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Countertop Choice

Begger
Begger Posts: 607
in EggHead Forum
Everyone IS or seems to be in love with Granite.   No question of its beauty and it is just so mechanically HARD.

However, If I do a table top for OUTDOOR use, I'm going with SOAPSTONE.   It has a number of advantages, not the LEAST of which is it is impossible to stain.     It is Very Durable, too and will outlast the house.    If you can find a color / style you are good with, I think it is a better choice than Granite in many cases.

http://countertopinvestigator.com/soapstone-countertops/

Just a short article on soapstone.   
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Comments

  • Thatgrimguy
    Thatgrimguy Posts: 4,738
    edited December 2015
    Can you get comparably priced to granite?  In my area I can get Granite for cheap. I had 18 foot of 4mm granite with egg cutouts, and a mounted undermount sink for $1100 all installed.  I couldn't find any other solid surface close to that.
    XL, Small, Mini & Mini Max Green Egg, Shirley Fab Trailer, 6 gal and 2.5 gal Cajun Fryers, BlueStar 60" Range, 48" Lonestar Grillz Santa Maria, Alto Shaam 1200s, Gozney Dome, Gateway 55g Drum
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  • Skiddymarker
    Skiddymarker Posts: 8,528
    Thatgrimguy said:
    Can you get comparably priced to granite?  In my area I can get Granite for cheap. I had 18 foot of 4mm granite with egg cutouts, and a mounted undermount sink for $1100 all installed.  I couldn't find any other solid surface close to that.
    You sure about 4mm? Maybe 40mm? I have tin foil thicker than 4mm. Assuming it was inch and a half thick stone, $1100 is a good buy. Much depends on your outdoor space and the aesthetics you want. 

    I used 20cmX60cmX15mm exterior porcelain tiles for my egg space. 24 square feet of counter, 10 under the egg and oval, 14 as the workspace. Total cost was <$150, the tiles were an end of run, concrete backer board, thin-set and grout with sealer. I think the tiles were from an office building job. As they were green, they matched the egg, to hell with how the Primo felt. 

    Delta B.C. - Whiskey and steak, because no good story ever started with someone having a salad!
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  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817
    Skiddymarker said:
    Thatgrimguy said:
    Can you get comparably priced to granite?  In my area I can get Granite for cheap. I had 18 foot of 4mm granite with egg cutouts, and a mounted undermount sink for $1100 all installed.  I couldn't find any other solid surface close to that.
    You sure about 4mm? Maybe 40mm? I have tin foil thicker than 4mm. Assuming it was inch and a half thick stone, $1100 is a good buy. Much depends on your outdoor space and the aesthetics you want. 

    I used 20cmX60cmX15mm exterior porcelain tiles for my egg space. 24 square feet of counter, 10 under the egg and oval, 14 as the workspace. Total cost was <$150, the tiles were an end of run, concrete backer board, thin-set and grout with sealer. I think the tiles were from an office building job. As they were green, they matched the egg, to hell with how the Primo felt. 


    4 mm is less than 1/8th inch.

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

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  • Thatgrimguy
    Thatgrimguy Posts: 4,738
    edited December 2015
    4 cm  My bad. wasn't paying attention to the typo
    XL, Small, Mini & Mini Max Green Egg, Shirley Fab Trailer, 6 gal and 2.5 gal Cajun Fryers, BlueStar 60" Range, 48" Lonestar Grillz Santa Maria, Alto Shaam 1200s, Gozney Dome, Gateway 55g Drum
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  • Begger
    Begger Posts: 607
    Here in SoCal, the local Granite Yards have 20mm and 30mm for countertops.

    In GENERAL, having Soapstone or Granite is about a wash when it comes to cost.

    And don't forget, you can ALSO have a SoapStone SINK made.   They are pretty expensive, but have the characteristics of soapstone.  

    4cm stone?  VERY heavy per square.  

    Granite weighs what?   About 168lb per cubic foot or 2.7g per CC.  
    So, a 30cmx30cm (about 1 sq ft) section of granite @4cm would go over 20lb.

    My 18"x24" piece of 3cm goes nearly 50lb.  

    SOAPSTONE weighs a LITTLE more than Granite.  
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  • Lit
    Lit Posts: 9,053
    We went with Quartz in our kitchen. Seems like granite is kinda yesterday's thing now.
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  • EGGjlmh
    EGGjlmh Posts: 823
    Little Steven said:
    Skiddymarker said:
    Thatgrimguy said:
    Can you get comparably priced to granite?  In my area I can get Granite for cheap. I had 18 foot of 4mm granite with egg cutouts, and a mounted undermount sink for $1100 all installed.  I couldn't find any other solid surface close to that.
    You sure about 4mm? Maybe 40mm? I have tin foil thicker than 4mm. Assuming it was inch and a half thick stone, $1100 is a good buy. Much depends on your outdoor space and the aesthetics you want. 

