Anyone have any experience with Soapstone countertops? The resistance to chipping seems to be the one drawback.
Kitchen Counter tops (N8 look in here)
- Thread starter DRB
- Start date
there's another drawback.DRB said:
to quote _Raising Arizona_:
"do these balloons blow up into funny shapes"?
"not unless you think round is funny"
It's a great countertop material and I am pretty sure all of the countertops in my chemistry labs were soapstone.
Yeah, we are going through the countertop stuff right now for our new house, and I believe we have found a way to save some money on them, since we got murdered on the windows, and we now have a walk in basement whereas we planned to not have one at all.
We picked out these cabinets that are a cool antique white color, and we are getting them glazed with a dark brown, and we had originally picked out this mocha colored silestone countertop.
But then we found the same exact mocha pattern in a laminate top that will save us thousands. And we can get whatever edgework we want on them as well which helped us make up our mind.
It is sketchy picking out stuff for a house that you plan on living in forever.
We picked out these cabinets that are a cool antique white color, and we are getting them glazed with a dark brown, and we had originally picked out this mocha colored silestone countertop.
But then we found the same exact mocha pattern in a laminate top that will save us thousands. And we can get whatever edgework we want on them as well which helped us make up our mind.
It is sketchy picking out stuff for a house that you plan on living in forever.
If this is a house that you KNOW you will live in forever, then do not skimp on countertops....Jeremy R said:Yeah, we are going through the countertop stuff right now for our new house, and I believe we have found a way to save some money on them, since we got murdered on the windows, and we now have a walk in basement whereas we planned to not have one at all.
We picked out these cabinets that are a cool antique white color, and we are getting them glazed with a dark brown, and we had originally picked out this mocha colored silestone countertop.
But then we found the same exact mocha pattern in a laminate top that will save us thousands. And we can get whatever edgework we want on them as well which helped us make up our mind.
It is sketchy picking out stuff for a house that you plan on living in forever.
Sure the cost of laminate might be a third the cost of the solid surface but it is no where near the quality and look.
Did you check into Corian? That seems to be reasonably priced and there are a LOT of choices...
Oh, I agree, we did not want to skimp anywhere, but I think we are gonna have to. The ones we picked out though have the exact "look" we were going for.N8 said:
But we have not made up our minds completely yet.
On the otherhand, laminate countertops are inexpensive, and are easily repalced later.
Soapstone is a very nice material. Looks really good and is way easier to keep looking clean than polished granite (smudges don't show up).
You can also look at distressed granite. They take an angle grinder with a wire brush and a torch and rough it up a bit. If you get a stone with a little character, it looks really nice. Very unique and non-cookie-cutterish. Maintenance is just like polished granite.
I've recently become a big fan of concrete countertops. There is no limit to what you can do if your imagination/wallet can afford it. They can do any color, various textures, paterns, embeded things (coins, chainrings, etc). Supposedly it's pretty cost comparable to other solid surface countertops. I've yet to put it in a house though.
You can also look at distressed granite. They take an angle grinder with a wire brush and a torch and rough it up a bit. If you get a stone with a little character, it looks really nice. Very unique and non-cookie-cutterish. Maintenance is just like polished granite.
I've recently become a big fan of concrete countertops. There is no limit to what you can do if your imagination/wallet can afford it. They can do any color, various textures, paterns, embeded things (coins, chainrings, etc). Supposedly it's pretty cost comparable to other solid surface countertops. I've yet to put it in a house though.
one caveat - honed granite can stain.Biscuit said:
DRB, w/ a young family i'd stay away from soapstone, personally. plus, yr sink options are limited.
Very true. Countertops are one of the easier things to upgrade later.N8 said:
And as N8 pointed out, Corian is a good option.
I have it in my own house and absolutely love it. The seamless Corian sink is the shizzle too. Waaaay easier to clean than stainless. Actually, it never really looks dirty. While my last stainless sink pretty much always looked like it had a film of goop on it unless I had just cleaned it.
