Jun 2, 04: Marianna Soapstone in Bay Area?

Marianna Soapstone in Bay Area?


Posted by sfbaygal (My Page) on Wed, Jun 2, 04 at 0:26

Has anyone out there used Walker Zanger for a source for their soapstone? I'm looking for the soapstone that tends to be more grey than the green ones I've seen. Their sample is called Marianna and I just want to make sure that that color is what I'm looking for. Also got info from Sierra Hills soapstone which is also called Marianna, is this the same? My fabricator is negotiating with Walker Zanger on slabs now so I just want to make sure it's good quality. Received a sample from another company (can't remember name) and it seemed much greener than Walker Zanger's sample and I'm looking for the more dark grey charcoal look with veining. Will be applied on traditional white inset cabinets on peninsula and all perimter. I also understand that it gets darker with mineral oil (which I want). Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks!

Thanks so much.


RE: Marianna Soapstone in Bay Area?

FWIW, from the various samples I've seen, Mariana seems to be at the blue
gray (vs green gray) end of the spectrum and one of the harder ones. I am assuming Sierra Hills Mariana is the same, but the sample they sent is minuscule. I like green soapstone, but also want it hard. . .whose have you seen?


RE: Marianna Soapstone in Bay Area?

  • Posted by: sfbaygal (My Page) on Wed, Jun 2, 04 at 1:16

Kitchen Obsessed,

I received two samples from Green Mountain through a distributor in SoCal
called ECI. They phoned me from an unsolicated email (very impressive) however I didn't like both of there samples. One may be what you're looking for, but I can't remember the name, except it definitely had more green tone and the other"ice flower" didn't like how it responded to the mineral oil treatment. Hope that helps.
Still interested in any Bay Area owner of soapstone and how they liked it. Seems that many typical stone suppliers are not familiar with it. Thanks for your help.


RE: Marianna Soapstone in Bay Area?

I'm awaiting add'l samples, incl. Albarene (probably right color for you but not enough veining) and Tulikivi Finnish soapstone, both charcoal & greenish. Mt. Holly from Vermont Soapstone is charcoal blue; very similar to Mariana. Piracema is very, very green, and Cobra is deep black with deep green sparkles (both from M. Texeira) so you probably wouldn't want to spend $20 to get their samples. DebinCA used Green Mountain "original" purchased thru Alpha Granite in Santa Clara, not San Leandro as I recall and fabricated & installed thru Instone in San Leandro. [Someone just posted that Alpha is being taken over by Daltile.] It seems to me that the benefit of going thru WZ over SS is that you can choose your slabs. SS has a greater variety of sizes andis probably cheaper. Overhead is certainly lower.


RE: Marianna Soapstone in Bay Area?

  • Posted by: sfbaygal (My Page) on Thu, Jun 3, 04 at 0:42

I believe now that my other samples were from Texeira and as I mentioned
after oiling too much green for my visions I'm doing white cabinets on perimeter and peninsula (beadboard on lowers). The island and butler's
pantry/bar will be black (medium rubbed) with carrera marble counters,
so I think this look really needs the greyer SS. Was very happy with the Marianna sample from WZ, but just wanted to make sure the price is right, because certainly they charge a fortune for all those breathtaking tiles!


RE: Marianna Soapstone in Bay Area?

  • Posted by: Rhodeeo (My Page) on Thu, Jun 3, 04 at 2:55

Like you, I want a soapstone with the charcoal grey tone when not oiled and
darker almost black when oiled. After researching and recieving samples from various companies, we will be using the Marianna from WZ. I kept a
sample of it on my counter for about year and worked with it. Oiled and not oiled it is exactly what I want. I love it. We actually went to WZ to choose our slabs but we might have to let them go. Our fabricator request for bigger slabs to prevent less seams. So, our counters will be the Marianna soapstone, cabinets shaker style (inset)in an off white color. We are happy and confident with our choice of the Marianna soapstone. Hope this helps.


RE: Marianna Soapstone in Bay Area?

  • Posted by: sfbaygal (My Page) on Thu, Jun 3, 04 at 11:33

Rhodeeo,
Sounds like we both have the same idea. The fabricator took my sample so I
haven't seen it in several days, but I loved it after I oiled it and glad to know that it does retain its dark color over time. (love the feel also) Pretty sure we're going with WZ as well. Your input help confirm my decision.Thanks,


RE: Marianna Soapstone in Bay Area?

  • Posted by: Katalina (My Page) on Thu, Jun 3, 04 at 12:40

I'm having soapstone installed now and I want to imput some info I'm
finding out the hard way. I searched and searched for soapstone because it was my heart's desire and hard to find in So Cal. Anyway, I found it, picked my slabs and was thrilled. Now that it's partially in, I find that it's much "blotchier" oiled than it was when j ust sprayed with water. In other words, it's much busier than I thought. I'm very disappointed and depressed right now. I prefer a more solid organic black but what I have is many blotches of white. Pick your slabs very very carefully to make sure it's what you want.