    I used 20cmX60cmX15mm exterior porcelain tiles for my egg space. 24 square feet of counter, 10 under the egg and oval, 14 as the workspace. Total cost was <$150, the tiles were an end of run, concrete backer board, thin-set and grout with sealer. I think the tiles were from an office building job. As they were green, they matched the egg, to hell with how the Primo felt. 


    4 mm is less than 1/8th inch.

    4mm is .15748 inches, just over 1/8'' thick

    1MBGE 2006, 1LBGE 2010, 1 Mini Max, Fathers Day 2015

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  • Spaightlabs
    Spaightlabs Posts: 2,349
    Begger said:
    Everyone IS or seems to be in love with Granite.   No question of its beauty and it is just so mechanically HARD.

    However, If I do a table top for OUTDOOR use, I'm going with SOAPSTONE.   It has a number of advantages, not the LEAST of which is it is impossible to stain.     It is Very Durable, too and will outlast the house.    If you can find a color / style you are good with, I think it is a better choice than Granite in many cases.

    http://countertopinvestigator.com/soapstone-countertops/

    Just a short article on soapstone.   
    Is big soapstone paying you to post here? =)
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  • Roadpuke0
    Roadpuke0 Posts: 531
    Lit said:
    We went with Quartz in our kitchen. Seems like granite is kinda yesterday's thing now.
    Same with me and hay No Radon either!
    Plumbers local 130 chicago.     Why do today what you can do tomorrow

    weapons: XL, Minie, old gasser, weber, v10 Bradley smoker and sometimes talent!

    Bristol, Wisconsin 
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  • piney
    piney Posts: 1,478
    I think you meant Silestone, yes it is superior over Granite.  Granite will stain, crack, needs sealer etc, Silestone needs nothing it is made in Spain from Quartz
    Lenoir, N.C.
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  • Spaightlabs
    Spaightlabs Posts: 2,349
    piney said:
    I think you meant Silestone, yes it is superior over Granite.  Granite will stain, crack, needs sealer etc, Silestone needs nothing it is made in Spain from Quartz
    More American jobs lost.
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  • piney
    piney Posts: 1,478
    Spaightlabs said:
    piney said:
    I think you meant Silestone, yes it is superior over Granite.  Granite will stain, crack, needs sealer etc, Silestone needs nothing it is made in Spain from Quartz
    More American jobs lost.
    Well, I can see where you are coming from and, I for one will buy American over foreign every time. In this case the quartz is mined in Spain and I didn't use Spaniards to install. What about your Egg?? Mexico ceramics, mexican labor. oops!
    Lenoir, N.C.
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  • Spaightlabs
    Spaightlabs Posts: 2,349
    I was just giving you grief brother Piney.   =)

    We have the ECO countertops made by Consenting who also makes Silestone...


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  • piney
    piney Posts: 1,478
    Spaightlabs said:
    I was just giving you grief brother Piney.   =)

    We have the ECO countertops made by Consenting who also makes Silestone...


    Not a problem at all here my friend! I know exactly how you feel. I looked for weeks to buy a pair of boots made in USA, every store had products from Asia no USA. I finally came upon a pair of Justin made in Ind. not exactly what I wanted but, I got 'em on now! It is sad how everything had gone even our food. I'm in the trucking business and I see more than you can imagine. Its just like the eariler threads on Yeti vs Rtic.... Texas Company...China made. I'm glad people feel as you and I do.
    Lenoir, N.C.
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  • Botch
    Botch Posts: 17,362
    Less than an hour ago I read an article about Quartzite being the new "in" material for countertops, but it didn't mention anything about outdoor suitability.  

    “All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure.”

                  - Mark Twain 

    Ogden, UT, USA


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  • blasting
    blasting Posts: 6,262
    edited December 2015
    Prior to selling it, I owned a kitchen design firm.  I saw the rise and decline of Corian and corian like surfaces.  Then it was granite, and the synthetic granites.  Now we're on to soapstone etc.

    Corian is can be scratched, but is easy to repair.  Granite is much harder to damage, but repair often isn't an option.

    All are good choice for an outdoor counter top, as far as the elements go.  Staining will be more prevalent with the porous granite.  If you go granite I'd suggest something heavily speckled to hide any grease spots that may soak in.

    My choice for outdoor counter tops, all things being equal, would be either stainless steel, or corian with granite inserts for the hot stuff.  Granite is so dang hard, and the stuff we handle can be heavy and awkward making the chances of chipping it more of a possibility than in a kitchen.
    Phoenix 
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  • Darby_Crenshaw
    Darby_Crenshaw Posts: 2,657
    edited December 2015
    Silestone is synthetic. Epoxy essentially 

    granite may "stain" etc. but damn. Can we get beyond eveything needing to be fake-perfect?

    there are hundred and fifty year old white marble tables all throughout paris. 

