I know it's a box store... but home depot had a beautiful soapstone counter and it was very reasonably priced. I am considering using it in my kitchen remodel.

As far as salvage, I am not sure if they pick up in Westchester but there is a company in Queens that is called "build it green". I love going there and finding great salvaged things like your tin ceiling.

We have soapstone countertops and a sink in our kitchen and it's a *great* surface to work with. Functional, almost impervious to scratches and burns, and looks great -- especially when oiled with mineral oil, as they suggest you do every few months.

Our supplier was Vermont Soapstone, who were very easy to work with. The pieces come by truck, crated. Our contractors had no problem with the actual installation since the pieces were already cut to size and edged/finished, but watch out -- soapstone is very heavy. Plan ahead and have enough people there to lift and shift things into place.

what you have to do is call a bunch of stone yards in your area and ask them if they have soapstone. Then you pick your slabs in person as each slab veining varies and find a fabricator who will pick up the slab, measure your kitchen and install it for you. There should be plenty of places near you.

I would not buy stone slabs sight unseen.

May be different where you are, but her in OK, you can basically contact a local company who would be doing the work (cutting, install, etc) and they would get the raw material even if it is not something they typically stock. Just a thought!

I recognize that counter in the picture -- it is a display at Vermont Soapstone, where we bought our sink and counters.

We saved some money by picking it up ourselves. It turned out to be a very long day for my husband, as I went into labour with our first child while he was on the way home (it's a VERY long drie from where we live), and the poor guy had to pull an all-nighter on top of it!

Once the excitement and exhaustion wore off, and before he was due back at work, he installed the counter with our regular contractor. Soapstone is soft, and does not require any special equipment or tools, like other stone counters do, so it was a breeze to install. Soapstone makes beautiful tight joints like Corian, actually.

So if you are used to house renovation work, do it yourself. If not, any good careful experienced professional can do it -- they do not need to have experience working with soapstone.

Oh, and Vermont Soapstone are THE BEST to deal with! One of our very favourite suppliers!

thanks everyone. I just called the granite place my contractor recommended and they work with a supplier called M Teixeira. Am going to get an estimate from them. The saleswoman said that she knew I'd like granite much better, and that it's sturdier, etc, but I love the look of soapstone and feel at this point I know all the pros and cons of all and we want to go with this (assuming it doesn't blow what's left of our budget out of the water!).
@mschatelaine - Just sent a query to Vermont Soapstone - and will look around more to find a someone to install (we're not up for the challenge of doing it ourselves). And you're right! I borrowed a photo from their site.
@kthompson - good to know about how the counters arrive - my contractor asked about that - i thought maybe they'd just send a complete slab.
@Imblebee - will give Home Depot another look
@outonalimb_2008 - you were right about the name - for some reason Garden State Soapstone didn't come up in my searches. Will send them a plan for an estimate.

AT - you're the best!

http://www.greendemolitions.com/kitchensunder10.html

just sent this link to someone in westchester as a source for re-claimed kitchens; possibly found it here on apt therapy last year. they may be able to direct you to someone who may be interested in your "old" kitchen pieces.

We put in soapstone counters a few months ago and got a lot of "why don't you just do granite?" from the fabricators we contacted. But we kept at and found someone to do the fabrication (we had already picked a slab from a wholesaler) and it's the best part of the new kitchen. And, by the way, I found out about soapstone on Gardenweb. As the poster above mentioned, you can get more information, advice and support about soapstone on the GW kitchen forum than you'll know what to do with.

we recently finished a kitchen reno. we used m texiera for the countertops in a rather large city kitchen. their selection is exceptional...we went to the yard and picked our slabs (malibu green). my only complaint is that they are light on the details...
that said, after a bit of angst, the final result is beautiful.

Theres an awesome place in Washington that specializes in soapstone slabs and sinks. They ship too!

There name is Crocodile Rocks. http://on.fb.me/ez0T7D