iTimmy

There seems to be a lot of experience here and am looking for your experiences... I am planning construction of a new home and my biggest concern is the kitchen. I am leaning towards soapstone for my counter tops, with a medium to dark cherry cabinets with white oak hardwood floors possibly with a large copper panel to break up the floor a bit and stainless appliances. Any soapstone owners out there? It seems all of the large soapstone installers are based in New England so its very cost effective to do here. It costs about as much as higher grade corian. Or do you all think I would be better suited just doing granite??

chef chris

I think the layout you describe sounds awesome. Soapstone is indestructible basically...it's what you had on the coutertops in chemistry class. Heavy as hell...not easily chipped...and I believe you only need to oil it for maintenance.

Sounds like a nice kitchen, great color combos...it's what I'd do in a heartbeat if was building a new home again.

soopa

Adam Ross Stone on Broadway in Albany

Scrib

Once I finally get my wife to go along with it, I'll be putting in granite.

Slimey

We just had new Silestone countes installed last Friday. Very nice stuff. My wife picked everything out -- she went with a beige-ish pattern with a lot of different color flecks called Kona Beige. We had the kitchen cabinets (that came in 80s oak) redone with an almond (off white) laquer and replaced the handles and lighting with antique styled bronzish stuff. Its probably not as flashy as we could have gone with a solid color, but it should blend with a number of stylistic changes that are bound to happen over the years and not look so dated or 'of a period'.

Pretty much all the quality countertops (granite, silestone, corian...) run about $100/square foot installeed.

http://www.silestoneusa.com

iTimmy

Thanks for the encouragement! What would you suggest for a backsplash? I was thinking about doing copper there instead of the floor, however, that may be to much of a good thing. I know I don't want soapstone there, I would like something brighter. I could always just paint it I guess....

The oiling only needs to be done once a month for the first year or so, and its only done to age the stone quicker and more evenly, seems like a small price to pay.

iTimmy

Do you have any pictures of your finished kitchen?? I'd love to see them.

Soapstone is around $80/sq. ft installed, in my area.

soopa

can't go wrong with soapstone either though.

chef chris

Just throwing this by you, but I'd do a bright red mosaic tile for the stove backsplash area...sounds bold, I know...but I've seen it in several kitchen magazines with your proposed kitchen woods/etc.

And yes, I'd go with the copper backsplash...it's gonna look great.

Slimey

Sorry -- no pics right now. I have no idea where the camera is -- actually I do. My wife has it somewhere and I'm sure it's filled with baby pics (we have a 5 week old that's hogging lens time).

Look at their website -- link is above the picture -- they have a lot of gallery photos. Silestone is essentially maintenance free, almost everything-proof, and has some anti-bacterial Microban bullshit built in.

What was really nice was that the contractor comes out and measures what you need then they cut the stuff with fricken "laser" beams at their shop. Because all the work is done essentially out of the house, there's no down time with the tops off. They guys came in and uninstalled the old stuff and installed the new stuff in about 2 hours. I forgot, but with one of the countertops (corian?) they have to remove your old tops, take them to the shop, and then cut the new tops. You have to spend up to a couple weeks without tops.

chef chris

Agreed. Soapstone isn't too common either.

I'd like to do cement countertops when I get my next home.

soopa

I'm sifting through a box of glass mosaic tile as we speak, trying to figure a backsplash for behind the sink. My cooktop is in peninsula and has telescoping downdraft as backsplash....

soopa

If I was building fresh, I'd probably make alot of use of cement. However, doesn't fit so well in older style homes IMO.

I love the look though, someday...

chef chris

I found a great place to buy it...I'll have to look for their info. Bought 3 or 4 different kinds to try out behind the stove. It was a glass mosaic...had a slight texture...approximately 1/2" squares.

soopa

Hakatai is the brand I've been leaning towards. Mainly because I know of several people who have used it who's opinions I trust...

It is textured as well... opaque. They also make smooth/translucent tiles.

iTimmy

Any pictures of cement countertops? I am in the early stages of the design and just starting to work with the contractor so I can change things very easily right now.

