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Welcome. If you go to the bottom of the page and enter some search terms you will find nearly ENDLESS discussions of both of your topics. Photos, reviews. It can all be found. There will be people on both sides of any issue and you will find very thorough discussions from several vantage points.

As for the soapstone, only YOU can decide if it's right for you. Depends on how you expect your counters to look, feel, hold up and how much you expect to maintain them. I have soapstone. I like them and would not reconsider.

Good luck in finding tons of info with your search.

Hi...I am in the process of.building a house and been doing a lot of research on many different counter tops and sinks. I really love the look of soap stone and was close to buying it until I found a granite look a like. The name of this granite is Jet Mist or also called Virgina Mist. It looks exactly like soap stone, dull finish, whitish veins, etc. The best part is there is no maintance! Check it out..

I also was considering a apron type sink, but through my research found there has been problems with iimproper installation that results in water leakage. I don't know if that is really the case or not, so I am staying away from that style. I found Frankie and a Kohler undermont sink with one very large bowl that I like.
, Also..I am going with Carrara honed marble on my island. It's funny though, because everybody I speak with says I will need to be extremely careful with spills since it stains. My best friend has this marble and the secret to keeping it looking beautiful is to apply olive oil to the marble now and then. This prevents staining.

Glad I can share with you...good luck and keep me posted on what you decided.

I have soapstone counters and an apron sink. I ended up getting the Franke fire clay apron sink - it's 28". I got a great deal on it from Quality Bath on Ebay.

I don't do anything to my soapstone. Oil very occasionally, but it's not necessary. Mine is a medium on the hardness scale, but if you get one of the harder stones, you shouldn't have any problems at all with chipping etc.

Hi,
I have soapstone (which I DIY-ed) and the 30" Whitehaus sink.
My kitchen dates to 2006-7 and the CT/sinks are holding up really well.
SS is impervious to anything; my variety of stone is rather hard so nicks and scratches are non-issues. Some softer varieties scratch more readily, but Soapstone is user-serviceable, and the scratching can be addressed by sanding. In the first pics, you are looking at the CT the day of installation, with its first and only coat of oil. I removed the oil and let it darken naturally. Oiling was going to be a hassle for me, and that's not what I wanted out of a CT material.

Nine months of age, darkening nicely:

The one thing I will tell you about Apron-front sinks-- most cabinet installers have never fitted one, and some subpar installation attempts have been documented here. I DIY-ed mine, and because I assembled my own cabinets I was able to use it to my advantage in getting a perfect scribed fit between faceframe and sink. The 'natural variation" (irregularity) of these sinks excludes the use of a factory template to simplify the cutout, and stopping to make a template is outside of the normal installation process for most cabinet hangers. Expect to pay a premium for a great installation. Ask for references for these kinds of sinks. It's too easy to screw it up.

Casey

We have soapstone and an upmounted Shaws sink. See picture. I don't have a good zoomed one on my web account yet.

I am in the process of fitting a soapstone filler piece below the sink to hide the structure there.

{{!gwi}}

The wife and I love the look and it makes the room cozy and warm, but still feeling updated.

Best of luck,
Anthony

We have soapstone counters and a soapstone apron sink.

We've only had them a few months but the soapstone seems to be bulletproof. We prefer the un-oiled variegated look. No issues with scratches or chipping.