Well, our veins aren't brown. Unoiled:

Oiled:

Hmm i don't remember seeing brown veins when I went to visit Stonemasters in PA (the only one I know of with that many varieties) but I was concentrating on their slabs with the green veins. The base color is green based but dark enough to read black to most people. They should be able to wet down the slabs for you to look at.

BTW their service and fabrication was superb. The extra paid for the personalized templating was well worth it.

My stormy black variety is the same color as leela but less dramatic veining. I don't recall seeing any brown veins on slabs when we were looking.

scrappy25 it was Stone Masters! I'm actually questioning if the one that they called Triple Black soapstone is actually soapstone as they said it is a soapstone blended with marble and that it etches. Everything I have read says that real soapstone doesn't etch, and I can't find any mention of soapstone mixed with marble. They told me that ALL soapstone in existence that is black with white/grey veining is soapstone that is mixed with marble, and that it etches (we'll see coffee stains, lemon will etch it, etc). They said that otherwise all black soapstone that doesn't etch will have brownish veining.

My veins are caramel colored Quartz (Santa Rita) and my mom's soapstone is Black Venata with turquoise veins. Since you are not too far, I would highly recommend you visit Bucks County Soapstone. Scott, the owner (if I remember correctly) only works with soapstone and he is a master. It is worth the drive to visit the shop.

My soapstone called Mariana has white veining. Looks very similar to leela's examples when oiled and not oiled. I stopped oiling after a few months, and have not oiled since. Been almost three years now and have no etching, or coffee or lemon or any staining. I always understood the white veins to be quartz deposits rather than marble in the soapstone, but I may be wrong.

An FWIW, I've seen a lot of soapstone, and don't recall ever seeing any with brown veins? Not a saying it does not exist, just not that common.

I've seen the caramel veining on a lighter grey soapstone. It looked nice. Do you mean soapstone with some Quartz (instead of marble)? My hard soapstone has quartz veining. I bought my soapstone from m. Teixiera in nj and bucks county did the fabrication. Very happy with the results.

So that last picture is an example of their Barroca soapstone. I actually like the brownish veining since we have a lot of wood in our kitchen, but my husband had a lighter color in mind. I didn't want to go driving all over looking for something that Stone Masters says doesn't exist since every place that carries soapstone is at least an hour from our house and we have to get a babysitter...but sounds like it DOES exist thanks to you all!

clea07- I emailed Bucks Country Soapstone and they were 50% more expensive than Stone Masters, putting them out of our budget. Maybe I'll give them a call and email them our kitchen plan just to make sure that the pricing really is that much more.

Cookncarpenter-I understood the veining to be quartz as well. And from what I have read soapstone doesn't etch and if it does than it's some other kind of stone, so I was super confused after talking with her. Thanks for your real-life experience!

Very pretty slab! when you said brown I pictured something much different, that is subtle and would go great with lots of wood. You will love soapstone :)

When we were pricing soapstone some places had a really low price per sqft but they charge for the stone that was cut out for the range and sink and the more expensive places didn't. In the end the final cost was negligable.

Thanks banana suit. I'm going to send the kitchen design to the more expensive place and see what they come back with. I'm hoping that we have the same experience that you did!

Or not, since I think I do like the brown! I still think it's weird that they said that all white veining in soapstone is marble and makes it prone to etching. It's nice to have options! Thanks everyone for your help!

We have the brown/caramel veining in our soapstone and we love it! It warms the place up! :)

Also, I think it is more common to find the white veining than the brown. I had never seen the swirls that we have on our slabs anywhere else--even on all the Houzz pictures I looked through--I mainly saw white veins.

mom3sulu- same here, I've always seen white veining in pictures. That's why I was so surprised when they told me that black soapstone always has brownish veining, unless it has marble in it, making it more prone to etching and staining, which is exactly what I wanted soapstone NOT to do (weirdly I'm ok with scratches and dents, but the big etching and staining like on marble would bother me).

Also, something to ask and think about for you, Linda.... my SS is actually harder than most. It is a 5 on the hardness scale. I know that Barocca is really soft--so maybe the white veins do indicate softer? Just something to ask about maybe?