This is my first home and is not my "statement" home, but I probably will live there for 10 years or until I decide to have a family. The only thing that has been picked out is the floor plan and I have every other room visioned in my mind, but the kitchen. My point about not being my statement house was because I don't want to do anything over the top and possibly have trouble selling it down the road. I don't mind spending money to make it nice, after all it is where I will be living. But I don't want to do something that will be dated in 10 years either.

I like the idea of the red mosiac tile as well, but copper is tempting too! I am planning to do a red accent wall in the master suite with the rest of the walls being either textured beige or gray, so I have no trouble with red.

chef chris

I like the ones that are pretty much in the middle...have a translucent appearance. I do like the texture though. When I bought my cabinets for the house, there was a mach kitchen with stainless steel Meiste appliances and hood, 42" cherry cabinets, soapstone tops and that crazy red tile as a backsplash...looked absolutely awesome.

soopa

Also check out Lavastone countertops.... they are similar to soapstone but prettier, IMO

chef chris

They are made with sand and follow basically the same texture/shape/look of soapstone actually. I've seen them in only a few homes myself...but you should be able to find plenty of pics on the net.

Cool thing about cement, you can color-match it to just about anything...texture it, imbed tile on the surface...just about anything.

iTimmy

Lava
PROS: Hard, stain resistant, heatproof.
CONS: Extremely high cost, limited availability.
COST: $220-350 plus per sq. ft. installed

Gulp.... that's a little more then I would like to spend on a countertop at this time, but I bet it is nice.

soopa

I hear that...

jdone

Here's some advice from a long-time home owner. Soapstone, granite etc. look great but they require care and feeding and stain/chip fairly easily. Life is hard enough without worrying about counter tops. Make your life easier and cheaper and get Corian. I know you won't listen this time, but remember for your next house.

iTimmy

Thanks for your input!

However, there is no perfect countertop material, Corian scratches easily and needs polishing to remove these marks. To me, that is no different then having to oil soapstone once a month for the first year. Granite does chip fairly easily and can be burned if you put something hot on it. Soapstone doesn't seem to have these problems, and can not stain because its a non-porous stone. Sure it can chip, but it would take one helluva slam for that to happen. Honestly I would probably go for the gusto on my next home and do lava stone, but this won't be for another 10 years or so.

Scrib

cheaper?

soopa

Granite n Soapstone are within a few bucks of each other.

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and FYI, Soapstone is not necessarily more durable than Granite.

It has higher heat resistance than granite, true.

It is more stain resistant, sort of. Soapstone can be stained, but is non-porous, so the stain can easily be sanded/buffed out. Granite is "porous" so if you manage to stain it, it's pretty hard to correct. However, unless you're working with extreme acids or alkalais (like in a lab) it's pretty damn hard to stain Soapstone OR Polished Granite. Most comparisons from the Soapstone companies compare Soapstone (which has a matte finish) to Honed Granite (which also has a matte, pourous, finish). Polished Granite is very hard to stain compared to Honed Granite.

It is harder to chip. Semi-true. Yes, Soapstone is nearly impossible to chip (Granite is very hard to chip). However, this is because Soapstone is relatively soft and malleable compared to the hardness and rigidity of Granite. Soapstone can be dented, and gouged. It is much easier to leave marks in Soapstone than it is to chip Granite. Again though, some consider this a desirable trait of Soapstone, feeling it takes on "character" of use.


Personally, I prefer Polished Granite because of it's excellent light reflecting characteristics, and because, similar to Marble, it's cool-to-the-touch and semi-pourous, making it an excellent surface for baking... such as rolling dough. Unlike Marble however, it is stain and scratch resistent, so on top of being a great surface for preparing baked goods, it's durable enough to be used as a cutting board.

Soapstone and Granite (and Marble) all have pros and cons. You just have to weigh which are most important to you.

soopa

I have a slab of granite sitting here in front of me, probably about 20x12"... maybe we should run our own tests... where's the blowtorch?!

iTimmy

If this is happening let me know, I am down for blowing some shit up!