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Soapstone seam placement -- DW a problem?

12 years ago

I am trying to lay out my soapstone seams in prep for buying DIY slabs. (Or, should I say, DIWGHGW, Do-it-with-the-generous-help-of-GW? :).

I had been under the impression that you do NOT want to put a seam next to the DW, due to the lack of supporting cabinetry and the steam/vibration of the DW. However, that does not appear to be feasible, at least if I am thinking about this correctly. Here is the basic layout (all extraneous detail stripped, all dimensions rounded):

To avoid a seam on either side of the DW, wouldn't I need something like a 101" slab (to span sink, DW, and 3-drawer unit on the right)? I don't think I can obtain such a slab, let alone hoist it.

If this is not feasible, my only other options are to: (a) put a seam next to DW, or (b) put a seam in the middle of a cabinet.

Below are two versions that put the seam next to the DW. Any comments?

This version spans sink and DW with one slab, which feels more natural to me:

and this version minimizes the number of seams:

Any advice would be appreciated!

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Comments (4)

itsallaboutthefood
12 years ago
Your layout is similar to mine (sink, dishwasher immediately to the right of sink, then 36" to the wall) except that I turn the corner on the right of my dishwasher and have about 36" before my stove. Basically, I have farm sink, dishwasher, 36" lazy susan cabinet then stove around the corner. My soapstone seams are about 1.5 inches "inside" my sink area. You can barely see the seam in this picture (between the hole for the airgap and the side end of the sink). The picture shows the drainboard and my dishwasher was installed directly below this drainboard. M. Texiera did the install so I am confident it was properly done and everything is properly supported.
From Soapstone
angie_diy
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks, IAATF. (Nice name, by the way). Thanks for taking the time to post those pictures. I had to download the picture and magnify it in order to see the seam!

This is good info. I wonder if it works similarly for a conventional undermount sink like I am planning.
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puppeez
12 years ago
My layout is flipped from yours, and like itsallabout..., the seam is in the sink area, the smallest place for a seam for a farm sink. It's one piece from the stove to midpoint of the sink, and one piece from there to the wall.

Your layout doesn't indicate a farm sink, so I don't know if that would work the same for your layout. I'm not knowledgeable on layout or diy projects, but there are many here who can help.

Now wasn't I helpful?..NOT!
enduring
12 years ago
What about putting a seam at the sink center? I think you need at least 3 sections like your first layout IMO (not an expert by any means). These slabs are heavy. What does your stone source recommend in the way of placing stone around the sink.

We did our soapstone ourselves and the longest we had was about 48" which was manageable for my DH and nephew to maneuver. We have a seam at the center of our sink. Dorado Soapstone out of Denver cut the lengths and shipped them to me. I had the stone cut at the center line of my sink. They did a factory cut and did some etching of the edge to be glued. I calculated my stones to be 1 or 2 inches longer on the ends so that if they got nicked in shipping I could cut them off. I did all of my cutting and I got very good fit. I did have a marble/granite fabricator cut my over mount sink hole for me. He also sanded down my nice seam. You can hardly see the seam. The stone was fun to work with. Circular saw with diamond bit blade was a snap to use. I got to where I could shave off 1/16" to get the fit exact.

This is my section with 2 stones glued center of the window:

This is where my sink was installed and the glued seam is in the center:

This is the seam close up, it is hard to see. The stainless steel sink edge is 1" overmounted edge:

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