Hi.

Happy you had a good experience-we got our marble and soapstone there and thought they were great. After we had picked our slab of Calacatta, we returned to pick soapstone and I kept going back to look at the Danby. Loved it. I had my infant son with me so I didn't have the time to start second guessing and weighing my options on Calacatta vs. Danby but I might have. They are both gorgeous.

Ours will be honed since we have young children, but the polished is pretty dreamy....

Good luck.

Marthavila: thanks very much for the information and the incredible picture of your marble - I only wish you included more of those 'diva' chairs! The area must look fantastic!

I have a remnant of the imperial danby - one side is honed, the other polished. On the honed side, I notice (and I noticed this on a slab of honed Eureka I saw today) that you can see little shiny crystals in the light - but they aren't visible on the polished side of the remnant nor did I notice them on the slab of polished imperial danby that I saw (and put a hold on) today. Same with your honed Imperial?

I abused the remnant tonight - mustard, ketchup, tomato and I can see the slight etching on the polished side.. I also put a tablespoon full of hot black coffee on it and I can see the shadow it formed after about 10 seconds. It's still there. Tomorrow I'll see the abuse the honed side takes.

Katieob: heck, if I could afford calacatta, I would definitely get it! I wouldnt look back at anything! As it is, I feel guilty about the danby - which price-wise seems to run about in between the carrara and the calacatta. My planned 35k kitchen remodel is going significantly higher :-( Very nervewracking in this economy especially.

I'm looking for a black soapstone with white/cream veining and it seemed to me that the few slabs in stock at Marble & Granite, although beautiful, had greenish veining. I think Dorado has some Minas coming in a few weeks and so I'll run (ha ha, one hour at least) up there to Shrewsbury to try to get a couple of slabs.

Thanks for your responses, when I get a price from the fabricator on the slabs, I'll post it here so someone wondering and searching will have a ballpark figure.

Imperial Danby and Eureka Calcutta (which is a Danby) are both about $120 sq ft per my fabricator. :-(

Completely bummed out as this is just so much money... with the countertops on the parameter minas soapstone and the island the danby, cost will be @ $8100. Same thing but using New Emperador Light marble will be @ $6900. I believe the entire

Anyway, I guess the danby isn't to plentiful at the moment and so the price has risen somewhat. I have about 85 sq ft of countertop which includes an 8' X 3' island (I dont know how to break that down to sq ft, duh on me!).

There is no such thing as "slight etching" with marble. I have a gorgeous Danby marble island and although you will agree it is to die for in pictures, in person the etching makes you want to get a cloth and clean it. Too bad etches can't simply be cleaned or rubbed away! I have rings, splotches, a major spill of OJ by my daughter about killed me and this happened within a month of living with it!

After 11 months I'm over ALL the etching, but probably only bc I know we've decided to have it honed onsight and future, inevitable, etching will not show. Sadly, I will lose the gorgeous veining - it will still be there, but will be much faded looking. Such is life!

Anyway, about durability, it scratches and chips VERY easily. The only claim it makes is that it is more dense than most granites. This claim, I believe, goes toward staining issues. I don't think I've ever seen granite scratch as easily as my Danby marble. (It scratches as easily as the Calacutta Gold Marble in my Master Bath, and two other marbles I don't recall the name of in two other baths. BTW, nothing in the bathrooms is etching - it's purely using it in the kitchen for cooking prep and life in general that causes the etching.)

Well, you're right, Smarge. Your island is to die for! (As is your whole kitchen and that darling son of yours, btw) Am I understanding that this is a polished Danby and that you are planning on getting it honed? As I've already said, my Danby is honed. I'm sure it's not as pretty as it could be if polished, but I don't think it's as lackluster as you anticipate yours will look. Marble is marble! IMHO, it's a gorgeous stone -- even when honed. Again, I have yet to notice any etching issues. Have no stains and no chips. Of course, this problem-free claim comes only after a couple of months of use in a single person household. :-)

I thought that was the Imperial Danby when I saw your island, smarge. It is lovely! Cute kid too :-)

I did end up buying the slab of Imperial Danby and it's sitting down at my fabricator's until I need it. I just visited it today in fact. I noticed a couple of chips on it and a crack - but in a place that wouldn't be utilized for my island anyway - it'll end up (expensive) scrap.

