The fabricator used 14 gauge stainless steel. I've heard you want at least 16 gauge to avoid dents and dings. I've also heard that it will get scratched but over time all the scratches blend together. The installer used a thick plywood substrate so it's very quiet.

My cost came to about $128 per square foot plus an extra $800 to fabricate an integrated, seamless chef sink. My cost may have been higher because the only installer I could find was an hour away and he charged me extra for his traveling time.

I'm sorry I don't have any photos yet because my vent hood and backsplash still haven't been installed.

HTH,

Erika

We haven't looked at soapstone slabs yet (except one place where they were a bit clueless about them) so I don't know what they will cost in our area yet, either.

At first I was afraid of them -- they were highly polished and very shiny when new, and everything scratched them. A day after they were installed I dropped an unopened can of tomato soup and dinged the surface but good. Within a few months of normal wear, all the scratches blended into a kind of patina that was very comfortable to live with, and the ding simply reminded me to be more careful about things falling out of cabinets. If you don't install cabinets above your SS countertops you'll never even run that risk.

I'm sorry but I don't remember the cost and I don't have pictures (it was 20 years ago). I would love to have them again some day, this time on all countertops and with an integrated sink.

rc
in Vermont

rcvt-Thanks!-it's nice to hear that you liked them long term! Anything we choose will for sure develop a patina quickly around here, with nine kids, and #10 on the way... ;)

I don't know the sq ft cost, but the total was about $4,000. They are over our 27" deep cabinets so they're a bit deeper than normal. They are in 14 gauge SS.

We also had them integrate our Franke professional sink. the entire counter looks seemless and we just love it.

By the way, I HIGHLY recommend the modified marine edge (with is an edge raised up about 1/8" around the outside edge of the counters). When you spill or splash, the edge holds the liquids from spilling onto the floor and makes clean up a breeze.

This is a dark picture but it shows the tip out (by the stove) and the tip (at the sink) well.

The kitchen is pretty light filled and we don't get any glare at all.

Our faucet shrunk :oP

I will never have a kitchen without a metal counter top somewhere in the working area again. This thing is a hard working beast, and we think a pretty one too :)

niiiice! i'm also doing the cooktop countertops in ss, with ss backsplash. i'm wondering, how did you treat the seam where the backsplash and countertop meet? silicone?

and also, where did you purchase your tile?

love your pictures!

circuspeanut-your copper tops are beautiful, too. I like your toe kick detail, too-I've been looking for pics of those, too, since our island desperately needs some details to dress it up.

igloochic-love the faucet! Did you replace it or modify it? Faucet shopping is on my list of things to do...It looks easier to clean without the coils. How on earth did they integrate your sink so well/seamlessly? That looks great!

We already have a stainless steel apron front sink (great bargain from craigslist). I am having a hard time visualizing SS countertops on the perimeter vs. on the island. I'm not sure how the apron front sink would look with SS countertops. Would I have problems matching the finish?
The island, however, has a rounded overhang in the plans, so I am assuming we would have to come up with a different shape if we do SS on the island?

I am totally fine with scratches, BTW. The floor is handscraped (by dh) walnut, and I am hoping that the inevitable distressing it will get will just make it look better!

I don't have any good pictures, and none of the finished kitchen. It was in a 20's Tudor revival home and we went with sort of a period-inspired kitchen. We used a Motawi subway backsplash, so it was definitely not restaurantish. This picture is before refrigerator, backsplash, lighting, etc. were finished so it looks a bit stark. And yes, small kitchen!

We were initially inspired by the kitchen in Edsel Ford's house (why pick a low-budget inspiration?). It has a big island with a German silver top, which isn't silver OR stainless. Stainless is a nice approximation and can look very vintage as well as modern. I should find a finished picture because this does look kinda, well, bad. :)

Of course, when I'm around, girly stuff HAS to be damageproof to last.

We did not have a bright kitchen so the stainless helped lighten things up. We did have some antique light fixtures that must have come from a retail outlet--they took 300 watt bulbs. But no glare, really, nor glare from the undercabinet lights.

