Hi fivefoot... countertops are always such a treat..please post pics.. I am partial to anything named for St. Rita...I am named for her...my father was the captain of a fishing boat, "The Saint Rita" and later a smaller boat, "The Little Rita." so I can't wait to see what your St. Rita soapstone looks like...I bet it will be beautiful...as she was. KA:) Here is a link that might be useful: painting of St. Rita from the boat..now in my home

Wow, thanks for that link, sombreuil mongrel. I have some other links for edges but this one is so comprehensive and has edge diagrams that I haven't seen before. Now I am trying to match "my" edge to one of the pics under "laminated edges". Thanks again! I'll try to post the pic again if I can.

These are my pics of my countertops placed Friday June 22, 2018. I cried looking at these seams. It looks so cheap. Fabricator explains that's the way it comes. I explained that I shouldn't be able to see the seams so clearly. It looks so unprofessional. They ended up taking them back to their warehouse. In hopes they say if it is quality control will try and fix it just to make it look better. Otherwise I will have to pay an additional fee for them to come out again to install. I just don't know what to do and if still looks the same. This is the first time I've replaced my counters in 24 years. I don't and can't live with it. looking at this for another 24 years. It looks so cheap and it really was not it's a lot of money to me. I hope fingers crossed that they will fix this problem. They never told me that there would be such seams. I thought the edges were done by a machine and it would be all one piece. I have read up on this and now understand there are seams. But now I do know that they should not look like this. If they are good fabricator you shouldn't be able to see them so clearly. I will find out next week what happens.

I saw some lovely slate counters on an open-house visit I took over this past weekend. The kitchen wasn't brand new, the slate was a really lovely purple or maroon or something - well, it really was lovely even though purple counters sound frightful in concept. I don't know where teh slate counters were from but they did look like the local NEngland variety. had some dark greenish markings to them quite like the white stripes that soapstone has. It was really lovely. The kitchen was new but clearly not brand new - I think they said about 2 years old. The counters were in lovely shape - not stained at all as far as I could see. Very nice soft honed sort of finish as you can't polish it to a high sheen anyhow, I don't believe. Was in great great shape. on that note, I have slate counters in my bathroom, although not the New England variety - dark green with white streaks on them. I've had the bathroom in place and used for 3.5 years. I've had to seal this stone - sealed it a lot when we first got them but at this point in time I barely seal once a year. I wash my face at that sink and any water splashed on just beads up. No creams or lotions have stained the counter - and just yesterday I upturned a jar of moisturizing cream on the counter. It all wiped away without leaving a trace. I have no chips or nicks on my counter - knock on wood (watch this space for me to come back here in tears saying I've had some horrendous accident and scratched and nicked my counter). Good stuff, that slate.