Why?narlus said:
I thought that you could use any drop in sink....
Silestone is really nice stuff, if a little pricey. We just finished gutting/rehabbing our kitchen (aka the $40,000 dishwasher) and the Silestone counters look amazing. Fortunately my buddy's an installer and gave us a great deal but, knowing all the other options, we would have used Silestone either way. Just stay away from the 'leather' finish as it shows smears too easily.
Any granite can stain. Honed, being rough, has more exposed surface and pores to absorb stain. But if it's maintained properly (i.e. sealed) you should have no problems.narlus said:
And how are your sink options limited with soapstone?
I'm no expert, but I thought any sink you can use with granite you can use with soapstone. And I've seen sinks completely made of soapstone, similar to a corian setup that look very trick. Which in my mind gives you more options than with granite or silestone.
Silestone is our other option at this moment. Friends just installed it and it looks good and they seem happy with it. We like the look of the soapstone better right now (I'm not likely to change my opinion but my wife is a completely different story).dan-o said:
As for sinks, if we go with the soapstone, I'm pretty sure that we would go with a soapstone sink.
JeremyR where is this new house going? Working on any other "additions"?
and who wants an over-mount sink?DRB said:
Two exits up I-26 from where I am now.DRB said:
It is right off of Hwy 11.
That puts me about 40 minutes from Asheville.
We bought 5 wooded acres a couple years back, so now we are building on them.
And by "additions" do you mean dirt jumps or children?
They are both things to treasure.
Ha, no kids yet, but the trails have already been started.
Either / both.Jeremy R said:Two exits up I-26 from where I am now.
It is right off of Hwy 11.
That puts me about 40 minutes from Asheville.
We bought 5 wooded acres a couple years back, so now we are building on them.
And by "additions" do you mean dirt jumps or children?
They are both things to treasure.
Ha, no kids yet, but the trails have already been started.
How far along in the build are you?
They are framing the rest of the roof today.DRB said:
Building a house is a damn adventure.
The day that our framers were supposed to start, it poured rain,
so they went and got drunk instead. On the way home, they got pulled over in their big van. They arrested the driver, and the other guys ran for the border. Seriously. The guy lost his whole framing crew.
So we had to start from scratch, and also find framers with big enough balls to work on our high roof.
narlus said:
Well, if you are going with laminate then its a no-brainer, but if you shelling out the coin for solid surface Corian/Silestone/stone then spend the additional $450 ($200 to cut the sink hole and polish and $250 for the undermount sink itself - look at a 60-40 double sink)
agreed. however, i would suggest a sink w/ a large basin and smaller one, something like this:N8 said:
the small one is fine for rinsing veggies and such, but the big one is great for cleaning large skillets and braising pans. a 60/40 sink may not be large enough to accomodate these. and since soapstone is so soft, manually cleaning large cookware like this will take a toll on yr sink surface.
I was in the same boat a couple of years ago. We went with a laminate top only becasue we chose to put the money elsewhere. I've got no comlpaints. A countertop is like almost everything else: you worry about it only a.)when in the process of buying one and b.) if it REALLY sucks. Other than that it is there but not. If you are at all uncertain, go with a laminate because you can replace it so easily. Nothing would suck more than to spend $$$$$ on something you THOUGHT would be cool (like stainless appliances - bad idea if you have kids) but isn't.
That having been said, the solid surface stuff (Corian, etc) is pretty nice, especially with an intergrated sink (no gunk collectors around the edges.) How porous is soapstone? I guess that is something you want to think about in a countertop.
That having been said, the solid surface stuff (Corian, etc) is pretty nice, especially with an intergrated sink (no gunk collectors around the edges.) How porous is soapstone? I guess that is something you want to think about in a countertop.
Formica with a 45 degree beveled edge band always looks great as long as you don't have an radius'on the edge of your countertops.
Here's a house I built back in 2000 where I used the beveled edge band with a white-ish colored strip in it. A lot of people thought this countertop was Corian until they took a really close look.