Oops, just saw that your slab is barocca--so that blows my theory! :)

They told me that white veins are actually marble running through the soapstone and that is what makes it so hard. They said that is what made it prone to the damage and etching that other soapstones are not prone to. They really steered me away from the white veining.

Ok, I think I'm going to have to convince the husband to just go with the brown veining. I think it will work well with our wood floors, beams, and butcher block island top. We have creamy white cabinets. What kind of backsplash did you all go with that went well with the black soapstone with caramel veining?

Stonemasters will give you samples galore. That Barocca is soft, make sure that it works for you. Try scratching the sample then sanding out the scratch, chip the edge and sand it out. Try acid on the vein and see if it etches. Know what you are getting.

I have yet to do a backsplash, but I am leaning toward either a white subway that matches my cabinets or a calacatta herringbone marble which matches the soapstone really well. The calacatta has a nice creamy brown swirling throughout.

Thanks mom2sulu! Our contractor wants to know how we want the outlets so we went to the tile store today. I tried to describe a marble with brown veining and they looked at me like I was crazy! That calacatta was exactly what I had in my head but didn't know if it existed!

At the top is a some kind of glass--I forget its name. Although the color was good, it was too modern. On the left is a calacatta chevron, next is a small calacatta herringbone, and to its right, an extra large calacatta subway. The chevron and the herringbone looked the best and I was leaning toward the herringbone. What I learned is that you will get more pattern/colors the larger the format. I just wanted a touch of pattern/color so the herringbone was my winner. You will also get a bit more shine with the smaller pieces.

However, let me just warn you that the prices are crazy $$ which is why I haven't committed yet. :)

mom2sulu - that veining is beautiful!

Calcite-filled veins are common in lots of rocks, and it's wise to check large veins for etching or scratching. But brown veins can also be calcite, so you might want to test that before committing. Don't assume that the color tells you much about the minerals present. Good luck!

Thanks, Leela4! We are so enjoying it! I was always drawn to the white straight lines in soapstone until I saw my slab. It was truly love at first sight. My DH was just glad to be finished looking-I had dragged him through granite yards for months! But he loves it too! We can't say enough about soapstone.

mom2lulu- agreed, that veining is beautiful! Where did you go that had all that calacatta marble? I'm hoping that it's a chain that is also by us! Like I said, the place I went to didn't have anything but the traditional grey and white marble. Perfect yin and yang with the soapstone!

It is a local company here in Cincinnati, but they are a distributor for Artistic Tile which is where most of that tile came from. Their website is artistictile.com Hopefully, you can find someone who carries that line near you. Or even you could always start a thread asking for other brands? I am sure there are others who have used calacatta and possibly even more affordable brands as well.

Thanks! I found some pics online and emailed them to our tile place to see if they carry it. If they don't I guess I'll be making some calls!

Our gray soapstone has ROSE QUARTZ veining. Yeah. Pink.

I saw it and almost died. It's beyond gorgeous (if you like that sort of thing).

Melanie, Can we see a picture, please?

Now that I want to see Melanie. Sounds heavenly.

@ linda17551 Did you end up getting the Barroca with rusty veining? Did they stay rust-colored after sanding? We also are looking at a slab of Barroca at Stone Masters. We want that rusty veining, but the salesperson warned us that it will lighten when they sand the surface as part of fabrication. Can anyone re-assure us that the installed slab will still have rusty veins?

Soooo, we chose the block with the rusty veining, and prior to going back to lay it out I emailed several times with Ashley DiTomaso confirming exactly what block we wanted, with pictures and everything (we live an hour from Stone Masters and had to pay a babysitter to go there to lay it out, so I didn't want any mixups). When we got there, Ashley had given them the wrong # and they had the wrong slab out. They couldn't get the right slab out same day and told us we would have to come back. The slab that they had out had white veining, which is what my husband had wanted, so I had to concede that one to him since rescheduling for another weekend would delay everything. I'm still bitter about it. I will say that they didn't say a thing to us about the rusty veining lightening up. Take that for what it's worth though, since Ashley wasn't exactly helpful throughout the process. If I had to do it again, I would have gone to Bucky County Soapstone.