Looking for feedback from anyone that happens to have soapstone countertops. I'm looking at a new kitchen in my house, and mentioned soapstone countertops to the interior designer, and her immediate response was that I woudln't want them, because they're too much maintenance, and they'd not be good for resale. It's not that I'm set on soapstone, rather I've discovered that I like it on the stove and hearth, and thought I might like it for countertops as well. I was a little bit surprised on her statement about the maintenance, as I have a Woodstock FireView (no real maintenance to the actual soapstone) and a soapstone hearth, which I rub with butcher block oil in the spring to change the color & bring out the veins, but that's more for the change in appearance than anything. Does anyone have soapstone countertops that can give a recommendation? Would you get them again? Is there more maintenance than rubbing them with butcher block oil once in a while? Is there a downside that I'm not seeing to them? What would you say is the biggest upside? Appearance? Thanks in advance
Only cons are it’s soft so it scratches and porous so oil can stain it.. for less $$ a sq ft I would look at quartz. soapstone is usually limited on colors to blue grey
Kitchen or bath- soapstone not a good choice as mentioned above. Granite , Quartz( which is quartz chips in some sort of chemical matrix) Sile stone ( again a man made product but it is solid not an overlay) Stainless steel ( but with a 249% hike over the last 1.5 years in steel prices ain't no bargain) lastly concrete ( been pretty good hikes in that material as well. The granite and concrete require yearly maintenance. I do not have any experience with Silestone or Quartz. Stainless can be etched by various items found in a kitchen if left to sit, plus shows every finger print unless you are meticulous about wiping it down and you have to careful not wipe it down across the grain ot the metal, it is a rather soft stainless steel, likely 300 series. Easily scratched also. I used Granite in the last kitchen/ bath redo. The key thing is all the cabinets in any run have to be dead level with each other for any of these.
I love the look of soapstone and had a soapstone wood stove at my last place. I never oiled it and it still looked good after 8 years or so (when I moved here). You wouldn't really need to protect a countertop from hot pans, you could set them right on it. It also doesn't crack easily - a couple of plusses I thought it would be too soft, but Googling says it really isn't and isn't very porous either. But, it will scratch and be stained by oils, so does need to be oiled on a regular basis. I personally, would not take time to do that (heck, I wouldn't remember. Oh yeah, it is also an expensive material. And, depending on how long you live there, you might want to think about the resale value. It is great to personalize to your own tastes/wants/needs. However, the general populous of home buyers may mark it down as an item that needs replaced when comparing your house to others they've looked at. Here is a link to a place that looks like they list the pros/cons nicely.
We got quartz countertops this year. We got about 42 square foot, consisting of 2 pieces and it cost $3800! I guess the only concern is putting hot objects on it. Soapstone is beautiful and I understand why you would consider it. Good luck.
Well, that no hot stuff would be a problem for me - although I usually do try to remember to use a trivet or wood cutting board.
We have soapstone counter tops and farm sink. Love them. It may scratch, but all you need to do is sand it a little and put some mineral oil on it, problem fixed. I've only had to do that once. Usually the mineral oil will take care of it. Same with any chips. Never worry about putting hot pans or pots on them. Actually you have to be careful with hot items because soapstone will pull the heat out of objects pretty fast. As far as oilng them it's not a big issue. We do it once a week or 2 weeks. You dont need to oil them and they'll pick up different colors. As far as being a soft stone, well the steps to Independence Hall are soapstone, and they're still there. Look up bucks county soap stone, they have a lot of good info. I can post pics if you want.
Let's see the pictures please, we are updating our kitchen and the only price I got so far was for new granite and the cost for these tops took my entire budget! Any idea on cost per sq ft??
My lab is all soapstone at work. They are a drab blue gray. I have never oiled them, but they can pick up some stains.
This is during install before any oil. The company suggested using oil each week for the first month or 2. Cant remember. Then if you want them to pick up different stains, leave them be. Some of the scribe work. Traced by a "pen" like tool and saved on a program, then uploaded to waterjet cutting table. Finished work. Mineral oil was applied sometime early last week. We have the "Franklin edge" for the countertops, that's why they are ro and are wavy I'll have to look and see what the cost was without the handbuilt sink. It was more than granite, but we were looking for a historic look to match our kitchen. Plus Im not sure if granite could be worked to fit the stone walls.
We have a small marble slab in the bathroom. That was a mistake by the former home owners. It has acid etching, scratches, clouding, you name it. I have taken some buffing compound to it a few different times with little to no improvement. I even got out the power tools. I could probably spend another 2 days working on the thing but I just gave up for the moment. Lesson learned, when we finally get around to replacing it, we will be going with a hard non-porus something.
