Soapstone Countertops in North Charleston, SC

Thinking about soapstone for your North Charleston kitchen? North Charleston Countertops can measure your cabinets, help you choose a slab, and set the finished top in place. