leathered soapstone
guy_in_newhouse
15 years ago
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lucypwd
15 years agoRelated Discussions
Is it hard to polish leathered soapstone?
Comments (10)The leathered look is probably quite nice. However if that isnt what you wanted they should make good and either replace or flatten and hone on site. To answer your question soapstone is one of the softest stones so it is possible to flatten the surface on site. Thats the short answer-it can be rather difficult depending on how the kitchen is layed out. The initial agressive cutting to flatten the surface will need to be overlapped by progressive higher grits of abrasives until the finish you desire is achieved. The obstacles will be the issue such as back splash, stove, sink, refrigerator,etc. The technician will need to overlap each grit to remove the scratch patterns or profile from the previous grit.Depending on the color and nature of the stone it can get pretty tricky but possible.The use of mineral oil and bees wax may help. And while it may not be possible due to the layout of the kitchen call a stone refinisher and let them come and take a look. He or she will know if it can be done or not. I think soapstone could be polished if you wanted to but such a soft stone polished would show all the scrathes and wear. Much better if honed....See MoreWhat kind of soapstone would you say this is?
Comments (38)Alberene in VA must have started back with active quarrying . We live south of there and I did hear last month that there had been ownership and management changes recently. . For quite a while they had only been working with stone that was quarried in the past. While they were making slabs they weren't cutting out totally new rock. Glad to hear that has changed! We'd hoped to use it in our build but after visiting and finding only the super soft slabs in small sizes (wed have needed a seam or two in the island) I reluctantly gave up the idea of buying local. I didn't know that anyone in the US was importing from Europe! Also good to know. It can be frustrating when a stone yard just wants to sell "Brazilian" .... Sort of like saying you have an American car. When you gain a little knowledge the differences in slabs are impressive!...See MoreFinishing/Sanding Soapstone
Comments (38)My installers put a very high shine on my countertops. I did a repair with various grades of sandpaper and now have a dull, lighter gray spot that looks horrible. The dullness doesn't change with mineral oil application. This is my first experience with soapstone, and I am not able to sand the entire thing. My question for any of you is, will the dull spot even out in time? I followed the directions that all of the soapstone companies give for repair of scratches. I hate this dull spot!!! Any information would be greatly appreciated! This repair of scratches is on my island. The rest of the soapstone is on my countertops and is shiny as well. So, the dull gray spot (which is about 12" round) really stands out like a sore thumb!!!...See MoreLeathered Granite & Bacteria?
Comments (5)Thank you so much Kieko Childs! :) We sure didn’t hear anything like that from our granite people. I do think it was the only leathered slab I saw though, both in their warehouse and at other places we considered slabs. Our salesman just said it’s a fairly new technique and he steered me away from another different stone when I said I didn’t want fingerprints to be an issue. Turns out, the technique has been around for awhile, but it’s still fairly uncommon in my neck of the woods. (Midwest) I think if I had seen the Virginia Mist leathered I would have swooned even harder for it than my steel grey, which I adore and would get again in a heartbeat. In fact, I’m trying to decide if it might look good for our future bathroom gut job remodel... I like it that much. (I’m still too far near the beginning of the planning stages for that to know exactly what color options I want to narrow down on. Not sure if I want dark or light counters in a bathroom yet.) We did have a granite repair man come out after some time... we had some minor chipping around the sink (I have three teen boys who don’t like to do dishes and a lot of cast iron... grrrr... but the repair was under warranty and he did a fantastic job, you can’t find the repairs... but an eased edge is the easiest to chip...) anyways, he stopped dead in his tracks when he came around the corner to see my kitchen. Actually, it was the walnut waterfall island that stopped him and he gawked over it like it was a rare super car, so that was super cool... but then he saw my leathered granite and said “your kitchen doesn’t look like anybody else’s I’ve seen and I’m in tons of kitchens everyday. You made a smart choice going with this leathered granite!” Anyways, that has been my experience. (That, and the few friends we have that are in real estate beg us to let them know if we ever want to sell because they think it will get snatched up really fast... we have no plans in the near future to move.)...See MoreUser
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