My Green Mountain soapstone was not hand picked and I only paid for the material that was put in my home. ie. Did not purchase a slab with waste...very pleased. IMO, there's not a significant difference in this particular product which I did see in their yard prior to purchase. YMMV.

We have Stormy black from M. Tex. we drove to NJ to select. I think they had 4 and I chose 2 that had more interest. There wasn' t a huge difference and my husband thought spending 2 hours debating was crazy. That was mostly because I fell in love with a Fantasia slab and began to waffle. Will they email you photos of the actual slabs? I agree the samples felt different and think they are not finished the same. I didn't like the more polished feel of stormy black sample but in their showroom loved it (80 grit which I then requested). Feels like velvet compared to granite. I found them great to work with. Taking my calls even though we had a contractor - because he had made numerous errors and I needed to take over the stone process. Good luck.

I used Bucks County Soapstone and ordered countertops and a stone sink from a sample and was happy with it. It was black and it looked like soapstone.

We used M. Tex out of Denver and although we chose our slab, we only paid for what was used.

We drove from eastern WA to Seattle (~350 miles from where we live) to look at slabs in person. One of the reasons for that was because our choices locally were very limited, but personally we didn't feel comfortable buying slabs we couldn't see. Of course everyone's comfort level with this is different.

I chose my slab from M Tex and am so glad I went there. I had ordered the samples from them and thought for sure I would want Belvedere but I didn't like any of the slabs. It's really hard to tell from just a small sample. We ended up with Kanada of all things, which I was really surprised about - the sample was very striped and not at all what I thought I liked. But there was a slab there that really spoke to me, not striped, and we love it! Definitely would go with Dorado. Or at least pay a visit and see if you like any slabs.

Oooh, Kanada? I'm intrigued, because I don't really like the sample or images online of that one because of the stripes. Can you post a pic?

I think I'll stop by Dorado and see some slabs, to get a feel for whether I'll want to see it in person when we need to make a decision.

We bought our Saratoga slab sight unseen from a great stone yard/fabricator. They brought in a few extra slabs incase we didn't like it but they listened to us and got us exactly what we wanted and also pulled the best slab/one they thought we would like the most for us.

I thought I wanted Stormy Black. Turns out I don't like the feel.... it's harder, more like a granite than what I thought soapstone should feel like. I then thought I'd like the Fantasia, but there was too much green. In the end, I went with Barroca with spidery veining. One of the softer varieties, but lovely to caress (notice I didn't say touch?) It is black (or grey) and white. I did see the slab, but I also purchased a sink, sight unseen from Bucks County Soapstone. It hasn't arrived yet, so I don't know what it looks like... except it is also Barroca.

Here's ours, wet just enough so we could have a good idea of the veins.

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If you like a particular variety, can you get a picture?

I would never purchase a slab of any stone, or have a client purchase one without seeing and feeling in person. Take the time to drive to the yard and pick your counter you will live with. Otherwise, it's like a mail order bride...

...my counter before it was one :)

Pippiep, sure, here is the slab (someone got a little crazy w water earlier in the day) and installed and oiled. Please mind the disaster of the walls. It has a lot of green veining, again not something I thought I wanted! But I liked the look of it unoiled (thinking I wouldn't oil it very often), it was a nice gray. Of course I now love how it looks oiled, but also don't mind if I go a month or so not oiling. Doesn't hurt that M Tex also had a sale so we got a free backsplash. Had such a lovely experience w them, by the way! It was a surprisingly smooth process. I posted asking advice about my 1940's kitchen a while ago, I hope to show pics of the entire updated product soon.

I drove down to the actual quarry in VA, looked at the different types of SS they were quarrying, and made a general selection. I did not have any input as to the particular slabs because the type of SS I was using is undistinguished. It has veins that area hair's breadth, and is very plain and uniform in color.

The first time I got to see the color was as I was honing them with wet-sanding on my back porch; I got the rough slabs unfinished. Maybe that would be a leap of faith for some folks.

Casey

Casey-You are so lucky to live close enough to Alberene to see their operation. We have relatives near Charlottesville and were able to tour the site in 2012. I wish we had known about them when we remodeled our kitchen in 2010 and used ss, but I doubt it would have been very cost effective. It is such a cool place there.

If your going to invest thousands of dollars in a countertop and your specific on the color and variation of the stone a ride would be your best bet. I sell soap stone and all countertop material. I would never advise anyone to buy without seeing the stone.

Drive and go see the slabs. It is part of the experience to obsess over the dizzying array of slabs!

OP here. I thought we'd fallen for an antiqued granite instead of soapstone (Nordic Black). But then I went and got a sample of original PA from Green Mountain Soapstone... It made us gasp! We have samples from M Tex and Dorado, but this one blows them away. We had pretty much decided against soapstone but have swung back around.

Problem is GMS is 3 hours away........ I guess we'll be taking a road trip after all!

How exciting! Post pics when you go...:)

Definitely see in person!!! Each lot has different nuances- veining is greener or whiter, or grayer, background could be charcoal or blueish or green...veins could be more prominent or less.... Pick your slabs in person. It's a lot of money to buy sight unseen.

im getting PA too pippiep. They do vary, so see it in person!

We chose Belvidere and couldn't be happier! We looked at several different kinds of soapstone and this one in our opinion kept the grayish / charcoalish color in sever different kinds of lighting. Plus it's supposed to be a stronger kind of soapstone. The veining in here is absolutely amazing as well. Good luck and post some pics if your decision.

Well... we've tagged a granite for now, but I'm getting some pics of original PA later this week, hopefully. I love the granite we chose, but when I close my eyes before entering my kitchen, what I want to see when I open them is soapstone!

I don't get it, if you really want to see soapstone, why aren't you getting it?

My husband and I are both concerned about water rings/marks and the patina issues that some people have had. If the ONLY problems were chips and dings and scratches, we'd be all for it! We'd be using Central New England Soapstone as our fabricator, so hopefully we wouldn't have any of those issues...

He's also getting more concerned about the budget, though it will probably be about a 1500 difference, which we can do if we really want it. Plus, now he likes super crazy, so it would have to be a very veiny soapstone. Which is a total change, because I showed him a pic of very veiny a couple of weeks ago, and he said "no, too much!"