, so I'm very glad to have this information.

mnhockeymom, that is a good point about the edge. I had forgotten about that. Our carrera counter was going to have a dupont edge and when we changed to calacatta we changed the edge to simple eased. Changing the edge was one of the things that made the calacatta financially possible, although it was still expensive.

Erikanh~

If you make the trip on Monday to Marble & Granite, check out the soapstone bundles numbered 6172 & 6355. I found some slabs in those to be pretty quiet. I wanted some subtle thin veining, but wanted the SS to complement the Calacatta, not compete. I thought the Danby there was beautiful too. Take pictures and post them please. I was already such a nerd when I went, wiping all the slabs with a wet cloth to see it oiled-I forgot to take photos. Hope the snow cooperates...

Erikanh-
I have not posted my kitchen photos on my blog yet, but should by the end of the week. Not sure how to post pictures here - So I will most likely leave a link. Just waiting for my DH to transfer the pictures from the camera. To answer your questions:
1) How often do you have to oil it to keep it looking black as opposed to gray?
My soapstone is great - and oiling is no big deal. Just swipe on and off. Literally takes two minutes. Each soapstone is different so and it takes about 6 months to for it to totally oxidize, but for me it was once a week for six weeks, then about once a month now. I suspect it will be every three months or so after that. I notice that it doesn't fade to gray nearly as fast as it used to.

2) My kitchen will have blue accents so I worry about soapstone's green tinge clashing with that. Are there soapstones that look pure black when you oil them?
Yes, Beleza and Brazizian Black are very black and very hard. Most all soapstones have a blue green undertone not a sage green undertone, so it will go fine with blue. I have Santa Rita Venata, my kitchen walls are gray and it looks great.

3) Do you get water marks from glasses? I did at the beginning but as pluckymama said it is just the water and the oil reacting - now I do not get rings. Its all about the oxidation and it takes time. You need to have patience early on.

4) It seems like soapstone would complement Carrara well because of it's gray streaks, but if I do find a marble for my island that has some cream/gold streaks in it, do you think soapstone on my perimeter would still look ok?
Yes, I have soapstone in my kitchen and Calcutta in my pantry. Both blend beautifully. It would also look good with carrera. My soapstone also has flecks of copper and white which is hard to see in photos.

5) Do you mind telling me how much you paid for your soapstone per square foot? I am not sure becasue I planned on soapstone from the begininng- but as I recall it was less than the marble and more than granite. The Calcutta though, was 3X the cost of Carrerra - It was my big splurge.

BTW, Gerrity Stone made an outdoor table for me and I was very happy with them. I had some freezing issues with stone because it is outside and they came back and fixed everything over a year later!

slateberry
I am not part of Angie's List - The crazy thing about this is that my builder loved Interior Stone which is why I went with them, and was shocked we had a problem. Normally I would just have chalked it up to a human mistakes which happen, but the chain of the events was so ridiculous and badly handled. After the botched installation we also offered a reasonable solution: they credit the AMX card and we would pay for cost of the marble, but not the template and installation. We asked that he also pay our builder to fix the walls to cover the gaps ($600.) He refused and stopped contact with us and so we had no other choice but to take it up with American Express. We had to go thru lots of paperwork and phones calls with AMX - but in the end the they did not authorize the charge - so we did not have to pay it. Bad business - my builder is mad at him and will most likely be wary to recommend him and I tell everyone I know what happened. All for what, so he could have come out of this with an extra $2,000? Stupid!

willowdecor, I am awaiting your finished pics as well. I wanted to tell you I so enjoy your blog and all of the lovely inspirational photos you have been so kind to share with us. Glad you are here on GW.

Willowdecor,

I second what pluckymama said. Your blog helped me find the pendants I had in mind. Great eye candy. Thanks!

You are both so sweet! The kitchen photos are all too grainy - I must have set the camera wrong so it will be another week or so - but I just posted the Butler's pantry.

The kitchen is white with soapstone and marble backsplash and the pantry is gray cabinets with marble.

Here's the link.

Here is a link that might be useful: Butlers Pantry

willow,
that is TDF... I am in la-la land after looking at that. your china collection is amazing. I'd be blogging day and night if that were my office. thanks so much for sharing.

Mamadadapaige - you are so helpful to everyone here and such a doll - Thanks for the sweet comments!!
xoxo

Check out Boston Granite Exchange (immediately off the Ward Hill exit of 495 in Haverhill) when you're down this way. They have a huge selection of mostly granite, but also quite a bit of marble...they're also 3x the size of Elemar.

willow, I posted on your other thread. I'm in love with every single thing in your butler's pantry. Thanks so much for sharing with us!

mojua, thanks for the tip, I will check them out.

Erika

katieob: daltile white : rottenhouse: white grout:

www.starquartz.com (new urethane grout technology)

erikanh (well we had 2 places: one place: I didn't want to buy from: but they were selling for that price. then the place we really wanted to buy from was like $28.00 sf for the material! So, believe it or not: got an invoice and the other place matched it. The higher place JUST got the slabs in and we were first to view)

I believe you can call and get the places they sell to.
http://www.vermontquarries.com

Sales Office/North America
Contact: Todd Robertson
PH:(303) 530-7230
FAX:(303) 530-7250
E-MAIL:todd@vermontquarries.com

(just make sure you clean up spills fast! watch things with high acid: tomatos: apple juice: vinagar: wine: grape juice? make sure you seal with best sealer)

willowdecor: (at least you won and paid 1/2 for your countertops: that's a plus

wow!

(fyi: that is why we don't take american express! lol: customer always wins!)
they should have NEVER charged your card 3 days before install! (I charge cc after I get a Job Completion sheet turned into me by customer stating ok to do so!)

gaps: well: have had to deal with fixing terrible 1/2 installed jobs from installer who disappeared off the face of Earth leaving 1/2 installed kitchen.
We "DOUBLE durrocked the wall: to fix gaps. They left a hugh mess: customer didn't have running water for 90 days in her kitchen. We installed within one day after she came to us. (went to stone yard same day she walked in our showroom: matched 3cm Portofino Gold as best as could be: moved it: fabricated it after measure same day and installed December 23rd 2007 for her 25 person Christmas party!) WOW! Right!

(also: just to let some of you know: when we install: we usually rip out the sheetrock and countertops. then install countertop: granite is 99% level and even: Walls & cabinets and floors are not always level or even. So my tile installers who do the backsplash fix "problems" after the fact: to hide wall issues and CABINETS THAT ARE NOT ALWAYS LEVEL!
I make customer sign a disclaimer regarding gaps when we are "not installing" their splash. When you keep existing splash: there might be problems with gaps due to countertop install) It's possible.

Just giving heads up on issues that can happen during an install.

***If they cut your countertop wrong! Put your FOOT DOWN: don't let them glue the countertop to your cabinet and tell them to take it back! buy new slab and re-fabricate correctly: once countertop is glued: they are going to try and "talk" you into keeping it the way it is.

(how can people stay in business: installing this way: they move around and change their names! LOL) Everyone makes mistakes, but a good installer/business will fix the problem correctly! MISTAKES COST MONEY and fabricator ends up doing a kitchen for FREE: that is why they are usually careful!

Marble can be expensive and so are exotic granites! You want your kitchen to look great and have it look right! You deserve that!

petra granite~

Thanks for the subway tile info.
Katie

I believe erikhan you get your counter top done at this date , if not try fa.mar in medford they have a good selection of the withes (calacatta statuary carrara).
The previus poster are little confuse; danby calacatta ?
whats that?Calacatta is quarry in carrara and only in carrara(italy).take a tour at fa.mar 57 swan street medford