    Stain? Where?  

    Scratch? Who cares?

    go to a bar with a copper counter top. If you have a need for perfection, no scratches, etc., then run away

    but if you like the way an old tool looks when it is used, or understand the word "patina", then you'll like it

    the houses on my street were built a hundred years ago with red french tile roofs. There are six left. Everyone else tore them off to put on cheap asphalt crap

    ours have moss. Like, inches thick. 

    Some DBs rent a pressure washer and attack it. Because 'clean'=good. 

    Our neighbors next door are putting their house up for sale and EVERY single real estate agent said they need to tear off the roof and put on an asphalt one. 

    You know. Take off a hundred-year roof and put on one that won't last twenty. Reason? Because the real estate agent didn't know wtf he was looking at. And most of the buyers wouldn't know what they were looking at either. 

    She (my neighbor) said "it's a small old house. Built in the twenties. Three families raised their kids in this house. Under this roof. I'd rather sell it to someone who appreciates it it rather than spend 10 thousand dollars to tear off a 50 thousand dollar roof"

    our friends sold their house a few doors down, and as i was walking by they were tossing the tiles to the ground. They cost, today, about $20 each (to replace). Smash. Smash. Smash 

    sold the house. Spent 10k, price went up 5k, and they got a roof that'll last 15-20 instead of one their kids wouldn't have to bother with




    [social media disclaimer: irony and sarcasm may be used in some or all of user's posts; emoticon usage is intended to indicate moderately jocular social interaction; the comments toward users, their usernames, and the real people (living or dead) that they refer to are not intended to be adversarial in nature; those replying to this user are entering into a tacit agreement that they are real-life or social-media acquaintances and/or have agreed to or tacitly agreed to perpetrate occasional good-natured ribbing between and among themselves and others]

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  • Mattman3969
    Mattman3969 Posts: 10,458
    Couldn't agree more @darby_crenshaw. I'm a natural stone guy.  I sell both natural stone & synthetic Quartz , both are good products but I just can't get past the natural beauty of a rock that was mined out of the ground and polished with diamonds to achieve a look that just can't be replicated.  

    -----------------------------------------

    analyze adapt overcome

    2008 -Large BGE. 2013- Small BGE and 2015 - Mini. Henderson, Ky.
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  • blasting
    blasting Posts: 6,262
    Mattman3969 said:
    Couldn't agree more @darby_crenshaw. I'm a natural stone guy.  I sell both natural stone & synthetic Quartz , both are good products but I just can't get past the natural beauty of a rock that was mined out of the ground and polished with diamonds to achieve a look that just can't be replicated.  

    If I were Bill Gates rich, I'd hang granite slabs as artwork.  Amazing stuff.
    Phoenix 
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  • Darby_Crenshaw
    Darby_Crenshaw Posts: 2,657
    When you get the dough, book match it 
    [social media disclaimer: irony and sarcasm may be used in some or all of user's posts; emoticon usage is intended to indicate moderately jocular social interaction; the comments toward users, their usernames, and the real people (living or dead) that they refer to are not intended to be adversarial in nature; those replying to this user are entering into a tacit agreement that they are real-life or social-media acquaintances and/or have agreed to or tacitly agreed to perpetrate occasional good-natured ribbing between and among themselves and others]

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  • blasting
    blasting Posts: 6,262
    Darby_Crenshaw said:
    When you get the dough, book match it 

    I know your joking, but we did 200k kitchens where people insisted on granite but then b1tched if it wasn't uniform.  Those folks are better suited to a man made product, but they wanted granite because it was the thing to have.  

    We also did projects where people appreciated the varying beauty of granite.  A giant vein running diagonal across a massive island is a design feature difficult to beat, imo.
    Phoenix 
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  • Darby_Crenshaw
    Darby_Crenshaw Posts: 2,657
    edited December 2015
    I ain't jokin. Book matching is pretty cool on a wall

    for counter tops i wouldn't do it because no countertop configurations really allow it. 

    (You reminded me of somethin.  I did a kitchen around 1998 that was 100k for the cabinets alone. quarter sawn ash. Holy shizznit)
    [social media disclaimer: irony and sarcasm may be used in some or all of user's posts; emoticon usage is intended to indicate moderately jocular social interaction; the comments toward users, their usernames, and the real people (living or dead) that they refer to are not intended to be adversarial in nature; those replying to this user are entering into a tacit agreement that they are real-life or social-media acquaintances and/or have agreed to or tacitly agreed to perpetrate occasional good-natured ribbing between and among themselves and others]

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  • bgebrent
    bgebrent Posts: 19,636
    Granite is awful nice.  Getting kinda passé in mainstream these days in favor of glass, concrete and quartz products.  i'm too old to give a s about flavor of the day.  I'd run with granite.
    Sandy Springs & Dawsonville Ga
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  • Mattman3969
    Mattman3969 Posts: 10,458
    With today's technology advancement in granite fab there should never be any surprises to customers concerning veining.  With the exotic stones we send our customers a digital picture of their kitchen before we even drop a blade in the stone. It crazy the advancement our industry has made in the last 10 yrs.  

