I'm bumping this because I'd like to hear from slate owners too. My neighbor has beautiful slate counters but doesn't cook much so don't know how they'd do in an active kitchen. Anyone know?

Sayde,
I saw them in a kitchen on a kitchen tour recently. The owner said she cooks a lot and finds the functioning of the slate to be great. It wasn't a new kitchen and the counters still looked great. I am under the same impression that they more durable than soapstone.

The ones I saw were Vermont Slate and were dark dark green, without a lot of pattern, just small variations which is nice otherwise it would look like Corian!

I would definitely think of these as a soapstone alternative particularly since most of the soapstone I saw (at three different shops) had a lot of green in them. I had hoped for the traditional black with white veining soapstone, but that is definitely not what was available when I was shopping.

good luck.

Give a shout out to Edlakin -- he has some great pictures of Vermont slate counters in his former kitchen and can surely fill you in on more details.

Thanks Mama and Circuspeanut.

I got a sample today from Sheldon Slate -- they use Vermont slate. They sent their summit grey slate and also their Marshall granite-- a quiet black-- it's still a granite look but comes honed or "gauged" which looks like flamed. They both look like possibilities. The slate is a mid -dark grey color and has a wonderful texture. I think I may have found my counters!

I saw some lovely slate counters on an open-house visit I took over this past weekend. The kitchen wasn't brand new, the slate was a really lovely purple or maroon or something - well, it really was lovely even though purple counters sound frightful in concept. I don't know where teh slate counters were from but they did look like the local NEngland variety. had some dark greenish markings to them quite like the white stripes that soapstone has. It was really lovely.

The kitchen was new but clearly not brand new - I think they said about 2 years old. The counters were in lovely shape - not stained at all as far as I could see. Very nice soft honed sort of finish as you can't polish it to a high sheen anyhow, I don't believe. Was in great great shape.

on that note, I have slate counters in my bathroom, although not the New England variety - dark green with white streaks on them. I've had the bathroom in place and used for 3.5 years. I've had to seal this stone - sealed it a lot when we first got them but at this point in time I barely seal once a year. I wash my face at that sink and any water splashed on just beads up. No creams or lotions have stained the counter - and just yesterday I upturned a jar of moisturizing cream on the counter. It all wiped away without leaving a trace.

I have no chips or nicks on my counter - knock on wood (watch this space for me to come back here in tears saying I've had some horrendous accident and scratched and nicked my counter). Good stuff, that slate.

Sayde - did they give you a quote?

we have had our Vermont green slate counters for 3 years and they are still lovely. A few knife marks that you can see if you look closely but still wonderful. They are still my favorite part of the kitchen. I can't remember if we went with Sheldon or not.

We live in California and worked with Sheldon Slate to get Vermont green counters in our kitchen. They were installed last January and I love, love, love them! Easy to care for and look great without the 'busyness' of granite. We had a local stone fabricator that our contractor recommended do the templates according to SS's instructions and install them. They were cut and finished perfectly. Our only complaint was that the natural grain on the slab for our island had more black streaks and was less monotone than the other counters - but after many months, I have decided it makes them look distinctive. Our island was 75" long and as local slate companies in California couldn't get a slab that long (which is why we went with SS), I suspect that there were only so many slabs available that could go that length without a seam. Our counters get many compliments and look great with our cherry shaker cabinets. I highly recommend Sheldon Slate.

I also love the look and feel of slate, so I ordered some of the black and grey samples from Sheldon Slate. I then did the usual stain tests which they passed with flying colors! However, I was worried about chipping so I dropped a small knife, handle side down, onto the sample. I was heartbroken that it left a white mark that I could feel and that would not scrub out. Try this test with your samples to see if you can live with the patina. I was wondering whether those of you with slate counters have encountered these marks in "real life." Can they be sanded out?

I love the Sheldon Slade green and may use them. I am also in California. tomalyse, are you in Socal? If so, can I get the name of your fabricator please? Pretty please?

ours were not vermont slate, although they had a similar look. we had brazilian green slate in our last kitchen.

i loved the matte, uniform look which still looked also like a natural stone, unlike quartz or corian. downside was that it scratches fairly easily and busier areas develop a kind of patina of scratches that gives a bit of a 'fuzzy' look. don't get me wrong, i loved them and didn't mind the scratches, but my wife never felt comfortable plopping stuff down on the counters.

here are a couple pics from when our counters were new.