RE: Marianna Soapstone in Bay Area?

Katalina:
Whose soapstone did you buy (eg, Texeira's "Santa Rita")? [Just call me the soapstone collector!] The nice thing about WZ is that they actually have mineral oil there. Unfortunately, their warehouse/yard isn't as well lit as I would want a kitchen, tho'!


RE: Marianna Soapstone in Bay Area?

  • Posted by: Katalina (My Page) on Thu, Jun 3, 04 at 14:34

It's Texeira's but it's Pieracima (sp?). They also had Santa Rita but it was too bluish. Fortunately, I still have time to pick my slab for mypeninsula so I'll bring mineral oil with me.


RE: Marianna Soapstone in Bay Area?

We used the Marianna soapstone from Walker Zanger. It was the same price, $28/sq ft, as some soapstone at a discount place I checked out. So not
all WZ prices are as outrangeously expensive as I'd assumed too.

Here's a photo of our counter installed. It was oiled when installed but the
photo was taken after a week or so of use and no re-oil. It does show every mark.

Here is a link that might be useful: Marianna Soapstone


RE: Marianna Soapstone in Bay Area?

  • Posted by: sfbaygal (My Page) on Thu, Jun 3, 04 at 16:49

Larslobster,
Do you continue to oil it? When you say "it shows every mark" do you mean
finger prints, stains or something else? Are you happy with it overall? Love the toaster!

Katlina, so sorry to hear about your counters.
Sounds alot like the Green Mountain sample I looked at grey and tons of
white specs which I didn't care for. However my WZ sample oiled looks
great, but great idea to test the actual slab.


RE: Marianna Soapstone in Bay Area?

  • Posted by: larslobster (My Page) on Thu, Jun 3, 04 at 17:57

We do oil it every couple of weeks, when I can start to see a lot of
patchy areas. It was just installed a few months ago so it hasn't reached a point yet where we don't have to oil as often as it becomes 'seasoned.'

What I mean by 'every mark' is that if I leave something wet on the counter, it will leave a mark where the oil has worn away so it looks lighter. For instance, I can always tell where the hand soap container has been sitting. Also, it does show scratches pretty easily when not freshly oiled. So, I guess what I meant is it almost always looks patchy, like in the picture, except when freshlyoiled.

But, it doesn't stain or etch. I've left cut lemons and tomato sauce on it and it just wiped up without leaving a trace.

I happen to like the worn look so this doesn't bother me. But I have a feeling if I were someone that liked polished granite (which I don't),I'd probably hate the soapstone.


RE: Marianna Soapstone in Bay Area?

Katalina:
Have you seen Texeira's *Cobra*? Very quiet, very black, and :-( very hard to get. Slabs are small, tho. I am not sure it would really coordinate with the Piracema tho,' since it is so very deeply black with sparkles. From my Piracema sample, I can see why it is not what you wanted. I like its depth and busy-ness and greenness and relative hardness for a blotchy soapstone.


RE: Marianna Soapstone in Bay Area?

  • Posted by: nonaberrie (My Page) on Thu, Jun 3, 04 at 21:46

I just bought a WZ (Hayward store) slab of Marianna yesterday, sight unseen, over the phone...priced at $32/sf....$2 more than Sierra Soapstone.

I have samples of Marianna, Santa Rita, Piracema, Mt. Holly etc.and I'm hoping that THIS Marianna is similar to what I have (more blue) but honestly I'm so tired of trying to get ss here in the SF area that I don't really care anymore about the finer points...just so long as it's not to soft (hope, hope). Call me cheap but I LOATHE the idea of paying $400. crating/shipping! When WZ quoted me a total of $284. I just bought the slab right then and there..

BTW I was the person who said Daltile has just bought Alpha G&M...was told this by the woman at GNS (Global Natural Stone...I think) in Hayward...

FWIW same place (GNS) happened to be out of ss but had some slabs of BURLINGTON STONE in stock..this stone is not easy to come by and I understand that those who like ss love this ..per KECS this isher favorite stone...

Heather


RE: Marianna Soapstone in Bay Area?

  • Posted by: sfbaygal (My Page) on Fri, Jun 4, 04 at 0:34

Heather,
My understanding is that the SS is flying out the door at Walker Zanger. I think (I hope) our fabricator has some on hold for me. Because I have a
peninsula with counter seating I need at least one larger slab which they are supposed to be getting from LA. I agree with your frustration with finding SS in Bay Area. I happened on it at an open house and fell in love and went to 2 very large granite distributors who tried to talk me out of it and told me how bad it would be in the kitchen, staining, etc , blah, blah, blah! Thank God I found this forum and learned so much and contacted the SS distributors directly. You've got me curious about the Burlington Stone, but, like you, just too tired to even think about changing my decision, so it looks like WZ Marianna for me.

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