    -----------------------------------------

    analyze adapt overcome

    2008 -Large BGE. 2013- Small BGE and 2015 - Mini. Henderson, Ky.
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  • Begger
    Begger Posts: 607
    piney said:
    I think you meant Silestone, yes it is superior over Granite.  Granite will stain, crack, needs sealer etc, Silestone needs nothing it is made in Spain from Quartz
    No, Piney, I said EXACTLY what I wanted.  SOAPSTONE.    

    And No, again, I'm not being PAYED or compensated in any fashion for the mention of a reasonable alternative TO Granite, which IMO is an overdone material.  

    If I suggested a synthetic material, I'd look into Corian.   Expensive?  yep. and it might NOT be suitable for outdoor use.  

    BTW, Granite has Quartz in it, too, but is NOT, unlike Silestone, a 'synthetic' material.   or mostly, anyway.
    Quartz is simple stuff.  But HARD.   Quartz is Silicon Dioxide.   One Silicon atom and a duo of Oxygen.  

    Old-School chem labs had work benches made exclusively from Soapstone, due to its mechanical and chemical properties.

    I brought up Soapstone since it has some interesting properties which MIGHT make it suitable as an outdoor tabletop or long-term exposure to the elements.
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  • Begger
    Begger Posts: 607

    Darby_Crenshaw said:
    Silestone is synthetic. Epoxy essentially 

    granite may "stain" etc. but damn. Can we get beyond eveything needing to be fake-perfect?

    there are hundred and fifty year old white marble tables all throughout paris. 

    Stain? Where?  

    Scratch? Who cares?

    go to a bar with a copper counter top. If you have a need for perfection, no scratches, etc., then run away

    but if you like the way an old tool looks when it is used, or understand the word "patina", then you'll like it

    the houses on my street were built a hundred years ago with red french tile roofs. There are six left. Everyone else tore them off to put on cheap asphalt crap

    ours have moss. Like, inches thick. 

    Some DBs rent a pressure washer and attack it. Because 'clean'=good. 

    Our neighbors next door are putting their house up for sale and EVERY single real estate agent said they need to tear off the roof and put on an asphalt one. 

    You know. Take off a hundred-year roof and put on one that won't last twenty. Reason? Because the real estate agent didn't know wtf he was looking at. And most of the buyers wouldn't know what they were looking at either. 

    She (my neighbor) said "it's a small old house. Built in the twenties. Three families raised their kids in this house. Under this roof. I'd rather sell it to someone who appreciates it it rather than spend 10 thousand dollars to tear off a 50 thousand dollar roof"

    our friends sold their house a few doors down, and as i was walking by they were tossing the tiles to the ground. They cost, today, about $20 each (to replace). Smash. Smash. Smash 

    sold the house. Spent 10k, price went up 5k, and they got a roof that'll last 15-20 instead of one their kids wouldn't have to bother with




    My IDIOT brother-in-law did ONE really great thing.   Tore out his LAWN and replaced with totally area-appropriate sand and cactus.   This was out near Palm Springs, a hard-core DESERT.   
    Within minutes of the house being sold (Divorce.   told you he was an idiot) the beautiful yard was being replaced with a cookie cutter SOD LAW requiring watering 2x and 3x times DAILY when it's 110f outside.   I tossed an ICECUBE on a manhole cover and it evaporated (sublimated) without even leaving a wet-spot.

    SOAPSTONE is a totally natural, mined or quarried product.   It is TALC based, if memory serves.   Somewhat softer than a quartz based product, it is also 100% stain resistant but WILL get a patina of wear after normal use.
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  • Legume
    Legume Posts: 15,936
    Angry countertop thread, lots of yelling.  Wouldn't have predicted that.
    THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER
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  • bgebrent
    bgebrent Posts: 19,636
    Legume said:
    Angry countertop thread, lots of yelling.  Wouldn't have predicted that.
    Me either, no opinions on the vanilla site ;)
    Sandy Springs & Dawsonville Ga
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  • Begger
    Begger Posts: 607
    Lots of yelling because people won't even look at the first link and than comment on SoapStone for their application.
    I didn't mean for this to spin out of control.   It's really a SIMPLE question.  

    I think it is probably VERY suitable for outdoor use and requires a fraction of the care that Granite needs.
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  • Legume
    Legume Posts: 15,936
    I like the look of soapstone, I just don't think I'd be confident in something only 1/8" thick.
    THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER
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