Certainly no expert here, but I had Julia installed recently. I guess it depends on the other elements you have as to whether the "wildness" is too much :-)

One of the things I love about it is that the wildness is there up close, but it looks quiet from a distance.

Closeup, freshly oiled ...

The bigger picture ...

Flatcoat....I love your Julia! That is why I am questioning this Julia. It looks different. Did your slab look similar to mine?

No expert either and no pics yet...but happy to contribute 2 cents FWIW. We went with Brazilian Black looking for a "quiet" stone. It actually has quite a bit of movement in the un-oiled state. Now that it's installed we think it is breathtaking just as is. We may not oil it. It's important to know whether you are dealing with 2 cm or 3 cm thick stone. We did not use an underlayment, though the peninsula required a metal plate atop the supporting post. You can't do that with 2 cm thickness. We were seriously underwhelmed with Marbolis in Anaheim--poor selection of SS and bad attitude. We purchased our slabs from Soapstone West in Escondido. We had our GC's stone guy do the fabrication and installation. Less $$$ and fewer picayune requirements.

I really like Brazilian black also! Soapstone West sent me 4 beautiful samples of Green and Black Venata, Amazon and Brazilian black (my fav of the 4) But the $98 sq ft installed price wasn't quite in my budget...wish it was, they are very nice and helpful! I Need 2 slabs...what was the cost per slab for BB SS? I want my DH to do the fabrication to save on cost....but too scared to commit to that. He is a carpenter by trade and has all the tools and skills....but I want it too be perfect!

So all you Soapstone lovers - how much care do you find it takes? I LOVE the look of it and all of your beautiful pix - am just concerned about how much oiling and caring will be involved, and/or does it scratch or stain?

Shanny75: SW charges $41 a sf for 3 cm thick Brazilian Black. Our 2 slabs came to $4227 including tax. The fabricator was a magician--hardly any seams! We looked at the Black Venata and liked it too. You really can't go wrong. Momorichel: according to the experts, SS is completely impervious to stains. That's why they use it in chemistry labs. As I mentioned, we are thinking of going "native" with no oiling--so really no maintenance at all. SS is softer than granite but if you ding it, you can fix it with sandpaper. I really think that granite will be passe very soon, partly due to ubiquity and partly due to the radon scare. Soapstoners are not only historically correct, we're on the leading edge of kitchen fashion! ;-)

Shanny75 - my sense from your question about whether the "wildness" will go away is that you should keep looking. It doesn't change. The stone is the stone and you should LOVE the piece of stone you end up with. I fell in love with this and insisted that it be my island. It is Green Mountain Original, which comes from the Santa Rita area.

Momorichel - I have never oiled my stone and don't plan to do so: I love it just as it is. No stains, you can put a hot pot directly on it and not worry about cracking, and it feels good. Yes, it scratches and dings - but oh, well - just like the wrinkles on my face, it adds character - LOL.
Yesdear is right - no maintenance.

Thanks Yesdear, Can't wait to see some pics!

Wow Raynag,

Your stone is very beautiful!

I think my concern with my Julia slab above is that when you look at the entire slab as a whole it seems very busy. I am hoping that when it is on the cabinets
and broken up by appliances it won't seem as busy.

Also, how does the look change when it is horizontal, rather then vertical(as displayed at the yards) That most likely changes the look a bit...right?

raynag, that is a beautiful piece of soapstone! Where did you get it? Really amazing!

You guys are on the right track, typically soapstone will calm down a bit from the first oiling to what it remains in your kitchen. Julia and Brazilian black tend to calm down a lot over the first hour of oiling.

If you look at flatcoat2004's first oiling vs the bigger picture you will see it calms down a bit. . .

I did a test on one slab of Julia I got in a long time ago and the first oil looked like this (this pic is in the shade)
{{gwi:1577070}}

I then finished a slab off how I would finish a countertop then oiled it for the next five days and took a picture of it then. You will notice I oiled the opposite side of the slab but you should be able to tell the slab is in the same lot but not the exact same slab. . . I actually thought it was the same slab but I looked closer and it's not. . . but you do get the idea . . .didn't think ahead too much on this quest. . .lol (this picture is in the full sun)

{{!gwi}}

Also remember I'm not a photographer so the pictures are not in the same setting. This will give you a good idea of what this type of soapstone does though. Hope this helps. . .

