Soapstone Classico, anyone?

18 years ago

Hello,

We've got three giant slabs of a lovely soapstone on hold--the name is "classico" and I was wondering if anyone knows about the hardness of this particular type. If it helps, it's from Brazil. I know these names can be a bit sketchy sometimes, but any help would be appreciated. I'm guessing that a negative reveal undermount sink is a bad idea with soapstone?

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Comments (4)

vizslalover
18 years ago
I'm sorry I can't help you specifically with 'classico' but the best way to determine the hardness (or more specifically if it's a hardness you'll be happy with) is to get a sample and abuse it.

The vast majority of US countertop soapstone comes from Brazil at this point so that doesn't narrow things down too much :)

Are you alluding to the idea that the stone might be subject to more abuse around the sink in a negative reveal setup? I suppose this seems to intellectually make sense but I don't really know that the small setback you get from a positive reveal is really going to help that much? Anyway, we have a very slight negative reveal (I much prefer to be able to wipe directly into the sink) and I think its fine. You're probably going to get dings around the sink edge no matter what so go with what you prefer. I've seen many soapstone counters on here with flush mounts or neg. reveals.

HTH!
eastsider
Original Author
18 years ago
Thanks for your input--unfortunately, there weren't any pieces cut or samples of our slabs available. I like the look of the negative reveal, but was wondering if a zero reveal/flush mount would help preserve/protect corners from chipping--I prefer the negative reveal for clean up as well. I'm prepared for dings, but chunks would upset me.
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eastsider
Original Author
18 years ago
Anyone? This soapstone is a green color, and any additional input would be greatly appreciated! Has anyone used SS for bathroom countertops? Thanks!
sleepydrj
18 years ago
Wish we could help you, but I think your dealer has given the stone some arbitrary name. Haven't heard of this before.

In case it helps, the darker soapstones will tend to be harder. I have an unnamed type of soapstone. It's farily black with some very fine white veins and a few thicker white ones. There is relatively little of the "fish scale" effect you tend to see in the soft Santa Rita stone. It requires very little oiling to stay dark, and it seems to be somewhat resistant to marks.

ALso, I'm not sure what the general pattern of wear is for soapstones. Since it is dense and not very crystalline in composition, I might expect there to be fewer "chips" but more "dings". Anybody out there find this to be the case?