February 23, 2005
Soapstone Countertops...
We've been working on a substantial do-it-yourself project. I'm going to blog it, just so I'll have the pictures and story in one place in case anyone asks or Googles. I'm fabricating countertops for our kitchen, (actually half the kitchen for the first stage) using Soapstone (Steatite. Not to be confused with Talc, which is also called soapstone).
Slab of 3/4" Soapstone on my rolling table. Click below for more.
Soapstone has several advantages over other stones. One of them is that it's easy enough to cut and shape so that do-it-yourselfers can tackle it. Another plus is that, although it is softer than granite or marble, it is also denser. It won't absorb stains. Lab benches are sometimes made of Soapstone. Also, it's appropriate for older homes—it's a traditional material without a glitzy modern look. We bought the stone from M. Teixeira Soapstone (pronounced: teh-SHARE-uh) which has just opened a San Francisco warehouse.
In the picture above you saw it in its natural light gray color. But the last task after you've installed your stone is to rub it with mineral oil. When you do, something dramatic happens! It suddenly looks like this:
This is the first piece we've completed. The grain of the stone jumps out when it's oiled.
Soapstone is not hard to cut using a diamond blade. But it's very dusty work. Everything will be covered with fine white powder. Do it outside. I found this simple cutting guide very valuable. Also I covered my table with an extra sheet of rough plywood and set the saw depth to just a little more than the thickness of the slab. Then I cut right on the table. That way the stone is always supported.
The stone used for countertops is 1 1/4" thick. I made the backsplashes from a slab of 3/4" thick stone. We wanted a curved section behind the stove, so I made a template from 1/2" MDF. I roughed the curves out with the saw, then used the template and a router with a pattern-following carbide bit to get the final shape. (I used this cheap little trimming router so that if working with stone damaged it I could just throw it away with a light heart. But so far it's fine.)
Also, the edges are easily finished with sanders, and scratches can be easily sanded out..
And here are the backsplashes in place...
Here I've glued two pieces together with a black epoxy, and I'm starting sanding. The epoxy is smelly stuff, you want LOTS of ventilation. The seam shouldn't have been so messy, but no matter, the excess was sanded off, and the seam disappeared once we oiled the stone. This should have been a two-person job; the glue hardens up quickly, and I barely had enough time.
That slight bend in the wall and the cabinets was tricky to do in stone. Lots of finicky adjustments, which usually meant hauling heavy slabs outside and then back in...
DONE (Almost. We're considering putting splashes at the ends of the counters...)
Important note: The glossiness of these counters is misleading. They've just been oiled.
Soapstone won't take a high polish like granite or marble.
NOTE: My comments close after 10 days. But feel free to e-mail me. (And if the issue is especially interesting I'll add it here as an update.)
Posted by John Weidner at February 23, 2005 09:03 PMThat is cool. I'm surprised the dinky router could cut the stone. What did the material cost? And do you do any additional sealing after rubbing in mineral oil? Do you need to periodically rub in more oil?
We need some new countertops here, and I am interested in your project.
The 1 1/4" slabs are $33 a sq foot. You have to cut more slowly than through wood, but as long as I didn't hurry neither router nor saw seemed to be straining.
Once the stone gets well oiled you can go for months (so we are told) between oilings. No sealing is needed because of the density of the stone, which makes it impervious. The oil is only for the appearance.
If you don't have a local source I could send you a small scrap to play with.
Posted by: John Weidner at February 24, 2005 12:42 PMNice. Very nice. It looks very good so far. I'm guessing you made the cabinets.
P.S. The website you linked to is in deperate need of a copy editor. Aaah! Comma splices!
Posted by: B. Durbin at February 24, 2005 01:08 PMVery impressive and quite lovely.
Posted by: Mrs. Peperium at February 24, 2005 03:48 PMI've made some of the cabinets, but mostly I'm adding new doors and drawer-fronts to some fairly solid old cabinets.
The Teixeira company seems to be a bunch of Brazilians. If they wrote their website themselves then it's pretty good.
Most Soapstone comes from Brazil.
Posted by: John Weidner at February 24, 2005 04:27 PMTeixeira certainly does a good job of 'getting the point across' if they are not native English speakers. I've seen far worse. (Even from native English speakers.)
I'm totally amazed at the difference made by the mineral oil. And impressed at your DIY skills. You should get yourself a cable series on the strength of this. ;)
Posted by: Kathy K at February 26, 2005 04:55 PMThanks,
I have a friend who's done some shows for the cable program Curb Appeal. But they expect him to do it mostly for the publicity. He puts a lot of time into revamping someone's house front, and filming the show, for only $500...
Posted by: John Weidner at February 27, 2005 09:11 AMWill a hot skillet or hot brick from the oven (used for steaming bread) crack or spall the soapstone counter if laid on it (a weakness of Formica, we've discovered)?
Thanks,
Posted by: anonymous coward at February 27, 2005 09:34 AMNo, hot pots are no problem. I should have put that on the list of the advantages of soapstone...
Posted by: John Weidner at February 27, 2005 07:56 PMThanks for sharing your experience with us. I have a question regarding soapstone for kitchen counters.
If I drop a pot or something heavy on it will it crack, dent or chip?
Thanks a lot.
Natasha,
My experience so far is that Soapstone is very unlikely to crack. Or to chip unless you hit it right on a corner. I can make a small dent (in a scrap piece) with a hammer, so a pot might do the same if it hit with a sharp part down. But the dent could be sanded-out, or filled with epoxy if necessary.
It's easy to scratch soapstone, but scratches can be sanded out, and anyway tend to disappear when you put a little oil on them.
You can't polish soapstone to a gloss, like granite or marble. This will be a defect to some people, but it suits us. We wanted something that blended into our old house, rather than looking like a high-tech intrusion that makes other things look shabby. (I just realized it looks glossy in that last photo. It was just oiled, and the gloss was gone the next day.)
I was looking foreward to reading about your experience with soapstone but photos covered the text. Pictures are nice, though.
Posted by: patrick campbell at March 1, 2005 04:27 PMWhat browser are you using? I've never had any complaints about this before.
If you want I could copy the text into an e-mail...
Posted by: John Weidner at March 1, 2005 07:04 PMJohn, for some reason only the soapstone text is covered, all other articles are fine. My browser is MS Internet Explorer installed on an Imac. If you would email the text it would be appreciated. Thanks.
Posted by: patrick campbell at March 2, 2005 08:01 AMFound your experience with soapstone interesting and helpful. It confirmed my decision to use soapstone in the kitchen remodel that I have started. I have an older house that granite would look out of place in, plus it is not one of those materials that can be fabricated easily. I talked to the Teixeria people in New Jersey yesterday and they were getting a new container of soapstone (Santa Rita) in today. So I am headed their way next week. By the way, they quoted me a price of $27.95 a square foot.
Thanks.
Posted by: Jay Lutz at March 3, 2005 06:39 AMDoes the soapstone counter scratch easily? We are thinking of installing one THankS!
P.s. It looks great in your kitchen
NOTE: I'm replying here because I have comments set to close in 10 days (to help fight comment-spammers).Please feel free to send me e-mail with questions...
Soapstone does scratch fairly easily. But small scratches disappear when you oil them. And large ones can easily be sanded out.
