Another possibility for a long island...For our 9 foot island, we decided to embrace the seams and designed the island with two contrasting slabs at each end and seamed together with butterfly inlays. My photo isn't the best, but you'll see the concept. We bought our soapstone countertops from Bucks County and I can't say enough good things about their fabrication and installation. (I believe they purchase the slabs from Texiera) We have a couple small seams in venata soapstone in other parts of the kitchen and do not see them. We've only had our countertops for two weeks and love looking at them and touching them. Hope you enjoy yours, too. Here is a link that might be useful:

How firm is the beeswax that the rest of you are using? The only Bee's Oil I could find locally was at Williams Sonoma. It is very soft, so there is no need to heat it up (tho I tried--just out of curiosity. It didn't really melt at all--just got warm). It has the texture somewhat of a shea butter cream. As soon as my hands rub it, it melts into the counter. If it were more solid, I think I might get frustrated with it, and switch to regular mineral oil. I use it as hand cream in between the SoapstoneSpaTreatment (trademarked--tho I didn't coin this term--someone else here did. Who?) My feet could really use a spa treatment. Thinking...thinking...Can't figure out how to do that without slipping and falling. We need to get some t-shirts/bumperstickers made: "Real stoners use their hands" "Have you rubbed your soapstone today?" "My parents went to Punta Gorda and all they brought me was this soapstone" "My other counter is made of soapstone too" "My soapstone is silkier than your Chipman Middle School Honor student" etc Can't wait to see more pictures! I can imagine how stressful the waiting and wondering has been (will it fit? did we template right?). Thank goodness it turned out so well! Hooray!! Francy

Howdy. Every time I think about sitting down and providing an update, I get upset all over again...just like every time I walk into my kitchen (many, many times a day), the awful feelings churn up. I don't consider myself to be someone who needs to LOVE her kitchen. But at this point, I have nothing but negative feelings (emotionally and physically, really) every time I lay eyes on my counters. So, consider this as follow-up, more venting...what, closure? Maybe an education for anyone else going through this? I glanced at the date stamp on my initial post: what a way to mark this one-year anniversary. I'll try to stay as focused as possible. Last autumn, with all the small claims paperwork filed, both parties waited for a mediation date to be set (which likely wouldn't happen til after the first of the year). In Texas, a mediation session is required for small claims cases. In December, I called the precinct to double check and make sure the hearing didn't get pushed forward: I was shocked to hear that the fabricator had filed a countersuit in October! Part of the shock was due to my never having even been notified...very odd business, I thought. Up til then, their attorney emailed and snail-mailed every scrap of formage and documentation. We've said it and heard it time and again on these forums: give the company an opportunity to 'make it right'. I can't remembered if I covered this here already, but after they honed my tops, I was left with grit all over. We went back and forth, the fabricator not sure what happened...got to a point where he asked me to do internet research, contact his tech rep at MIA, post the problem with the pros at the Stone Fabricators Alliance forum, etc. I was told by this company that, don't worry, at the end of the day, they were going to provide me with smooth (non-gritty) and sealed tops. Several trips back and forth to re-hone on site. They finally switched brushes/heads and 'leathered' on-site (after asking me to provide and put up plastic sheeting to isolate the dust.) The grit resolved, but the leathering was very uneven. Shiny spots were mixed with dull spots; and there were grinder arc marks that they couldn't figure out how to get rid of. I told them it was good enough. The next several weeks were spent helping them figure out the right type of sealer to use. Their go-to didn't work, so again it was on me to find a sealer that worked. OK, so, the counter suit: not only did they fabricate two phony invoices for the hours and trips spent getting rid of the grit AND properly sealing the counters (each time, I stood side-by-side with the owner, helping him with the sealer applications -- sometimes timing, other times helping scrub and rinse with water during the stripping process), they claimed that I was more than 90 days delinquent paying these two invoices...to the tune of ~ $4,000 more (ballpark...can't remember exactly now). PREPOSTEROUS!!!! I knew this countersuit wouldn't hold any water: history would show that I always paid my invoices within 24-72 hours. And they could never prove that I received these two phony invoices: all invoices were emailed to me, and I can guarantee they could never have come up with original emails proving I was invoiced. During all this time, I sat down with my attorney acquaintance and laid everything out. He reminded me of one very important thing: at least in TX, small claims judgements are not binding. He felt I had a rock solid case not only to prove my case, but also to have the countersuit quickly dismissed. However, even if the judgement went in my favor, there's no guaranteeing I'd collect a dime. Up until the time I stumbled upon the countersuit, I somehow (naively?) had faith in the system, and felt that if I won the case, that would be that. Seeing what low and underhanded lengths this company and their attorney stooped with the countersuit, I started to doubt that they would honor a judgement. My attorney friend says these are the types of companies/cases he takes, and he spends months and years chasing companies just like this. (Going to stop here and post...back in a sec with the next part.)

Suzanne, I've been meaning to say that I love your kitchen. The countertops are really beautiful and the overall impression is so serene. Stone guy just left my house. He acknowledged the problems with the seam. He said he can't fix the white area to the right of the seam in front of the sink, as he thinks it was caused by heat? He said it isn't a chip in the stone, and it does feel smooth (not like it is filled with epoxy) so I'm not really sure what it is and what caused it. But he said he can try to remove the top of the epoxy in the seam and fill it with a better color match. The area in front of the faucet where the epoxy ran over the marble by 1/2 inch is actually worse (although it is hard to capture in photos) because it is darker than the marble and you can feel that the rough epoxy was spread over the marble there. He said he can "try to smooth it out" and also fix the seam color there. If I am not satisfied, he will rip it out and start over with a new slab. But he says he can't guarantee that what happened with that white spot next to the front seam won't happen again, which worries me. If I am satisfied with his efforts on the seam, we discussed how to handle the 1/2 gap between the wall and the backsplash. He said it would be costly for him to hire someone to drywall mud it because his guys don't do that. He suggested adding honed carrara tile part way up the wall. I said I would rather he remove the backsplash first and tile it down to the counter. He needs to ask his tile guys if they can float it to cover any gaps between the counter and the wall. The remaining question would be what to do with the side walls, as he had to cut into them as well. He suggested maybe just pencil tile along the marble on the sides to cover the wall damage. Or I could just repair the drywall there down to the countertop, I guess? So, he is trying to remedy the situation, which is great. I am worried about his overall skill level and abilities, though, and concerned that any fix he attempts could make things worse and waste both our time. At least now he knows he can't just do a sloppy job, and he should be more attentive. Thanks for all of your input and support, it has been invaluable. Any further insight on his proposed remedies is welcome. Meantime, the plumber showed up and of course he can't plumb the sink until this is resolved, but hopefully I will at least have a plumbed out and functional gas stove after this! No sink and stove for two months now, getting tired of take-out!