We were also able to make the most out of a corner sink cabinet by having a custom sink. Of course, the measuring guy sort of goaded me into getting one that was a tad to big (front-to-back). "C'mon--nobody ever wanted a smaller sink" he said. So I stood there and stuck my hands in the cabinet ("this deep!") and reached back ("that far!") and ended up having to replace my faucet with a jointed one that reached as far forwards as I wanted because I got bad aches reaching way back BUT I digress.

I'd do it again. In fact, I am.

(Motawi really does have some great stuff, don't they? We were close to the pottery so we got to look at EVERYthing they carry. Nice folks, too.)

Rhome, can you provide more detail on the substrate that your husband made to take to the sheet metal fabricator--type of wood, thickness etc. Did you need to have your range in place beforehand to get the height correct? Thanks for any additional info.

If we can find a way to do SS cheaper than soapstone for at least part of the kitchen, that will sure help! I know by now that I have to show him pictures-trying to verbalize my ideas always flops. With him it is true that "a picture is worth a thousand words". :-)

Depending on what, exactly you're looking for, what's available and how resourceful you are, restaurant salvage may be an option.

Old counters, unit tops and other stainless surfaces from restaurants turn up cheap at salvage places and auctions. If they happen to be the right size, or nearly so, or your contractor thinks he could retrofit them at very reasonable cost, then you could find a deal.

I think they're really handsome. And another of those elements that, though great, because they're never particularly popular, will not date your kitchen, and can be considered truly "classic".

Good luck!

Our sink is actually not an exact matched finish to the counters. It went in shiny like any new sink, but after a few months of use it's patina is pretty much the same as the counter. So I think with yours the finishes will blend quickly.

My sink had a rim on it (it was able to be installed either as an undermount or overmount because it was a commercial sink). To put the runnels in on the corner they had to chop a bit off of one corner. I was worried how it would look, but really, it's totally seamless. That's what you'll get with a good fabricator. They really do wonderful work, just be sure to ask to see some of their work before you go with whoever you pick. Sometimes cheap means weld marks, dings, etc. You don't want that :)

"igloochic-love the faucet! Did you replace it or modify it? Faucet shopping is on my list of things to do...It looks easier to clean without the coils. How on earth did they integrate your sink so well/seamlessly? That looks great!"

Those are both KWC Systema faucets. The tall one was actually our first choice. We wanted the reach, and that professional look, but once it was installed, it didn't really work in the windows. We have two friends who have that same faucet and they love it. Cleaning the springs is not an issue at all (they really don't get dirty, even here in dusty alaska). It's a gorgeous and heavy faucet, which was also part of the problem. That swing arm weighed a ton, which was GREAT for use! It functions so easily, smooth movements, etc., but the head is heavy, and given the proximity of the windows, we had grave concerns about it hitting a window and breaking it. We have a 3 year old who loves to play in water and I could just see that thing getting a little shove...it takes a crane to bring in windows to the location, so we figured it was cheaper to buy another expensive faucet than to replace the windows at some point heh heh

So that tall one is sitting in a box in the garage waiting for me to decide what to do with it. Poor darling...it's lonely for a nice kitchen heh heh (it's next to a plastic shop sink now...I think it needs to be humbled a bit) :oP

So we went for the shorter Systema, but it's still nice and heavy. The visual is better for the location than the taller one, and it does not have the open swing the spring one had (I prefer the open swing frankly, but not with a 3 year old and windows). I'll probably use the tall one in the victorian house...or sell it...gad I don't know LOL (Our remodel is like a shop project from little boy hell...it seems to be together but we have LOTS of extra parts).

thanks!

I love your kitchen! Our design is very similar. I have a few questions:

What type of wood are your cabinets?
What gauge stainless steels do you use and is it matte finish?
Is your hood a liner with custom stainless or is the stainless pat showing part of a manufactured hood?

Thanks so much! Tanem