Until I can get a reply from original post, I would greatly appreciate hearing from anyone who has used this same type of strategy for soapstone. How well did everything work from the templating to the delivery and installation??
Thanks so much for any information you can give me.

Hi faeriedust - I know what you mean about local fabricators. None of our were very helpful. They certainly did not encourage us toward the soapstone which we wanted. The local pricing was in the stratosphere - too much of a budget buster for us. Gary at Maine Soapstone did not give us a price per square foot or a fabrication cost. He gave us a total price with shipping costs being extra. Every local estimate we got had a different square footage total for our counters but we have about 42 square feet. So it came out to about $57/sq foot for stone and fabrication. Then an additional $435 for shipping. It was around $300 dollars more than the fully installed granite.

Gary shipped us the stuff and we did our own template. This was new to us and a little tricky but he talked us through it and it came out great. We sent the template back and they cut the stone to the template. I told Gary what kind of stone we wanted - dark, quiet with minimal veining. He suggested Amazon and sent us pics. I was so worried about not picking the slab myself because early on when we went to pick out granite it took me literally days to make a decision. But I couldn't be happier with the stone that he selected.

We had a simple eased edge, a sink cutout with holes for the faucet and soap dispenser. There were two seams so we had 4 separate pieces. I really wanted only one seam but I was so glad Gary talked us into two because it would have been too heavy for us to handle.

They fabricated and shipped it back to us in about 3 days. Fantastic turn around time even though they were having subzero temps and "feet" of snow. Shipping took about 5 days. We took our trailer to the FedEx dock in Lexingtion and they loaded it with a fork lift. It was crated very securely with wood and about a million screws. At least that's how many my husband said he took out. :-)

Gary explained how we should uncrate it and handle it. So we parked the trailer by the back door of the house, CAREFULLY uncrated it and brought it in piece by piece. It is really heavy about 20-22 pounds per sq foot so you need lots of muscle to handle it safely.

We positioned each piece where it needed to go. The fit was absolutely brilliant. Our house is as crooked as they get - no square, straight or level surfaces anywhere. So I was expecting to have to do some tweaking. But I am not exagerating when I say they were perfect. We then shimmed and leveled each piece. We had to do very little to get them level as our cabinets were perfectly level to start with. We epoxied the seams. Again Gary talked us through the process before we started. And it really was a breeze. The seams are hardly visible.

I think the keys to getting a good finished product from the process IMHO are
1. Discuss, discuss, discuss the process with Gary. He was so patient and informative. Almost always available when we needed info or guidance. His expertise and the way he shared it with us was invaluable.

2. As Kevin from A-Z stone consulting said - "Take your time". Work the process slowly and rehearse the steps before you do them. That sounds kind of weird but it helps.

3. Make sure the template is right. Make sure the template is right. Did I say make sure the template is right! ;-)

4. Get some good strong friends to help lift and position the stone sections. Get more than you think you need. We did and boy were we glad we had those extra hands.

Hope this information is beneficial. I don't want to come off like I think I am some kind of expert 'cause I am definitely not. But when we were considering DIY I tried to contact anyone who could give me information. I think expert advice is the most important but it is great to hear from other greenhorns who have tried it. I am happy to answer any questions I can for you. If you would like to call sometime I will give you my phone number.

This whole process was definitely anxiety producing for me. Lots of unknowns and things out of my control. I worried about everything, the look of the stone, the template, the delivery, the pick up, the fit, the seaming etc, etc, etc. But in the end it was so worth it. I LOVE MY SOAPSTONE AND I WOULD DO IT AGAIN IN A HEARTBEAT!

Good Luck!!

Bumping for Faeriedust! Sorry I took so long to respond. We were really busy last night. See my other thread "I used my tapmaster last night"

Thank you, thank you, thank you. This is incredibly helpful information and just what I needed to show my husband who I had been after to help DIY and he was vehemently against! We still have miles to go before we get to the countertops (no cabinets yet), but this is definitely the direction we will go in.
Thanks again for all the info. Ya gotta love GW!

I do love GW and spend way too much time reading posts instead of working on my own kitchen. LOL You are probably less than two hours from us, we are just south of Versailles. It would be a good Sunday drive for you and your DH to come down and see our counters. The guys could share some info and maybe your DH would feel more comfortable with the process. I had to convince my husband too. We would enjoy a visit!!
Valarie

You are so sweet!! Beautiful country there around Versailles and a nice drive. I may just take you up on that offer when we get closer to the templating and installation time as I think you all would be an invaluable source of information for us. We're pretty experienced at DIY - old houses seem to require that - but cutting stone was one DIY skill he was a bit reluctant to jump into. But, install of already-fabricated seems a little less nail biting. I just have always had my heart set on soapstone. BTW, your counters are beautiful! I believe that the Amazon will be my choice as well. Also love your cabinetry. I'm going in the direction of creamy cabinets, refinishing old heart pine floor, etc. Love the creamy cabinets with wood! I'm still waiting on the bid for the cabinets (!!!) but trying to get my chicks all in a row in other areas while waiting.
Thanks so much and I'll keep you bookmarked for further reference. I may have to look into getting another bid from the Mouser people as well as there is a showroom nearby.
Thanks again and hope you all are OK after those late night storms!
Cece