Ours is an umbrella. There is a "grid" below the umbrella though into which the umbrella attaches via a post screw. Ours is exclusively for washing hands in a powder room. It does flow a bit slowly but I believe that is due to a plumbing grade issue that I choose not to repair right now as it will involve opening the wall.

we have two seams in our countertop, and they're virtually invisible (esp. when I oil -- they show more when the counter gets lighter). I think soapstone seams are much more "invisible" than the seams in granite -- the seams are filled with epoxy, then the counter and seam area are sanded smooth on site (can't do that with granite, at least not when it's polished), so the honed finish is continuous, making the seam disappear.

Thanks for all the replies to my post! Sorry that I was rude and didn't post any follow-up as the thread continued to grow! We went to Teixeira in San Francisco and chose some gorgeous slabs of Barocca soapstone. This is a softer soapstone than I have in my current house, but even when wet or oiled, it will go to a medium grey, not a black. On top of that, the representative said they sell a dry wax product that can maintain it in any state of grey between the raw unoiled look toward the oiled look. He didn't show me the product, and I don't know how it's applied, but he showed us some stone in a countertop display that supposedly had been treated with it (still grey color after years). We will be finished with the new home remodel soon, and I can't wait. I'm sure the barocca will be softer and more easily dinged, but my dark soapstone really has nearly no marks on it after 6 years of use. I'm not afraid of a patina in the new kitchen- it will work fine. Regarding Pietra- great to hear that it is not necessarily as tricky as I have heard. I think it is gorgeous stone- and yes, it's "cleaner" looking- than soapstone. It's sort of a step toward granite that way. I prefer the veins I've seen in soapstones. I like the patterning I've seen in pietra, but it seems to me that it mostly is swirls of inclusions, almost as if it represents settling patterns in rock formation. It gives a more uniform and homogeneous look than the veins I've seen in soapstone. Not sure if all Pietra has this type of patterning and lack of veins. A final note on marks in soapstone: I have almost no marks in mine as I said above. The new house has mirror-finish Caesar stone counters in dark brown (that will be replaced). When unpacking groceries, my husband dropped a bottle of beer on the counter. Caught it just as it fell right side up. The bottle did not break, but there is a mark on the counter that matches the little stripes from the bottom edge of the bottle. It is really noticeable and will always be there (until we rip it out!!). On soapstone, it would fade in right away and would not be noticed at all. Just saying.

Hi- We have soapstone countertops, but no soapstone sink. I went with a silgranit sink (Blanco) because I knew I didn't want stainless, and at the time I was choosing sinks I didn't really consider getting a soapstone one (I'm not sure why). We've only had our countertops since the end of July, and have really only been using the kitchen completely for about 2 weeks. Sometimes I wish I had gotten a soapstone sink, because they are sooooo beautiful and I think the idea of having integral runnels on the side of the countertop is such a great idea. But-I think I'm glad I didn't go that route, mainly because I'm clumsy, I bang things around in the sink a lot, and I think I would be making lots of little nicks and chips. Our soapstone is sort of middle of the road with respect to hardness, as far as I can tell, but I think I would have driven myself (and DH) crazy if the sink were also soapstone. But that's just me. I do LOVE the countertops, though. HTH