I've tried to mentally prepare myself for the eventual slight ruination of the marble.... as smarge says, I can think about getting it honed eventually if needed. I'm hoping for the best but prepared for the worst --- I just couldnt find a 'safer' stone that I loved as well as I love the Imperial Danby.

Sorry to interupt...I am reading everything on marble these days. I would love to do marble, but am still considering other countertops. Marthavilla and smarge, your marble tops are beautiful! Smarge, could you mention what your perimeter countertop is? Your kitchen is so so pretty!

Thanks for the compliments, all! (especially for the kid - he's a cutie all right!)

fleur222, the perimeter counter is my absolute favorite countertop in my entire house (and we did it all). It is Caesarstone Raven, polished. I think having it next to the marble makes me love it more bc I know I can work on it and not experience damage! It wipes up with anything and you can get rid of streaks from just using a wet cloth, by using a bit of window cleaner (or vinegar) and a paper towel and it looks like brand new. Guests often compliment me on it and ask what kind of "stone" it is.

I started out wanting, most desperately, a stone call Pietra Cardosa, but my sample just was too fragile - talk about etching! Then I hemmed and hawed over soapstone for a Loooonnnggg time. Then I thought about honed and leathered absolute black granite. Then I checked out the Raven (while shopping for quartz products for my kids' bathrooms) and was amazed at how much I liked it. I like it even better installed. Zero regrets.

It wasn't cheaper than doing granite or marble in my area, but I hear that some places it can be; depends on your retailer.

Thank you for the follow up smarge. That was exciting to read because I am struggling with my choice and this is one I have also considered. I love grey and love how it is matched with the gorgeous marble in your kitchen . My kitchen will have a peninsula so I only have one surface to choose from. It seems like that would be easier, but I think that is one thing I like about an island...it allows for contrast. Maybe I could do a marble backsplash!!! Oh the inspiration!

I realize that the Raven counters are not seen well in the picture above. So, in case someone else is curious to see this material in more detail, I'll post a picture below.

You can find other threads regarding Raven Caesarstone, both honed and polished (like mine is) by doing a search. Many people seem to have discovered it and like it.

Smarge -- thanks for the better pic of the raven caesarstone--it's beautiful! And so is your backsplash. May I ask what kind/brand of tile it is?

With me, everything is a long story and not a simple answer! Sorry!

The backsplash is not a brand of tile. It is glass tile and in places, mirror pieces.

I fell in love with the idea of having a gorgeous mosaic backsplash behind my rangetop. I found a very talented mosaic artist online (Cynthia Fisher) and hired her to do a custom piece for us. We described to her what we wanted; a tree of life, inspired by Chagall - she came up with a very pretty creation that I loved! I'll post it below. Then we decided to do a mosaic behind the sink, since there is no window to look at. It is also inspired by a painting of sunflowers done by Chagall.

Her website is www.bigbangmosaics.com I'll post a link to her site below. I'm pretty sure she has my backsplashes featured on her website.

Here is a link that might be useful: Big Bang Mosaics website

OMG, Smarge, I don't recall now whether I've seen your whole kitchen before or not! I want to say I have a faint recollection of your backsplash behind the cooktop. . . but don't remember being as swept off my feet as I am right now! Seeing that spectacular splash, prompted me to go back and look at your earlier photos all over again. It was only then that I realized that the flowers at the sink are also part of the backsplash! How I could have skipped over them to see the TV and the splash in general, I do not know! And, although my earlier compliments on this thread to your kitchen were sincere, all I can say now is that, after seeing more of your kitchen with an even more studied approach, I'm blown away. What a gorgeous room you have there! (And, of course, the son again):-) You must be very proud!

Smarge, hijacking even further: do you have photos of your island lighting and the ceiling? We are building our new kitchen under a vaulted ceiling like yours; the island isn't centered in the room, so we were wondering if it would look funny to hang pendants over the island, or if there is a way around it. (Does that make sense?) Is your island centered?

