I know this is an old thread. But I know I read old threads when I am trying to make a decision. We put soapstone and marble and wood floors in our kitchen in 2007. So we are going on 8.5 years and I LOVE IT ALL. My kids have grown up with it. We don't baby any surface. To be clear, my style is not slick and modern. I have antiques and an older home so I like traditional materials and I don't mind a "lived with patina"-but having said that I don't think my stone has much of a patina at all. The big island is soapstone. It has a few scratches-mostly from house-sitters and the kids dragging heavy pots across it or cutting directly on it like a cutting board.. But if I oil it (which I do maybe 2-3 times a year) they fade. I did search for a long time and I picked a soapstone that was know to be harder than others with minimal white veining-so this could make a difference. I think we could have the top polished/honed again and it would look brand new. But I think it looks fine. Maybe in another 8 or 9 years. I love it everyday! The carrara marble is around the sink in the most used food prep area of the kitchen. It is honed. I just had a repair company come out (only because we had to do some other work in the kitchen and hubby asked about it) and they honed it again and cleaned it up. It looks brand new (I didn't think it looked bad before). There are a few little pits and chips that cant be fixed-but I don't think they are that noticeable. I just sealed it after the guy left. It was never really sealed before. I have gotten a few stains and I have always gotten them out. I have had etching but I learned how to get that out myself (I use sandpaper-yes and it has worked beautifully for me). I love it every day! We are about to ignore all practical advice again and put marble in our master bathroom. I hope we have as much luck with it as we did in the kitchen. In the next few weeks I hope to post photos of our 8.5 year old finishes.

The best thing to do is get a sample. I did some testing with some of the common dark green "marbles", Verde Guatemala and its relatives. I found it satisfactory for most stains. It did scratch fairly easily which is worse on the dark shiny green stuff (the lighter samples didn't really show it even though they'd scratch too). On the other hand, I could sand it to a lovely honed look myself with very little effort, so it would have been great to care for in a honed finish. Oil did leave marks. Oiling the honed stuff like soapstone looked like soapstone but better...my samples weren't sealed and I suspect sealing would help with the oil. Unetchable and unstainable with kitchen stuff. ANYWAY...every stone is different, even within the same family and the same named type. All I can say is don't rule it out because nobody uses it. Get a chunk and put it through the tests. I think it'll perform better than marble.

The cost to refinish marble countertops will be based on size,condition of stone(how severe is the scracthing, etching and or staining,cracks,chips,etc)type of stone(darker stones and some limestones can be tricky to refinish)time and materials. Special pricing if we change the finish from polished to honed(easier and reasonably priced) or honed to polished(which is impossible to do to granite on site- very-difficult to do on marble(can be pricey). Our pricing on an average kitchen(60-80sqft) with normal wear and etching will start at around $650.00 and up. Larger kitchens with multiple islands and multiple countertops and other areas over 100 sq ft can that can be done in a day will start $900.00 and up. Pricing will vary region to region. Stone refinishing is one of those trades where experience is very important. I have been doing this since 2003 and still learn something everyday. While some stones are easier to work on others can be a serious undertaking. Not to mention the possibility of damaging fixtures back splashes,cabinets etc. Other issues could be dust or water containment and proper masking techniques so appliances,wallpaper,furniture and fabrics are protected . So While I am sure that a very handy person could do or try to refinish the stone there is the question of purchasing and using the proper equipment. I think in the long run it is cheaper to hire a bona -fide refinisher with references. Stu Rosen www.mbstonecare.com www.stoneshine.com

Once I get a door sample, I will try it with the Torquay. There is a Cambria warehouse about 2 hours from here, so I can go look at slabs if I like the sample. I have to decide if I like the quartz as its own thing - I don't want to feel like I bought "fake marble." I do like the subtlety of the Torquay pattern in the pictures, but I really would like to get a little color in this kitchen, preferably some blue or green, and I don't know how to tie that in with the Torquay. The appliances are stainless steel. The porcelain floor tiles will be selected after the counters. I expect they will be a lighter shade in a very large format (i.e., 12x24, 24x24, 24x48 or something in that range). I am attaching a CAD of the layout. The island shape is something my designer friend was playing with. I expect the island will probably go back to being a 4'x8.5' rectangle, but the choice of slab may impact the choice of shape. There is a large amount of open wall space on the back wall around the range, so the choice of backsplash is very important. I feel like I need pattern in either the counters or BS - having both be solid colors just seems too stark to me. My original color plan was walnut cabinets, blue and white Namibia Sky counters, slightly iridescent white mosaic BS tiles, light blue paint on walls chosen to complement counters. Now that I am afraid of using the marble counters, I need a new plan. I saw a kitchen I liked on DIY that had a solid off white quartz counter and a mosaic backsplash that mixed green, SS and the off white of the counter. Of course, that kitchen had espresso cabinets with no visible grain pattern. I am worried about having a large BS with a pattern that competes with the walnut grain, which is why I thought it would be safer to go with a counter with movement and a solid color BS. I like the idea of using back painted sheets of glass for the BS, but I understand that is quite expensive and I can't splurge on every item!