Soapstone owners: final sanding grit level?

13 years ago

I am going to have Barroca (a classic softer soapstone variety) counters installed. They are in the fabrication shop now (yippee!). However, I am concerned that they will be too rough to the hand. Our installer wants a 100 grit final sand finish, but I think 150 grit or so would be more to our liking. Can you soapstoners out there give me your opinions about the right grit or finish for our counters? Apparently it is supposed to be easier to buff out scratches ourselves at the rougher grit?

Many thanks...

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (3)

brickton
13 years ago
When we installed my cousin's soapstone (also Barroca) they were all set to go up to 200 grit for finish sanding on the seams and edges. However after doing 100 for both they felt it and it felt just fine. It's a very smooth silky feeling stone to begin with so going between 100 and 150 would likely be fairly tough to notice I think.
sombreuil_mongrel
13 years ago
Hi,
I have an unusually hard type of SS, and since I was doing all of the honing myself, I wet sanded all the way up to 320 grit. I used silicon carbide and diamond abrasives.
Casey
Related Professionals
Frankfort Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Knoxville Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Northbrook Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Palm Harbor Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Rochester Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Toledo Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Princeton Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Billings Cabinets & Cabinetry · Bonita Cabinets & Cabinetry · Little Chute Cabinets & Cabinetry · Potomac Cabinets & Cabinetry · Radnor Cabinets & Cabinetry · South Riding Cabinets & Cabinetry · Gladstone Tile and Stone Contractors · Mill Valley Tile and Stone Contractors
lithigin
13 years ago
We are getting PA Original green (harder), and the shop usually does 200 grit, I believe, which I like. They did a sample bar-type kitchen table with 400 grit and it is silky and *fabulous*. I'm considering asking for it.

The other company near me uses all softer ss slabs and only sands with 100 or 150 grit (which I think you kinda have to with the softer and Santa Rita and such). It felt very rough to me. If you're going with rustic farmhouse chic (which they specialize in), it would be a great fit. We're a bit more traditional and like a nice smooth finish.