On the other hand granite is nice too. This is a 60-40 split sink with a much cooler faucet:
Here's a house I built back in 2000 where I used the beveled edge band with a white-ish colored strip in it. A lot of people thought this countertop was Corian until they took a really close look.
On the other hand granite is nice too. This is a 60-40 split sink with a much cooler faucet:
Silestone ...is the Bomb, The only draw back is price, so pick a color you'll like a lifetime cause thats how long this stuff last.dan-o said:
Granite is good looking, but also expensive, granite also needs to be sealed each year or you risk the chance of bacteria build up as granite is porous also if not properly sealed it can stain.
Corian is an attractive product, the seemless sinks are beautiful, but Corian scratches fairly easy, if the scratch isn't do deep it can be buffed out, but I have other projects to neglect other than buffing out counter tops
Laminate the old stand by, some great colors and designs & the cheapest material to boot, lots of flash for small cash, can scratch, chip & crack.
Ceramick tile, lots of choices, fairly inexpensive -uneven, goo gets caught in the grout.
Wood Block, Beautiful classy needs to maintained and very expensive
If it where my house and I was staying long term I would go with Silestone,hands down.
if I was on a budget or flipping the house I'd probally go with one of the classy looking laminates...
This is random, but I put a stainless soap dispensor next to my faucet and it's pretty much one of the most usefull things in my kitchen.
My hands are perpetually greasy so it eliminates a) fingerprints everywhere;
and b) a soap bottle always hanging around/in the sink.
And, sorry to change the subject, but... Narlus, what is that on your Avatar?
My hands are perpetually greasy so it eliminates a) fingerprints everywhere;
and b) a soap bottle always hanging around/in the sink.
And, sorry to change the subject, but... Narlus, what is that on your Avatar?
FYI: I believe Silestone and Zodiac are basically the same thing (different manufactures).
In my opinion, Formica is an upgrade over tile. I HATE tile countertops...
In my opinion, Formica is an upgrade over tile. I HATE tile countertops...
george w, about to feast on a delicious, tender kitten.Biscuit said:
narlus said:
MMmmmm, Kitten the Other, Other white meat.
Why do I think that redoing the kitchen is going to suck beyond all sucking?
DRB said:
Renovation always sucks... just accept it now and it will be a little easier down the road.
Screw all that stuff. Go with marble. Carrara, preferably. 
SkaredShtles said:Screw all that stuff. Go with marble. Carrara, preferably.
Not for a kitchen countertop....
How could I support non-local suppliers who oppress their workers and trash the environment?SkaredShtles said:Screw all that stuff. Go with marble. Carrara, preferably.
Set up a little mini-kitchen somewhere else in your house with a fridge (pref full size), water cooler (with a insta-hot is sweet), microwave, little cooktop, and make sure you have a decent table w/chairs. And easy access to a sink for washing dishes.DRB said:
Nothing sucks more than eating off your lap for 3 months, or eating out every single day.
Oh, bbq's work wonders too for being able to cook a normal meal without a kitchen.
DRB, it's gotta be better than my situation...no running water on the ground floor for ~10 weeks, everything crammed into one room (small table for eating, folding card table acted as pantry, fridge, the old kitchen island had a microwave and hot plate), i was working very long hours and my wife had to deal w/ a 6 month and 2.5 year old. we had a sink in the basement which was our dishwasher.Biscuit said:
edit - and this was from Oct through Dec, in the chilly northeast
Well we already use a card table and folding chairs as a kitchen table so that won't be that much different.narlus said:
Our friends just finished their remodel (it involved walls and some rebuilding) it stretched to almost 5 months. They designed it themselves (first mistake) and then they contracted it themselves (second mistake). At their behest we are getting a designer to review our thoughts and plans and then getting a contractor to handle the rest.
But the choosing the color, materials and all the other crap is going to be the killer.
N8 said:
Pretty much what I was going to say..... do the cheap one now to just get you into your house and then upgrade them later when you have the money.