Hi Mollie, I'm a little bit concerned by your questions because it sounds like you didn't know a lot about the "behavior" of soapstone before you chose it, and I don't want you to be surprised by, or disappointed by your wonderful new counters. Soapstone is unique in that it combines the following 4 characteristics: 1. It is chemically INERT. That means it won't react with any acids. No worries about tomatoes or lemon juice. 2. It is incredibly heat resistant. It won't suffer thermal cracks. Fireplaces are built out of soapstone. Frozen meat?? My goodness no! Traditional soapstone is praised for its ability to thaw frozen food quicker than other stone materials. I haven't ever been able to find out the scientific reason for this. 3. It is incredibly dense. Thus, it will not stain. Some substances will "mark" it (some stone experts refer to this as "soiling" vs staining. For example, a Sharpie marker will "soil" the surface. It might not wash off with soap and water, but it will not be able to penetrate the stone to stain in. It will sit on the surface, and can be removed in various ways (e.g. sandpaper). For everyday purposes, foods like grape juice left on the counter will have no soiling effect. 4. It is SOFT and it SCRATCHES. This is the area where I am worried that your stone supplier didn't fully educate you. Those of us who love soapstone love the patina (a nice way of referring to scuffs and scraches--tho patina encompasses more than just that). If you have soapstone on a writing desk area, you may very well get marks on the stone from, say, pressing firmly on paper with a ball point pen. This will depend on your stone. Some are harder than others. I'm not sure which scratchy pads will scratch your stone. I use 400 grit sandpaper to refinish the surface of mine. Sliding a ceramic plate across the surface of many soapstones will scratch them. I hope this helps a bit (and is clearly written--I don't have time to proofread b/c my 4 year old wants me to read to him now), and I do hope you will continue to love your stone as it ages and changes! I recall one stone supplier on the stoneadvice website saying that he believed a "good" countertop is one that looks the same 10 years from the date of installation (therefore he dislikes soapstone!). Soapstone might look different 1 month from installation! And that is what so many of us love about it! :-) francy

Thanks so much for the advice, I do have a couple guys who have done some work. Should I have them prime the ceiling while they are doing the walls and then I can paint it with a satin or a semi gloss? Yes, the ceiling in there is low, actually lower than 8ft its 7'4" !

opaone- Not sure where you live, but those economics don't apply in most of the areas I'm familiar with. One of my daughters has seen the market value of her 1930's home increase by about $500K in the last 5 years. Another daughter just bought a 75 year old house -- that has not been remodeled --- for more than ten times it's original cost...and it was a bargain. My first house was a 1950's suburban rambler that I bought for $45K in 1974, did some remodeling to, and sold for over $700K 15 years ago; the buyer started an update, but decided to sell 5 years after that for $1.3 million, even though parts of the remodel were only half done. My neighbor across the fence paid about $400K for a 1960's split level 8 years ago. He has done nothing to it other than paint the exterior, and expects to be able to sell it soon for at least twice what he paid. Some people do want new houses, but many people prefer the charm and building material quality of older homes. As long as they have been maintained, older home values keep increasing over the long term. I have been through more than one market cycle where my home lost value on paper, but it's always more than recovered. In fact, I've always lived in the suburbs and have done much better with buying and selling homes than any other thing I've invested money in. I'm sure some suburbs decline, but, in areas with decent economies, suburban homes still increase in price as young people are priced out of the urban market. They seek out these homes as their longer commutes make them less expensive than a similar house close in. The lower suburban price doesn't mean the houses are falling apart. I agree with you on the trend for people to want things close by and not have to drive as much, but those types of communities and infrastructure are starting to be built where I live by savvy developers who have figured out where our aging demographics are taking us. And these types of projects, while they may not have all the amenities of living right downtown, do offer an alternative to the grittier aspects of big city urban life. In fact, we have good friends who just sold their beautiful downtown condo with spectacular views to get away from noise and panhandling, and move to a home in a nearby suburb where many things are no longer within waking distance, but the living environment is more pleasant.

No stealing the copper. They just left the wires cut and it looks like someone wanted to give a big middle finger. I agree with being able to move the box up under the stairs. I’d have no problem with that one as the resolution. Thanks for confirming my assumptions that new wire should be ran instead of splicing. Honestly, from all the times that I’ve been at the site and seen the disgusting messes and how the workers treat their job site and the soon to be my property, this doesn’t surprise me. I am looking forward to moving in and learning a lot on this site as a new homeowner!