Soapstone counters & 3" soapstone backsplash--look goofy?
julieste
11 years ago
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debrak_2008
11 years agomama goose_gw zn6OH
11 years agoRelated Discussions
Any downsides to having 2 cm thick soapstone counters?
Comments (5)No thoughts on thickness as ours is 3cm, but we have Barroca and I would never do that again. It is a very, very soft stone--on ours, we have pitting all over the surface after only two years and you cannot, for instance, set anything with a ridged bottom (olive oil, beer, wine, etc.) down without a coaster or you will get a permanent imprint. The softness may vary somewhat based on the quarry and distributor (ours is two years old and purchased on the West Coast) but test it extensively before committing to it. I really wish we had paid more for a harder stone. (I did find that soapstone was cheaper than most darker granites where we are when we were looking, though, which was a surprise!)...See Moreportland_renovation, ? re your soapstone counters
Comments (35)Wow, its great to see feedback on some Portland providers. We have been giving our kitchen a makeover as well, it all started with me falling for a Bluestar range...which then made it apparent the rest of the kitchen needed work to make it stand up to the range. We have our original cabinets from when the house was built 80 years ago, we did have to resize a few of the wall cabinets as they hung too low and made the counter useless. They had been refaced at some point with some lightly stained maple, and after getting quotes to paint our small kitchen cabinets in the range or $1800 we painted them ourselves with Miller primer/paint. I performed all of the electrical work, we just had to have a contractor run the gas line as we originally had a wretched electric stove. We are now at the counter decision, and are leaning towards soapstone. We got one bid and it just seemed way too high for the amount of work soapstone takes (no polishing or sealing), I just don't see how it can have $1800 in labor if I compare the cost of "DIY" from Teixeira cost. We have two straight counter tops, nothing fancy. I could screw it up and do it twice for what the quote we got was. If we had to pay the bid price of $3000+ for soapstone, I couldn't justify it. We have old cabinets, so they are a shallow depth...which means the counter is not "standard" and would have to be completely replaced if we ever replaced the cabinets. However the DIY price is a bit easier to consider. We also got our Bluestar at BASCO, but just the 30". They had a great deal going last year that saved $300 off the standard price. One complaint is that their delivery guys dented the side panel, pretty big mistake for guys that deliver high cost (heavy) appliances every day. This reminds me I need to call and finish getting credit for the damage as they offered. We found some soapstone slabs at Casa Bella and a few other spots around town, i think we found 3 warehouses with SS slabs in stock...I just hate how they can't tell you the price of it. It really seems like they have a racket going with the installers and can just make up whatever price they want. None of them would even tell us a "real" price, seems shady to me. Perhaps that is how stone is sold, but I'm not down with that game...just seems to leave too much room to just jack up the price if they don't like your fabricator or something....See MoreLevel cabinets for 3m soapstone
Comments (3)you need to make the cabinets level. the person installing the cabinets is responsible to make them level despite uneven floors. if they aren't to your satisfaction (levelness) or the soapstone fabricator's, then someone should fix it. you can shim a counter at install (the gap the fabricator is talking about), but realistically the cabinets really should be level before the countertops go in so only minor shimming there is required....See MoreInstalled soapstone is 2.5 cm thick, but the sales order says 3 cm?
Comments (8)My sales receipt lists the various details of the countertop to be installed, like sq ft, edge, thickness. For the thickness it says 3 cm. My questions is: Is the installed thickness supposed to be 3cm or is it typical it to be within a range of that thickness, or what? Mine is off by ~16%. I threw the 2x4 in there just as an example of something you buy that really isn't what it says it is...another example could be a gallon of gasoline. When I look at my kitchen with a critical eye, yes, I wish the stone was a bit thicker. But for daily use, no I don't notice because I simply don't have the time for that. Yes, I picked out the slab and it was a typical thickness, not noticeably thinner than other slabs. I never thought to ask what the final thickness would be. This is the first time I've had to do anything like this (hopefully the only time, lol). I was asking here so I would know what is considered acceptable in case I decide to review the job, or ask about it. Frankly I don't know anyone else who would know about this....See Morewi-sailorgirl
11 years agojulieste
11 years agowi-sailorgirl
11 years agodebrak_2008
11 years agoamck2
11 years agomama goose_gw zn6OH
11 years agojulieste
11 years agoSparklingWater
11 years agomountaineergirl
11 years agojulieste
11 years agomama goose_gw zn6OH
11 years ago
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