First of all, you are in an enviable location. When DH dies, may I send you his ashes so he can be a stone's throw from Wrigley Field for eternity? That would be 'heaven' for him!

OK- down to business. We have Mariana, which is a Brazilian soapstone that is a lot like Julia. For us, harder is better. Heck, cheaper is better, too.

M Teix. is a great company to work with- see if either of those stones has been installed in your area. Certainly they will contact the homeowner for permission for you to contact them. We stoners tend to want to show off our counters...

FYI- Malibu green is serpentine not soapstone. It needs to be sealed like granite and does not require oiling. According to M.Tex SF the red in the Malibu Green are actually Iron ore deposits.

I don't know if this makes any difference to you but wanted to make sure you know Malibu Green is not soapstone. You didn't specify if you were planning to DIY but if so I'm not sure how DIY-able Malibu Green is either.

No go on Malibu Green for DIY (it's reeeaallllyyy hard), and thank you vizalover you hit the nail on the head. I put some oil on the Malibu Green just for fun on some samples and it will actually suck the oil into the stone. You can watch it. It doesn't sit on top at all. . . Don't really know why it's catagorized as a soapstone. It is a really cool stone though.

Julia stone is hard as well. DIY is prob not prefered unless you have some skills.

I don't think I understand what the big deal is with the softer varieties. . . I had a stone similar to Black Venata in my kitchen for years and my in-laws have it as well. . . no big deal. They are really hard on their kitchen so you see chips around the sink, my fault, I should have put a slight bullnose on it for that reason, but it still looks great. . .I'll get some pictures on here someday. All the scratches they put in the top itself go away with the oiling. . . My opinion sorry for the rant. I do agree if you super worried about scratching you would prob want to go with the harder varieties but usually when people want soapstone they want that soft feel, matte finish, that you get no where but soapstone, the harder the stone the futher away from that you get. . .plus all the heat qualities of the soft stones diminish the harder they get (this is my experience). . . the harder stone from my wine rack doesn't seem to thaw food as quickly as my old soft stone (that's a test for another day). . .I like the soft stones better can you tell?? . . . ok sorry i'm ranting again. . .

Yeah, I know the malibu's a serpentine not a soapstone, though by all stone measures, it's still pretty soft. I've done a lot of work in stone, wood, metal, etc. I agree it's significantly harder than the venatas, but it seems workable (I have some pieces I've been playin with), and Mtex said it should still be very doable for DIY.
I didn't know it had to be sealed...why wouldn't it work as is?
I'm afraid to go with the softer ones because i have a lot of old cast iron cookware that is REALLY abrasive on the bottom and I don't want to have to be super gentle with it.

The venata light tile I've been playing with is a gorgeous charcoal when oiled, but scratches and grooves show up as a bright white, and don't oil or rub out easily.

Any more experiences with either type? any kind of pics would be awesome. you can email em to me if it's easier then posting. romieg at gmail

I wanted to let you know what other stone guys thought about cast iron pots.

http://www.stoneadvice.com/forum/cast-iron-pot-question-t11148.html#109926

I would think it goes across the board no matter what countertop material is used. If you want to use the cast iron pot, you'll need to be careful.

If your not worried about the hardness of the stone (because you're confident you can fab it right) just pick the stone you like.

As far as the Malibu Green, you can just leave it, you just have to like the patina process of the stone, I can't tell you what it does as I haven't worked with this stone to much.

Scratches in soapstone may take time to disappear. If you gouge the stone it may never go to the oiled color of the stone. . . You'll have to sand it out. Patina takes time, it's hard to tell people how soapstone will act, you'll have to experiece it. When you get it, you'll understand.

If you have a lot of abrasive cast iron, then perhaps you DO want to go with a softer stone for the very reason that you will be able to easily repair it with sandpaper. Abrasive-bottomed cast iron is going to scratch ANY countertop. May as well get one that repairs easily, right?

My cookware is almost exclusively cast iron--not my choice--lovely gifts of Le Creuset in all the colors of the rainbow. I'm constantly worried about my fireclay sink! But suppposedly that material is also easy to repair!

:-)

Francy

Ugh, this is so difficult!

anyone have pictures of julia or piracema countertops?
any closeups?

hmm, just got a nice quote for slabs from alberene... any experience with the domestic virginian soapstone?

Also wanted to add that yesterday I spent some time running my hands over a silky soft soapstone. Now I regret that I bought a harder slab!! The softer stone was just so amazing to touch. Ahhhhhhh.

Maybe it is for the best: I would have spent day after day caressing my counters!

A long time ago, someone here posted pix of their Alberene counters. It was very beautiful--had a lot of green in it. Have you tried searching here?

:-)

Francy