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rdas_gw

Advice -- Soapstone in MD, VA or DC???

rdas
14 years ago

Calling all Maryland/Northern Virginians,

Any recommendations of where to buy Soapstone??? We're looking for hard soapstone that is black/dark gray with very quiet veining!

The granite place our builder works with does not have enough soapstone for our kitchen -- the place they referred us to has soapstone, but it is really green -- almost emerald (not gray) when unoiled. We have about 2 weeks TOPS to find soapstone or change our plan. I have samples from Alberene Soapstone and LOVE their church hill variety, BUT it is REALLY expensive! Any advice of where to find what we're looking for (quickly)??

TIA!

Comments (16)

  • arlosmom
    14 years ago

    I was looking a year ago, so I have no idea what companies currently have in stock, but I found it in two places close together near Frederick -- Designer Surfaces and GranTops. I got mine from GranTops and I've been very pleased. At that time, they had 4 kinds in stock to choose from. Good luck!

  • alice462
    14 years ago

    Oh - I was going to suggest Alberene. We have their Old Dominion, we did find "quiet" slabs for our kitchen but it is definitely not as hard as Church Hill. We looked at Church Hill and nixed it b/c of cost and at the time they did not have enough for us. I have some small dings sink side where my children have banged dishes into the edge while washing or cleaning up. Doesn't bother me, colored them with a sharpie and you can't see them. I feel them when I clean, though. Hope you find what you are looking for!

  • rdas
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    arlosmom & Alice462 thank you so much!

    arlosmom -- out of curiosity what type of soapstone did you choose?? Are you happy with it!

    Alice 462 -- I really like the Old Dominion, but am a bit scared of how soft it is...we have 3 boys that are insanely rough on things....but I love the sharpie trick!

  • lagrant
    14 years ago

    About a year or so ago I investigated soapstone in the MD/DC/VA area in frustration. M. Texiera in New Jersey was wonderful to deal with - and they ship to this area. They will deliver whole slabs or if you send the template, they will deliver ready to install counters. They emailed pics of slabs and I could choose which I wanted. I ordered a sample set of their soapstone, which came very quickly. I, too, was seeking a grey or black quiet stone. Mumbai Gray is a beautiful charcoal and Black Galaxy is a very quiet black - no green and no veining. Check out their website. Right now I think they're offering free shipping for Mumbai Gray.

    Ultimately, I stumbled across some Cambrian Black Antiqued granite and did not go with soapstone.

    HTH!!

    Here is a link that might be useful: M. Tex

  • alice462
    14 years ago

    rdas - had to giggle! I, too, am a mother to 3 boys -- delightful, energetic, creative, they are, but "careful" is not a word I would use for any of them. We knew going in that we were going to have nicks and dings in our counters. Our home is a replica of 1750 Williamsburg, so looking used and loved is OK with us. If it is not OK for you, I would steer you away from Old Dominion. The horizontal counter surfaces can seem to take anything, it is that 90 degree edge that is vulnerable. We just have an eased edge so nothing fancy, but as I said before there are a few dings where a heavy pot has gotten banged around. But, we also like our children in the kitchen so nothing stays pristine in our home, just loved. Good luck to you!

  • denversquare
    14 years ago

    I am also a happy mother of three boys. :) I am in Denver, but wanted to chime in because we ordered soapstone from M. Teixiera and the countertops are being installed on Wednesday--can't wait!

  • lizg_inmd
    14 years ago

    Rugo marble in Lorton, VA, where I went to look at marble, had some soapstone too. We dealt with Gus there, who was very nice, informative and helpful. They will set up evening hours to look around if you call in advance. Ultimately we found our marble at a different place so I don't know what Rugo's prices were like, but it might be worth a look. Good luck!

  • lesmis
    14 years ago

    I can't say enough good things about Designer Surfaces in Frederick. I had priced out several other companies but they came in with the best bid by far. I can only speak from my own experience, but they were a pleasure to work with from start to finish. I worked with Vicki and Pam and both were great! I've had mine in since March and I love it! It is the dark grey and turns more black when oiled with beautiful veining in it. Mine is Green Mountain Original and I've not had any problems with the water rings that some people have had. I've only oiled it a few times and like it both oiled and unoiled and I've only used the mineral oil, not the wax.

