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I've never installed fireslate in a kitchen before, but if any DIYers are looking for a bargain on used fire slate then keep an eye open for your local state surplus stores and auctions. Those old chemistry lab countertops end up somewhere you know...

Have Fireslate kitchen and bath counters as well as a hearth. Installed 3 years ago. The company is great to work with - owner very generous with advice. Read their web site thoroughly. Best installed by those with experience working with stone or tile and the correct equipment.

I have a fireslate counter top and it is the most difficult surface to clean I've ever encountered. I've tried all the methods prescribed by the mfgr and they do not work.

Beware of Fireslate! - Take a look at my site http://www.fire-slate.com to see for yourself.

If Fireslate isn't your choice, consider creating your own concrete countertop. When I first heard that this material was being used for countertops, I thought "Yuck! Like a sidewalk?" And then my friends did their kitchen and their counter has this very cool look, like leather! But the surface (which they coated with a few layers of varnish) holds up to ANYTHING. It is pretty amazing. And they had fun doing it.

Our company was going to install fireslate in a 40-unit, high-end residential building here in Denver. We installed it in our showroom and realized right away it was a bad idea. The installation was an enormous PITA with the countertops flaking apart at every corner and seem. The two pieces we were installing on the base simply couldn't be seemed together and we had to use grout. Finally, once it was down, it looked cool only when wet. We took it out.

Do NOT get fireslate. That guy's spoof website is right on target. It is horrible stuff that gets worse and worse looking, from day one and on. Nothing seals it, nothing cleans it, and it looks absolutyely terrible very quickly. Would you like a countertop that makes a ring just from setting a glass on it? Or a pot draining to dry?

We had Fireslate countertops installed 3 years ago. I have no idea how Never Again got all those marks and spots on his countertops. We have some rings, some light spots, but I can buff them out with non-scratch pot scrubber and put tung oil on it and it looks great. We wanted something that was like stone - soapstone.. Slate and i think this does a great job. I have never gotten a ring from just leaving a pot to dry or setting a glass down. We have 2 teenagers and still, none of the problems.

I installed fireslate in my kitchen about six years ago and I agree that it does stain white with water marks. However, these stains are less likely to happen if the counter tops are maintained with tung oil and can be complete resurfaced by sanding. Real slate, soap stone, or honed granite have the same look cost much more and have their own issues. I found the peolpe at fire slate to be perfectly honest about what I could expect with the counters. Overall I am happy with the material and would use it again.

Just a note: there will be variations in the degree to which the surface is harmed due to the actual chemical composition of the water from the tap.

Fireslate is the biggest joke in countertops I have ever seen. Everything stains it and the company could careless about helping you fix the problem. Please check out www.fire-slate.com before you make the same mistake I did. The good coment about the product have got to be fake

Fireslate is the biggest joke in countertops I have ever seen. Everything stains it and the company could careless about helping you fix the problem. Please check out www.fire-slate.com before you make the same mistake I did. The good comments about the product have got to be fake.

I had saved an article from Old House Interiors which said Fireslate was quite good. Thanks to your feedback from people who had used it, I will avoid an expensive mistake. Thanks

I'm not familiar with Fireslate, but we have just installed a counter made of a material called Paperstone and it looks similar. Paperstone also resembles soapstone, but is made from recycled paper and cashew nut resin. On the plus side, it is a green mateial, is fairly easy to work with, can be cut with carpentry tools, and is incredibly durable (it was designed for outdoor skateboard ramps). But it does require maintenance with oil to keep the surface color looking uniform.

God Damm: I just what to see the colors, size and price! I do nt want allt he rest this crap. Why can't you just tell me the stinking price.

I've had Firesalte countertops for five years now, and despite how lazy I am, they still look great. I get a boatload of compliments on them.

Remember that even polished granite will stains with water marks if you aren't careful and has to be resealed at least once a year! Ask my bummed upsatins neighbors. So every material has drawbacks. If you want maintenace-free , get formica. If you want a nicer look, you'll have to perform some sort of maintainence reguarly on something.