Thank you, marthavila! I also love this kitchen and know I'm extremely lucky! (You should have seen the shoebox kitchen in our prior house which we lived in for 12 years! I could barely turn around and used to put a large cutting board over my sink to achieve a bit more "counter" space!)

segbrown - I took some pics I hope will be helpful to you! Our lights are centered on the peak - we put a flat piece of wood there so they would attach nicely. I did place the island so it would end up being centered under the lights.

By the way, the ceiling is a nice grade of cedar with whitewash on it so the knots and grain show through. I love it! The beams are "fake" as in they don't actually support anything, but we felt we needed them to break up the otherwise very large and plain ceiling.

Oh, and I don't like my large pendants! The bulbs are extraordinarily hard to change (too difficult to describe, but trust me - it's an exhausting, two person, very difficult and awkward job!) Also, the glass is beaded in such a way that it looks filthy. The glass also can not be removed for easy washing - you have to wipe it while it's hanging. I got them from Capitol Lighting and can't remember the brand right now - will post later if anyone wants to avoid them.

I don't think lights that are off-center on the ceiling would look bad. I'd do that to get them centered on the island for sure!

Warning about a vaulted ceiling! If you are redoing your cabinets also, be sure to ask for finished tops on your uppers! Since mine weren't able to be seen on a daily basis, the KD decided I wouldn't want to spend a few bucks to have a flat, smooth surface to easy dust every month or so. What I was left with were rough, unfinished "bowls" on the top of my cabinets. The shims showed and the wood was rough and not easily wipe-able. I paid much more to have someone come fit tops onsite after they were installed. It would have been better/easier to just have it done at the factory.

Here are the pictures -

Here you can see that we centered the refrigerator between two doors and under the peak of the ceiling.

Here you can see that we didn't/couldn't center the opposite wall since there is only one door to the left.

Thanks! That's helpful. We couldn't center the island, as we are remodeling a current room (nonkitchen) and it wouldn't work there, for a couple of reasons. I'll keep pondering ....

smarge, if you see this, would you mind if I asked you the color walls & then trim color you have? I've got basically the same color scheme and I'm working out those details now.

I just bought a gallon of BM Aura 'Dark Linen' for my kitchen walls ... not sure how I like it but HATE to waste that $55 --- is your trim the same color as your cabs?

if you go to Vermont Quarries website: www.vermontquarries.com you can download a care and maintenence document on how to remove etching and staining from honed Danby. Danby has a very low absorption rate, lower than many granites, which makes it so wonderful for kitchens. And it is very available!

americancolleen - My walls are BM "Camouflage" which in my mudroom looks more gray and in my much better lit kitchen looks pale green. I find it to be a very serene, natural, neutral color.

The trim is extremely close to my cabinet color. My Kountry Kraft cabinets are "Swiss Coffee" which was nothing at all like BM's Swiss Coffee when I compare the chip to my cabinets.

SO, I had the painters take a sample piece leftover from the installation and color match it. It's not perfect, but is very close (and is actually MUCH closer than the factory replacement doors & drawers I had to have made due being damaged onsite by #@(&@#$ subcontractors! I have two doors and two drawers in my kitchen desk that look a bit pink next to the rest of the cabinetry. KK tried to color match it twice and both times it came back differently! My feeling is that they never did my original cabinets in the right color, but what are you going to do? More flaws to overlook and live with...)

PS. Be sure your contractor and his subs all know that they are responsible for any damage caused to your cabinetry, floor, etc. once it each items is finished! These morons actually were leaning large pieces of wood, with sharp corners on my cabinets; one slide down and ruined two drawer faces in the process! We think the electrician ruin the upper cabinet doors that got badly scratched. Be onsite, or insist that your contractor is - without supervision, some of these guys will work like slobs, thinking there are so many other subs that no one will know who did the damage for sure.

Thanks so much, Trobs, for the honed Danby "repair" information! (I'm wondering if Barkeepers Friend will work as well as Comet.) In any event, this is good stuff to know!

LOVE the Danby marble. If you get it honed is it much better with stains/etching?