Marble or soapstone kitchen counters?

10 years ago

I'm trying to make up my mind on counter materials. We're going with finished concrete floors and white oak cabinets with a contemporary to modern leaning design.

My personal pros and cons for marble:

Pros: Looks gorgeous. Great for baking.

Cons: etching from acids and staining. While I trust myself to take good care of my counter and feel I can tolerate a normal patina developing, we get very frequent guests and knowing what guests have done to my cookware over the years does not inspire confidence that a marble counter would escape unscathed.

And for soapstone:

Pros: Also beautiful. Impervious to acids. Oil finishing hides scratches.

Cons: Soft and can scratch/chip. Harder ones are downright black once oil treated. Options are making my head spin. Want one that's adequately hard, not green toned, and ideally grey not black once oil treated.

Any input on additional pros/cons that I haven't considered and long term wear for either material would be greatly appreciated!

Featured Answer

PRO

Cosa Belle Interiors

10 years ago

Good Afternoon!

We love both products. A designer in our firm has soapstone in her kitchen and another is putting marble in. Both are beautiful options. However, yes, both may have durability issues. Here is a little more insight on each. I see you have done your reasearch on some of the attributes of each countertop but I am going to go into a little bit more detail of why they have those and this may help you make your decision.

Marble

When we are looking at the various stones that are commonly used for countertops marble is not the hardest. In fact, marble is a metamorphic stone which forms when sediments crystalize leaving it porous and susceptible to staining. Marble is formed from calcium carbonate, causing the chemical structure that reacts to acid which leads to etching. Marble also conducts heat better than most other surface due it's dense compositions. This allows it to stay cooler than other countertops. This makes it ideal for baking.

One contributing factor to the marble is the finish you select. i.e. polished or honed. Polished will protect it from staining a little bit more. The polishing process helps close some of the pores. However, you will need to maintain this polish and have the tops resealed. Also, if a scratch or etch takes place it is more noticeable on a polished surface. Versus a honed finish, which is more likely to stain but less likely to scratch. A honed finish has a more velvety so scratches and slight etching blends in easier. So if you are looking for that aged marble patina marble look, that can be accomplished with a honed finish.

Keep in mind marble can be fixed from small etching from in home products and can even be professional refinished as well.

Soapstone

Now to look at soapstone, it is also a metamorphic rock and is known to have a "soapy" feel due to a high concentration of talc. Soapstone is softer than marble and granite. Soapstone is extremely dense and is nonporous. So it does not stain. Also, due to it's chemical composition and high level of talc, it does not react to acids. The high density of soapstone also allows the tops to withstand high levels of heat. So it can withstand hot pans directly on the surface. Also, due to its density, it is a cleaner surface. Being nonporous, microorganisms have nowhere to live and grow within the countertop.

Soapstone does react to oils so it comes in contact with human oils it will patina and get darker. This process can also be sped up by adding mineral oil to the surface. Although dense, soapstone is very soft and can scratch easily. However, because it is so soft. It can actually be sanded to a new finish by a professional.

Other surfaces to consider are Quartzite. Quartzite is going to look a like marble, it is a natural stone but it is harder and it is not going to stain as easily.

Another option, if you like the look but do not want to deal with the care, is to look at quartz. Quartz is There are a few quartz manufacturers that make a honed finish as well as the polished for a few of the colors. You may be able to find one that works for your design that is much easier to take care of. I know Silestone has a Volcanic and a Suede texture. The quartz manufacturers are really coming out with some creative things to keep up with the marble. Quartz will have the highest durability of all of them and because it is man made it will have a warranty.

The last option, that I did in my own home, is to mix materials. I have done quartz in my high traffic areas and a honed marble just on my island.

Hope all of this information helps!

Let us know what you do and good luck!!

Cosa Belle Interiors

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Comments (7)

Christi Roberson
Original Author
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
Thanks so much for your detailed response! Great info, I really appreciate it. I have not considered quartzite so that gives me another alternative to consider.

I really like the suggestion of mixing the materials, we may go this route.
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PRO
Pegasus Design Group, Inc.
10 years ago
We also agree that a quartz product would be the ideal solution as you can get the look you want without the wear problems. We say quartz!!!
Christi Roberson thanked Pegasus Design Group, Inc.
User
10 years ago
Love the look of soapstone, but if I had another kitchen to do over I'd consider zinc (no, it's not one of your options) It has an amazing Patina over time and so much nicer than stainless. And none of the overpowering pattern of stone. Fabrication options abound also, so less restrictions than other materials. Love the rivet edge detail in this example.

Buckhead · More Info
PRO
Presidio Tile & Stone
10 years ago
I don't think it's easy to find, but what about white soapstone?

http://www.uscgranite.com/soapstone/white-soapstone/
BP Hansen
10 years ago
I also very strongly considered soapstone -- I love the look of it, the low maintenance (you can oil/sand out a lot of dings) and the fact that it's impervious to heat. We finally decided to go with quartzite, mostly b/c it's a lot harder than soapstone and visually more similar to marble (which I adore but couldn't stand the idea of the etching and obvious wear) -- and we also decided on walnut cabinets, so dark cabinets + dark countertop was too much for us.

Our friend installed soapstone, and they're beautiful, and he loves them. I think the only thing that might give him pause is that in less than a year, he's had a lot of chips and divets around his under mount sink (I toured a home with soapstone and noticed this as well) b/c the material is relatively soft.
HU-923805950
5 years ago
I've had soapstone countertops for about 8 years. No chips, no scratches. After initially oiling it every couple of months, I now do so at most once a year. I love it.