I do regeret getting a fireslate sink, because the sink just takes sucha a beating. Stainles steel or nothing on sinks from now on.

About once a year, I reseal certain heavy-use sections with 100% PURE tung oil, not the cheap type available at Home depot that's cut with other materials. Don't use that.

Stains occasionally occur when I leave spills like red wine and cocktail limes overnight. All in all, it's more more work, but it was $3K cheaper than granite, and I have the resealing process down to where I can do it fairly quickly.

We have been successfully designing and building all types of buildings for over twenty five years. We like new and different products and companies. That is what first interested us in Fireslate; however, FIRESLATE WAS THE SINGLE WORST PRODUCT AND COMPANY we have ever dealt with. The countertops kept arriving to the project improperly made according to the shop drawings and chipped and cracked to such a degree that neither the architect nor the owners would accept them. During all this , Fireslate improperly used our credit card ( which they required for a deposit prior to fabrication ) to charge the full job cost without providing the product !!! They then proceeded to turn an inflated invoice over to NCO ( look them up . .they are the worst of the worst ) , and we still do not have the countertops ( other than damaged ones !!!)!!!
Fortunately , the client is an Architect married to an Architecture Professor at a major university . . .so at least many designers shall be warned of this company.

We had Fireslate counter tops installed in our kitchen when the house was built 6 years ago. We love the product and have had no problems with it whatsoever and no staining, but then again, we take care of our counter tops in much the same way most people do with any other counter top material. I suppose if you don't clean your counters, then you would experience marring. Just keep your counters clean and you'll have no problems.

We installed fireslate in our kitchen about 2 1/2 yrs ago. We were remodeling an old farmhouse so we wanted a period look without the high price of soapstone... which also needs regular oiling and is prone to chipping. We absolutely love our countertops and my millionaire sister-in-law wishes she had used it in her fancy new kitchen instead of her shiny blue pearl granite. Everyone who sees it wants to touch it and they all rave about it. We have 4 kids ranging in age 5 to 17 (3 boys) and they are very hard on everything they touch. I followed the surface care oiling instructions to a T upon installing but have only oiled the entire kitchen once or twice since then. The area around the sinks is a bit faded and we might have a slight stain here and there but nothing really noticeable, and certainly nothing that comes anywhere near the pictures on fire-slate.com. I don't think we could make our tops look that bad if we tried! What imperfections we can see I'm confident would disappear if I took the time to oil (pure, 100% tung!!) but they just aren't even significant to bother. We have the charcoal, and my youngest kids use the island like a chalkboard! Chalk wipes right off, and if they accidentally get crayon or marker on it... it's invisible! The folks at FS were a joy to work with. We are in the process of building a new home and plan to use Fireslate again. I love it!

We installed black fireslate 4 yrs ago to match our recycled redwood cabinets, and what I wouldn't give to have that decision to do over again. We have a lot of calcium in our water which may be part of the problem. If I don't oil with tung oil at least once a week (a laborious, 30 minute procedure) the countertop becomes rough and starts to "shed"; also it is becoming very dry and porous around the sink area and no amount of oiling with any product I have tried--hope's tung oil, pledge, mineral oil, butchers wax, you name it, will correct the problem. (I won't even mention the staining and scratching). I think the charcoal color would probably be somewhat less of a problem. I wish there was a support group I could join to share the pain.

We installed fireslate 9 years ago. I do not recommend this product! The maintenance is time-consuming and expensive, and the end result is that even a drop of water will leave a spot. The product does not develop a nice patina, but shows whitish water-rings and water spots. We have used tung oil, stone sealers, cleaners and enhancers -- all with poor results. We might have saved some $$ using fireslate instead of granite or a quartz stone, but in the end the product is more costly due to the high maintenance issues -- and looks terrible. Further, we have not found the service at fireslate to be helpful in recommending cleaning or sealing products to help protect against stains.