Share photos of your soapstone countertops

last year

The more patina, the better! I've pretty solidly decided on soapstone, but I'd love to see photos of it in use in actual kitchens, maybe even getting a peek at what the worktops look like oiled/unoiled.

Comments (5)

darbuka
last year
last modified: last year
Here are some pics of our 7 year old Belvedere soapstone, from M. Teixeira. We stopped oiling 5 years ago, stripped it to near natural color, and just let it do its thing.

Templating chosen at M. Teixeira

Install day, unoiled ^^

First oiling^^

You can see the left side of the range top is darker than the right…most of our cooking is done on the left burners. ^^

The sink/prep area has the patina of a well-used area.^^

The baking area hasn’t gotten much use lately, thus is lacking patina^^

Pretty decent amount of patina at the toaster oven.^^

Hope these pics help. We love our soapstone…a very hard variety. Extremely difficult to scratch. Good luck!
Laurel C thanked darbuka
blueskysunnyday
last year
last modified: last year
I have SO much patina to share, but I've been trying for two days to upload photos. I've tried on the app and on the website, I've tried adding them to an idea book. No luck. My soapstone slabs were really too soft to be countertop material (the quarry warned me, but I had already fallen in love with the pyrite inclusions), so I have exaggerated patina, I'd say. I can scratch it with my fingernail. Therefore, maybe the pics would not be all that helpful for you. But, we LOVE the functionality of them. No worries about super-hot cast iron skillets right on the counter or pools of food coloring left for hours by pre-teen chefs.
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Actually when the guy was here to template today we discussed edges, and he told me that for them when working with soapstone it is probably actually easier to go with a bit more of a rounded edge than the standard 1/8" radius their company quotes as standard. And, he told me I didn't want to pay all of that money for the upgrade on soapstone because apparently, even though they do a lot of soapstone counters, the office person uses granite as the standard when figuring out up-charges. (I can see why it might be much more time and effort to make a more rounded edge on granite.) So, we'll see because I think he is going to go a bit more of a radius that the standard, but I won't have to pay the big bucks for it. I think we'll both win because they won't have to be quite so careful not to sand too much off (apparently something quite easy to do), and I'll get closer to what I want. Thanks again for all of your assistance.
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It’s depeds on which one are you getting the original soapstone (from the earth) or the silestone(quartz) soapstone... Origiinal soapstone is cheaper than quartz soapstone, only because it’s man made and labor cost is included which is why it cost more than the orignal soapstone. I was supposed to be getting the original soapstone, but there was some confusion and mistakes, and we settled on soapstone quartz. They send me samples which I am not satisfied iwth the color effects.. I like to have more bold veins than the weak lines of veins. And it looks more Grey than Black.. Which is the color I wanted. So, I’m still communicating with the company, both home depot and the Granite design on this matter. Because our order was not what I was expecting. Although I was looking on pinterest and saw grey with bold vein is what I like to see or have. good Luck on your decision. I won’t have mine until hopefully by 19th of Sept. If we resolved this issue on timely fashion. Lisa P.S. I am paying more money than what you estimate on your price range.
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Vic I'm sorry...I must have missed that post. Our ceilings are 8' tall, the hood is 58" wide by 27" deep. It has a vent a hood insert which we had to have remade to fit (given that vent a hood is US and the stove is French measurements. I'm going to have to measure the height for you if you want specifics, but I can do a quick calculation...it's 33" off the range, so that total is 69...so the hood is 27" high total. The trim is 3" wide and the black nordic antique granite is 9" wide. If you actually want close measurements of the slope etc., let me know. We custom built the thing out of marine grade ply. It weighs a TON and is hung from the rafters with big chains, then of course fixed to the studs on the wall. Total cost wasn't that bad. the cost of the insert with an additional 1300 to rebuild it (ok that was a little painful LOL) and the granite is scraps left over from our bathroom renovation. I think the wood trim was about 500 but it was custom made for us and a sheet of marine grade is 80. While it adds up to more than a regular old metal hood :) (Which look great in some houses) I wanted something unique and in this size...we kept finding them costing close to ten grand for plaster and stone.
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snappity
last year
I think my soapstone counters are the thing I am most excited about in my upcoming reno. Only 75 days to go! Darbuka, what do you use for daily cleaning on yours? Right now I use just an all purpose mrs Meyers spray on my ancient laminate for the end of the day clean up, etc, and my samples seem to be fine with that but just wasn’t sure if you had a rec for that type of daily cleaner? (So many posts are about rings or patina, I’m talking “dried spaghetti sauce the kids left behind” stuff. )
darbuka
last year
last modified: last year
@snappity… We don’t use anything special…just some dish soap (Joy), and water. Every once in a while, I might use a clorox wipe. But mostly just dish soap and water, on a blue scrubby sponge. Soapstone, btw, in addition to all of its other great and unique qualities, is also anti- microbial.

When we feel like removing the patina, and bring it back to its more natural state, we spread some Bon Ami or Comet on the counters, and scrub with a very wet blue scrubby sponge (the scrubby side)…then wipe off. Works like a charm!

Editing to add…Nothing can harm soapstone, and Mrs. Meyer’s is natural stuff. Feel free to continue your usual cleaning habits.
snappity
last year
Oh, I bet my dawn power wash would be good for that. And yes the anti microbial feature was a huge selling point! Unfortunately there is no counter surface that will reach up restrain my family members until they wipe up a splatter before it dries to the surface. 🤣

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Share photos of your soapstone countertops

Comments (5)

darbuka

blueskysunnyday

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snappity

darbuka

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