I like veins and some small inclusions, but I'm worried about the "milky way effect" areas? Will those darken, or stand out as cloudy blobs? And I also want to avoid the spiderweb effect. But I don't want my counters to look like honed absolute black. I want charcoal with snowflakes, and soft to medium marble-like veins.

Does anyone else with Santa Rita Venata regret their decision? Or with I come to love all the intricacies of the stone. And how bad are the dings. The folks at the shop said the one downfall to the stone was that the dings stayed white, instead of being able to sand and oil them to blend in. I'm prone to clumsiness and don't want a ridiculous amount of pock marks. A little patina I can handle.

Please critique my slab. And my indecisiveness.

My slab

M. Tex Soapstone told me that slightly more rounded WOULD slow down the dings. So I went ahead with it. It looks good, very natural.

Pamela, that is water on the stone. I'm hoping oil evens out some of the blotchiness I see. I'm just worried that I like the look of the stone in slab form, but on my counters it be too much craziness. Although this is one of the more sedate Santa Rita Venata stones I've seen. I probably will love oiling all those inclusions and veins.

I'd like to see your edge too, if you have a pic.

If you are still unsure, then continue to look for the slab that you want. There are other dealers out there.

Good luck!
Mary

As to the softness, I have Santa Rita Venata, and have had it installed and subject to hard use for two years so far. And I definitely DO NOT baby my countertops... Minor scratches do disappear with oil, and for dings that won't disappear with oil, a felt-tipped pen does the trick. How? Well, the 'ding' is a rough surface, so even though the ink doesn't sink in, it does cling to the little rough edges, thereby making the spot disappear.

But you'll need to make your own decision here -- If you feel rushed and uncomfortable, take your time and look around. Do your second-guessing after-the-fact until you feel good --

But, I do think you need to LOVE your slab choice.

Also, when thinking about it on your perimeter countertops, remember, you are only going to see about a 25-1/2" swath of the slab at a time. That will either minimize or accentuate the "blotchy" spots you are seeing. My guess is, it will minimize as I had some clients who selected a slab that I thought was really busy and splotchy, but once it was cut up and installed - it is lovely and not too busy.

More than likely, the splotchy-ness will really only be visible when you are standing near it or working on top of it. I don't think you will see it from sitting across the room.

So, if you don't love it, wait - stone yards get new shipments every week! If you decide it's your true love - take it with no regrets and think fondly of the poor soul who came into the slab yard after you who isn't going to get your beautiful slabs!

Good luck!

Thanks everyone who told me to listen to my inner voice. My inner voice told me I had to lug my sick kids to Bucks County to commune with my slabs. Spend a little time with them to make sure I LOVED them. I didn't. Too wild. Too green. But not too soft. So I picked new slabs that I think I WILL love.

[IMG]http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n276/jmcknigh/soapstone/newsla b2.jpg[/IMG]

The funny thing is that I stuck with Santa Rita Venata. I think I can live with the softness. And I still get veining, but with a darker, more consistent background. I'm excited about my long-coveted soapstone now, not anxious about it. Now let's just hope I don't get a 20 inch crack.

So my personal advice to those picking soapstone slabs (and this has all probably been said before) is to 1) pay attention to the background of the stone. I was too interested in the veining patterns, and didn't notice that my original slabs had a quartzy, translucent quality that I personally don't care for and 2) If you plan to oil your stone, do not pick a slab without seeing at least part of it oiled. My original slabs were even more dramatic when oiled, and I noticed a lot of things I didn't notice the when they were just wet. I know the stone will calm down a lot (especially the greenness) with subsequent oilings, but that oiling really made me sure I wanted a different stone. 3) If you live close enough to the stoneyard to make this possible, take a picture of the slab, take it home and photoshop the approximate countershapes with it. This really helped me get an idea of what the veining was going to look like on my counters. While I'm really attracted to whole slabs that are geologically interesting, when I photoshopped them onto my counters, they were just too much. Witness what I refer to as the "ganglion".

[IMG]http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n276/jmcknigh/soapstone/oldsla bganglioin.jpg[/IMG]

While cool too look at on a slab, not exactly the look I was going for in my kitchen. FYI, those slabs might still be available for anyone who IS going for this look. Just not me.

Again, thanks everyone for the sage advice about following my instincts. Now on to picking a backsplash....

I have looked locally for soapstone and everything in my city is green, green, and more green! Eventually I will find one - it is early yet for me. Thanks for the advice about paying attention to the background, as all i ever really notice is the veins and the color.

BTW, I'm laughing about our screen names. Can we SEE the orange kitchen? Wow. Search on the board and you'll see my thread about my ugly blue kitchen.

Anita

If you aren't in a rush to select soapstone, they can keep you posted on new shipments that come in. If there is a variety of Soapstone you absolutely must have, they may be able to transfer it from another location, or at least help you find out where you can get it.