I have Santa Rita Venata - I chose it because I needed an over size piece and it was so beautiful. I got it from M. Tex in NJ. I found a 150" slab and was able to do my huge center island in one piece with no seaming. It is stunning and I love it. Everyone who sees it touches it and comments on the gorgeous green/white veining. But a word of caution: mine dings and scratches very easily. The dings make an indent which turns white. Either sand the dings out (easy) but they make an very thin impression in the stone. Or just dot the dings with a black sharpie and they are not noticeable. I do wish now I had picked a harder variety, so do some ding tests on your sample to be sure. Regarding maintenance, at the beginning I was obsessive and oiled every day. The oil would lift quickly and there would be gray patches- I was getting stressed out about it. But, my experience and the wise words of Joshua from FL, were to give it time and the soapstone would "season/Patina". Sure enough, six months later I only oil monthly and I notice I am needed ot do less and less. I use grape seed oil from Trader Joes. No graying or lifting like earlier in the process. I think different parts of the stone take longer to patina to the oil but eventually it all evens out. Have patience it will work itself out. The oiling is a snap - wipe on wipe off. I keep my oil rag in a ziploc bag and now I hardly even add any oil to it - just swipe and go! Great stone! I would chose my slabs again because I wanted no seaming, but in another kitchen I would just try to find a harder variety.

I can't help you with Honed Granite, saw it at a granite dealer, but it wasn't for us. We have a 50 yr old house, not too old, but hrdwd flrs throughout, pocket doors, but really your basic 2 story Colonial,,,With that, we've had our soapstone for almost a year, and I can't tell you how extremely happy we are with our choice. As I learned about soapstone, and this site was/is loaded with info...there is as much bad info as correct info regarding soapstone. We purchased ours through Bucks County Soapstone and they only carry Black Venata which is supposed to be "soft". I don't know, but our counters are as hard as a friend of ours that chose a greener stone that I believe is called Julia here. In our neck of the woods they call it PA Soapstone whether it's a greener stone or blacker, only B County calls it Black Venata. There were definite things we liked about soapstone: no bacteria never needing to seal it never needing ANY maintenance whatsoever other than for personal reasons (to keep it dark) extra bonus is how quickly something defrosts on soapstone. Threw out every trivet I owned, and love being able to put a piping hot roasting pan right on the countertop. We've never had a problem with rings, we like it dark, but I only oil it now when someone is coming to visit that doesn't have a clue about soapstone. Or every 3 months? but it stays dark and beautiful. As for splashing around the sink, it holds up perfectly, nothing penetrates this stone, so water simply puddles until its wiped dry. Depending on the kind of dish detergent you use will depend on whether it lifts the oil and turns it lighter. When that happens I bring out the handy dandy oil cloth give it a quick wipe and it's back to perfect. We do have a few dings around the sink, but again, with a bit of sandpaper, or nothing at all as so many of us like.. it's not a big deal. Pricing around our area was the same for either granite, soapstone or marble, so that wasn't a big decision breaker. I hope I helped, it really is a personal decision, but this beautiful inert stone makes us smile each day, and we are thrilled with all it offers.

It’s depeds on which one are you getting the original soapstone (from the earth) or the silestone(quartz) soapstone... Origiinal soapstone is cheaper than quartz soapstone, only because it’s man made and labor cost is included which is why it cost more than the orignal soapstone. I was supposed to be getting the original soapstone, but there was some confusion and mistakes, and we settled on soapstone quartz. They send me samples which I am not satisfied iwth the color effects.. I like to have more bold veins than the weak lines of veins. And it looks more Grey than Black.. Which is the color I wanted. So, I’m still communicating with the company, both home depot and the Granite design on this matter. Because our order was not what I was expecting. Although I was looking on pinterest and saw grey with bold vein is what I like to see or have. good Luck on your decision. I won’t have mine until hopefully by 19th of Sept. If we resolved this issue on timely fashion. Lisa P.S. I am paying more money than what you estimate on your price range.

Like a lot of you, I love soapstone and I lovethe look of antiqued nordic black. We drove over to a soapstone place in vermont yesterday (Green Mountain Soapstone). Their stone was lovely, BUT, because our counter is an L with a diagnol due to a lazy susan, they wanted to charge us for the whole rectangle( and not just the L) - this means an extra 50% is sf-age - feels like a rip-off. So I went to home depot, where theyhave asoapstone called Savonpierre - anybody know much about this? Its a lot less expensive, but I'm nervous because nobidy gets soapstone athome depot. Nordic Black makes me nervous because the edges atthe stone yard awlays look crumbly and I think becuase itsa large grained granite, its not going to be as tough as Abs. black (smaller is stronger!!). Sorry for the info dump. But am having a hardtime deciding. Any thoughts? btw, we have a modest kitchen with a simple L counter and and about 25 actual sq.ft of counter. Thanks a bunch Vidya