According to all the major soapstone suppliers I called about this (I did a lot of research!), soapstone is so heavy it either needs no epoxy to hold it at all, or just something as simple as silicone. HOWEVER, my fabricator, who was not knowledgeable about soapstone, used a PERMANENT, rock hard drying epoxy. Francy what you wrote above reminded me of some research I did for a seam in my granite that had cracked. I posted a question on the stoneadvice forum, asking what the best solution would be for the seam. The responses indicated that polyester should be used rather than epoxy in my particular instance. The reasoning: earthquakes. Yes, I live in the Bay Area too. Here's probably way too much information, but it's relevant to the fact that your fabricator used epoxy to attach the soapstone to your cabinets. My fabricator repaired the cracked seam with polyester. Now, IF THERE WAS NO MOVEMENT EXPECTED, I think the proper solution to the problem would be to remove all the polyester, and re-seam with epoxy. But Antonio is correct in stating that if you did so, and the stone experienced movement (due to an earthquake, for instance)--the stone would indeed crack. The seam would hold, but the stone would crack elsewhere, probably within an inch or so of the seam. (We've done numerous lab tests to prove this). So you're faced with a conundrum--take a chance that there will be no movement and the seam will look good, but the stone may crack if there is movement; or use the "fuse theory"--just like a fuse blows in an electric circuit before there is more damage elsewhere, you can look at the polyester as being a fuse--if there is movement, the "fuse" (the seam) will break, but the stone will still be ok. Then you'd just have to re-seam. (posted by Mike Beckmann from Bonstone Materials Corp.) I hope this post doesn't add more stress to your life - if so I apologize. Best case scenario is that other people can learn from our experiences. Here is a link that might be useful: Stone Advice forum

Anna: Please be more specific as to the exact location of the crack. You may have a reinforcing rod failure which is fabricator error.

I just noticed the crack spans a cooktop cutout. If so, it could be a blown reinforcement rod. Look up under the overhang please. You may see a line about 1/4" thick filled with resin. If so your top is rodded. Just because you don't see the line doesn't mean the top isn't rodded; you may have to pop off the cabinet front to see. Ask your fabricator if he rodded the top.

If it’s bothersome to you, I suppose you could quote out a job to repair or replace. If it cracked due to installation error, I would hope that it would be replaced free of charge. FWIW, I think it looks really pretty.