The slate-ish is very cool and a good alternative to split faced stone which we used in our last house.

I am very intrigued by the DIYness of the counter which is why I would go with laminate, soapstone, or butcherblock. I'll have to look at their site to read about the product, but do you think it could be easily imaged? I sorry about scorching the most on a material like this. Of course I use hot pads and trivets, but I don't want to have to worry about someone putting something down or something hot slipping out of my hand and then having to get a new countertop.

I want to do it DIY also. You should be able to use woodworking tools to fabricate it. And it's pretty cool too--did you see the Denimite and Magazite on the Iris website?

As for heat resistance, I would assume that it will perform similarly to Richlite and Paperstone. My samples are on order so I will compare those to the Paperstone samples I already have. I'm pretty sure I'll be using soapstone on my perimeter (and next to the range), so heat resistance is less of an issue for me.

I'm liking this product as a possible complementary countertop material on my island (and, the Slate-ish strips could possibly be a unifying material on the sides of the island.

Andy.

DH has cut and finished the edges of a quartz slab, and he is a woodworker (in his spare time anyway) so we should be able to handle this.

I did see the other 'styles.' The Magazite reminds me of a painting that hung in the hallway of my elementary school. I remember staring at it every time I walked past, but it bothered me there was too much going on. I'm more of a solid color kind of gal.

I also love metal and may go with stainless. I am happy though there are more options on the market because I think stone alternative countertops are pretty cool. The website said they get some of their materials from farmers, and my FIL will get a kick out of that since he's twiddling his thumbs waiting for the ground to dry out. A man can only play so much golf.

Very cool products, neitsdelf! But FYI you can order PaperStone online. I got mine from greencountertopsdirect.com. We did have some hassles with them sending the wrong size and having to exchange it, but they did give us a good price break in the end, so I'd order from them again.

Edited to say: I see now why you mentioned that you're in Michigan - they don't sell PaperStone online there!

This post was edited by fouramblues on Thu, May 1, 14 at 9:27

Neat!

What have I become if the first thing that comes to mind with a countertop made of recycled money is GERMS! :P

A money grubber?