Shanny75, I posted this preview photo on its own thread but since you asked for pics...here you go! Brazilian Black un-oiled. The movement in the stone is really unobtrusive due to the matte finish and the fact that everything around it is a solid color. We love love love it!

Yesdear....Wow! Stunning! LOVE IT!!!! I can's stop looking....beautiful! Are your sinks Rohl? I am getting the Rohl Allia large undermount for my sink. Love your Soapstone. Maybe somehow I can swing the brazilian black...I am already over budget at this point, why not splurge more!

Fl Josh: I wish that the yard I went to had a couple slabs of your Julia. In your opinion does the slab in my pics look like Julia or more like Beleza? What should I look for in quality in each slab? Thanks for any input. Tell your wife I said hi, I called her to talk about soapstone one day, she was a sweethart!

Shannon

Shanny75 - yes, the big sink is the 30" Shaws Original from Rohl. The prep sink is the 15" Allia which we decided to undermount. The laundry sink is the 24" Allia, also undermounted using the Rohl undermount kit. The foreman was dubious at first, but then saw the ingenious design of the kit and declared that we did not get ripped off after all. Thanks for the kind words about the SS. I know that budget is important, but consider the incremental cost for SS that you will LOVE versus something else that is just OK. Over the years I suspect you'll be happier for having followed your heart. We had planned on Absolute Black leather-finish granite which our KD recommended because it "looks like soapstone." We are so glad we got the real thing!

Pluckymama - Thanks! My stone came from Garden State Soapstone in North Brunswick, NJ. It was love at first sight, literally. I don't know where you are, but Jay at Garden State Soapstone is great to work with and had stone I hadn't seen anywhere else.

We are also in so cal and got our ss from SS West in Escondido. DH drove down there (we are north of LA) and picked out the slabs (we diyd install and fabrication). We got Brazilian Black because I wanted a quiet stone as well (but not any green). We liked whatever movement we had so much we have left it unoiled and are very happy and honestly wouldn't mind more movement. Depending on how much natural light you get in your kitchen and the fact that they will be horizontal will change the appearance. You'll know when you see the right slab if this isn't the one - but I really like yours. Good luck!

We installed Beleza in our kitchen a little more than a month ago. Our slab looked something like the one you've pictured, although I'd say it was darker looking to start with. But the veining and movement was similar. In my opinion, the busyness is less of a factor once the slab was cut into pieces and installed, at least in our case. As several people mentioned, the stone looks fairly calm from a distance but up close reveals itself as something more.

Like Raynag, we haven't oiled ours. We're just loving it the way it is, which is a dark blackish gray with relatively thin white veins and an undertone of green here and there. Here are a couple of pics (this is just after it was installed).

We're really loving the stone. I'm a messy cook and everything just wipes up with a damp sponge. So far no worries at all, just loveliness.

Yesdear,

I was considering the undermount kit, but didn't order it. I thought that DH could support sink under the cab with some wood, but maybe I should go for it, thanks for the advice.

qs777,

I would love for dh to do the fabrication, just worried how to get it up to my area. Did you need an aframe to set soapstone on? How did you like the diy process? Was it as easy as they make it out to be?

SW,

I love your stone. When you first posted your pics that is what made me say Okay, no turning back it has to be soapstone!
I think that I am worrying too much about it. I just wished that the slab I looked at didn't look like a crumpled up paper bag. I wish it were more mellow.

To Shanny 75,
Soapstone West has now changed their name to Soapstone Werks. I guess their partners moved on or something like that. But Greg was the original owner and he is fantastic. They just put Soapstone in my house. I was so impressed with their work and the stone I was able to get from them. By the way I only payed $88.00 a sq. ft. for the stone and the install. I put black venatta in. Him and his son are real Craftsmen. Very Friendly. Im in Pasadena and he came to me with samples first. Good experience and he knows his stuff.
look at their web site.
www.soapstonewerks.com (760) 739-0655