By request: My soapstone fissure/crack (photos)
Sis2two asked me to post some photos of the fissure/crack in my soapstone. I'm making a seaprate thread for them so that anyone who might be searching for fissure/crack info or pictures can find it easily.
Some of you old-timers are familiar with my sad story. Brief recap: I bought my slab from M. Texeira in San Francisco, and had a fabricator in Oakland do the install. When it was completed, we found a fissure/crack that goes across the width of the counter. Things got a bit ugly with the fabricator when we tried to resolve the problem. M. Tex wouldn't take any responsibility for the stone once it left them, and they insisted the flaw was a 'crack,' i.e. damage done to what was a perfect stone during fabrication. The fabricator (who was pretty unpleasant to us, to put it mildly) insisted the flaw was a 'fissure,' i.e. a flaw made by nature that was already in the slab when M. Tex sold it to me.
Fissure vs crack wasn't ever resolved with them. At the time, I believed M. Tex because their representative was just wonderful in dealing with the nasty fabricator. I had arranged for her to be present when the fabricator came to inspect the stone (surprise! Look who's here!). I can't say enough nice things about how she supported us, and because of her presence, the fabricator ultimately refunded our money.
After living with soapstone for a couple years, and after examining the remnants of my slab which I obtained after this incident, my own conclusion is that the flaw seems to be a 'fissure.' Here's why: the flaw extends into the remnants, and sadly, I recently discovered it on a separate counter piece cut from the same area. All in all, the flaw was at least 5 feet long (I don't have remnants from the both edges of the slab to know if it actually bisected the entire slab). It goes all the way through to the back side the stone. Although it is very long overall, it is not one continuous line: In some areas, part of the line stops, and then immediately appears again parallel to the other. In other words, it is sort of staggered all the way across my parts of the slab. Is that 'crack' behavior, or 'fissure behavior'? It is perfectly smooth, but I think cracks can usually be felt.
But I'm no stone expert. And this whole fiasco is why I always, always recommend that people buying soapstone (probably any stone) should have the same person supply and install the stone. Had M. Tex done the install, they said they would have replaced it.
Ok. That was a longer recap than I thought it would be. On to the fissure/crack. These photos were taken over the course of 2 years, and show different stages of oiling/patina in the counters. So they don't all look the same.
After the initial oiling. The line is very obviously different from the surrounding stone. This is when I first found the fissure/crack.
Closeup of the front edge, showing the fissure/crack extending all the way through the counter.
2 more recent pictures (counter not freshly oiled):
"Vertical" view
"Horizontal" view
Re: future damage. This is what terrifies me the most! Several months ago I put a hot cookie sheet on a DIFFERENT section of counter. Some time later, to my absolute horror, a small bit of the same white line/fissure/crack appeared on the front surface, extending down the front edge, through the entire slab!! Prior to this, this flaw had not been visible ('fissure' behavior, or 'crack' behavior?) I only have 3 small sections of counter in my little kitchen, and now I cannot put hot things on 2 of them (*sob*). One of these days I am going to experiment with putting hot objects on the remnant that has the fissure/crack, so I can get a clearer picture of how to treat the areas.
Sis2two, I hope that helps you identify what your mark might be. Let me know if you have any other questions. (Email me so that I have your email address in my inbox. That way, once I get around to experimenting with the remnant, I can contact you and let you know the results.)
francy
Comments (25)
Susan
13 years agolast modified: 9 years ago
leela4
13 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
Crack in granite
Comments (8)How was the granite supported? Was it just laid over the cabs or was there a plywood base above the base cabinets? I like to have a plywood base before installing granite on my counters. It provides a solid backing. The fact that the slab is not smooth could be that it is cracking all over from stress or it is indeed a fissure. I wish I knew more but not seeing it I can only hazard a guess. Here is what I do know, fissures were created when the stone was first formed. By God. Imagine a rock in your garden. You will notice little lines or even what looks like something an ice age may have created. The line or cracks are from the layers of volcanic rock or atmospheric changes from the Earth. But a crack would be if someone stood on that rock or threw it and it shattered. A counter that is falling or being stepped on will crack. Fissures are naturally occurring and have no issue in the stability of the stone. A crack is usually more obvious. I have a couple images that might help you. But an expert will need to check your stone out. Hoping this gets fixed for you. ~boxerpups Here is a link that might be useful: Granite broke after 6 months... grrr......See MoreI need help. Is this damage a granite fissure or a crack??
Comments (29)I am by no means an expert but this looks like Delicatus which is what I have in my kitchen. I can tell you it has not been babied, and I do have an overhang. I regularly find my friends and family leaning heavily on the overhang and in several years I don’t have a chip, a stain or a crack anywhere in the whole kitchen. I can see several spots where I believe there was filler and repairs prior to install, possibly done prior to it even reaching my fabricator. I think that’s normal. But that’s it. So I would be really upset if this was me. Having said that, my installer did SUCH a good job on the seams that they’re hard to see even though I know where they are. So I’m sure this can be repaired to the point that it’s barely noticeable....See MoreIs this a hairline fissure or a crack in kitchen granite countertop?
Comments (8)Just from the photo, it looks like a crack. While fissures can look like cracks, your line is fairly straight, and it is not aligning naturally along and around the mineral deposits the way a fissure would....See Moresoapstone scratch/fissure at install need advice
Comments (94)POSITIVE UPDATE: I had positive things happen today. @darbuka, I appreciate your ongoing suggestion to get in touch with M. Teixeira NJ. We called Diana and finally got through to her. She said she'd look at the email I sent Maria back at the end of June and either she would call us or Rogerio Teixeira himself. In the meantime, the fabricator got braver, I guess, and decided to finally work on the remnant with the scratch. They scratched a corner to replicate a scratch and buffed/polished it out, and sent us pics and video. We asked them to do this with the scratch also. Provided that's ok (which it seems like it's going to be), we will have them cut the new piece from our preferred location on that slab. Rogerio Teixeira called us himself. He was gracious. He was understanding. He was informative. He let us tell him about what had happened so far, and discussed what can be done. He offered to talk to our fabricators directly. He looked at the pictures I had sent Maria (in the NJ office) with me over the phone. We talked through both what the fabricator can do, and what is possible for us to do going forward. M. Teixeira does rehone everything in house as a matter of course. But, not all the soapstone really HAS to be rehoned, and in many instances with other fabricators, isn't. Ours is a harder variety. He said from the pictures it does not look like it is too polished, but that we should certainly have it the way we want it, and was willing to discuss levels of grit that would likely be what it is now, and what could be used to have a coarser finish if desired. We discussed oiling versus not oiling. He offered to be in communication with us as much as we felt would be helpful going forward, and he then texted me several personal photos of his own soapstone in his house, and from a project they had done with the same soapstone variety as ours (Stormy Black). We went over the seams, the chip, the scratch, the crack/s. While of course it would have been nice if fabrication and installation had been a nonissue, I felt a lot better about this after this phone call. This was extremely gracious of him to take the time, and to also be helpful with our process. He said he'd send Florida Joshua to us if he still could ;) (he actually brought his name up, not me). So, I have a little more hope....See Moresis2two
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bayareafrancyOriginal Author