Soapstone countertops - around the sink

10 years ago

Considering soapstone for my perimeter countertop.

Couple questions:

1. from an aesthetic standpoint, will it look out of balance to have a quartz island? — a lot of photos I see with this layout have marble on the island. But I don't want marble. The quartz isn't ultra shiny or modern. But it's quartz just the same.

2. I'm good with the scratches, sanding them out, and oiling the counters — but I'm not so ok with dings. Thinking about soapstone around the sink, when I wash a large pot or heavy pan, sometimes they clank on the edge of my granite counter. I don't even think about it. But with the soapstone, I'm concerned about it chipping and gouging. With an under mount sink, it seems like that may be quite likely.

What are your experiences?

Featured Answer

quadesl

10 years ago

last modified: 10 years ago

No chips or dings on the edges of the counters here after two years but there are a few inside the sink. I did one the other day when a correlle bowl slipped out of my hands when rinsing it off. My daughter, wife and now myself are all guilty of one incident each. I do most of the cleanup around the sink and I'm generally pretty careful. I rinse off and use the dishwasher for most items but hand wash pots, pans, knives and larger utensils.

I'm sure I hit the edges around the sink and dishwasher a few times but no damage to the stone. The dings in the sink are tiny and hardly noticeable unless you're feeling around for them.

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Comments (12)

PRO
Joseph Corlett, LLC
10 years ago
Have a large radius fabricated on your sink edge profile.
jpmom thanked Joseph Corlett, LLC
vpierce
10 years ago
Yes, I do have quite a few small chips in the soapstone (Dark Julia) counter top around my sink. Also in the edge above the dishwasher due to banging dishes against the counter top when loading.
jpmom thanked vpierce
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Bettina Hooper
10 years ago
JP mom, thanks for asking this question; soapstone has been a consideration until now.

vpierce, thanks for answering.

I love chips and dings (patina), but am selling the house, so soapstone is out of the running now.
jpmom thanked Bettina Hooper
jpmom
Original Author
10 years ago
Joseph - I'm sorry, but can you explain or show a photo?
nycbluedevil_gw
10 years ago
I have white marble counters in my apartment and am getting soapstone in my country house. I have had the marble for three years. No dings. I am very careful with cast iron, I don't used the anodized aluminum pots which I think are very hard, and most importantly, I swing my faucet out of the way when handling a big or heavy object near the sink. I think that has made a big difference.
jpmom thanked nycbluedevil_gw
nycbluedevil_gw
10 years ago
Hit submit too quickly. I meant to say that swinging the faucet out of the way made a big difference because I used to have granite and had quite a number of dings when we were not so careful about doing that.
jpmom thanked nycbluedevil_gw
jpmom
Original Author
10 years ago
Once I present all of this feedback to my husband, I think he will vote no for soapstone… not sure if I will be able to convince him otherwise.

As I said, I can deal with scratches, or even a little gouge here or there, but the edge of the sink could be the deal breaker for me.
irmaly
10 years ago
I was concerned with dings around my sink with soapstone too. That's why I went with a microedge drop=in sink, and I love it.
jpmom thanked irmaly
scrappy25
10 years ago
What Joseph said.

Based on his advice, I insisted on a slightly larger radius for my sink edge (Julia) and counter edge than the standard eased edge and so far no chips on my soapstone, one year out. Mine is similar to a 1/4 roundover edge profile- you can google it to see what that looks like. It is a very simple profile and nobody really notices it.
jpmom thanked scrappy25
catbuilder
10 years ago
No dings around my sink. We're not terribly careful. It probably depends on the hardness of your stone.
jpmom thanked catbuilder
javiwa
10 years ago
jpmom: the larger the radius, the more rounded the corner. Pictured in this graphic are radius corner options for countertops, so just reverse the image in your mind -- the brown/granite will be your sink opening.
jpmom thanked javiwa