    Here are pics of mine oiled.

    And before any oil was ever put on

    Good luck with whatever company you choose, you can't go wrong with beautiful soapstone in my opinion!

    Kat :)

  • timber.j
    14 years ago

    We ordered from M. Teixiera too, and cut and installed it ourselves (well, dh and my brother did). We went with Black Venata. My dh was in NJ for a business trip, so he was able to visit their showroom and see the slabs. We have 4 boys (six girls, too!) so our kitchen gets plenty of use. The countertops have only been in for about a week, so we will see how they hold up as far as scratches and dings. I love seeing how the stone changes after oiling!

  • arlosmom
    14 years ago

    rdas, I got Santa Rita, and yes, I absolutely love it. We were looking for a quieter stone with some beautiful veins, but not too many and not too big. Santa Rita is one of the softer stones, but I only have a few noticeable scratches/dings and even those you have to look for. The biggest ding came when a knife fell off the knife magnet from ~18" up and crashed down onto the counter...even that ding is only about the size of a grain of rice. I oiled regularly for a couple of months, but now I hardly ever do and the counter stays a dark gray. Here's what it looks like after about 4 months with no oiling:

    {{!gwi}}

  • Buehl
    14 years ago

    When we were counter shopping in Spring 2008 (and flirting w/Soapstone), we found that many stoneyards had only a few soapstones...sometimes only one. However, none seemed to have the same one. Perhaps what you need to do is go to several more yards to see what they have. I've linked a thread from earlier this year that has several to try and some to stay away from.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Thread: Countertops in Maryland

  • rdas
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Thank you all SO much! This is crazy -- there is a soapstone shortage :) I have called ALL of the places you all recommend and if they even have any -- it is either green or very heavily veined.

    I also got some strange information from one of the groups (I can't remember - I called so many) she said that the black soapstones aren't really soapstone -- I asked what they were she said she was not sure, but that Alberene and other black stones with minimal to no veins are NOT soapstone - is this true?

    So, since our cabinets are going in this week - it is between the Church Hill (67.50 a sq ft YIKES) or Antiqued Cambrian Black -- which though I like, I am concerned I will get tired of it AND that my kids can't do their homework on it because of the lumps and bumps?? Are there any other options for flat black matte natural stone?? TIA

  • pluckymama
    14 years ago

    Check out Nordic Black Antique. Although it is antiqued it is not bumpy like the Cambrian Black. Several people have it on GW and love it. Jen4268 has it in her kitchen and said there was no problem writing on it.

    Here is a link that might be useful:

  • sergeantcuff
    14 years ago

    My soapstone was supplied and installed by Petrafab in Baltimore. I got a very good price on Green Mountain Original soapstone, which has quiet veining and is VERY hard. They don't mention soapstone on their half-page of a website but the owner/fabricator loves to work with it.

    Good luck.
    Maureen

    Here is a link that might be useful: Petrafab

  • lagrant
    14 years ago

    Cambrian Antiqued Black Granite - which is what I ended up getting on my perimeter and *LOVE LOVE LOVE* - is only textured to the touch. If you put a single sheet of paper down and write on it using pen or pencil, it is like you are writing on a perfectly flat surface. My kids laugh about it.

  • Mark Lay
    14 years ago

    If you are still looking for Soapstone - Give Goran a call at Stone & Tile World in Rockville, MD at 301-231-7777.

    They just installed our counter -- good to work with - they worked through a number of tricky cuts, fabrication and reworks (without complaint) to make things right. We have a lot of unusual angles due to u-shaped counter with a bay window in the middle.

    Additionally, we spent a lot of time going round & round with different slabs -- visited lots of DC Area distributors / warehouses in the middle of nowhere... ugh such a time suck... we couldn't decide on what we wanted/liked - finally, fate intervened and the right slab found us.

    They are a fabricator; but Goran will steer to to the right distributors locally. I spoke with him earlier today - confirmed shortage of Soapstone in the area, but said he should be able to locate what you need.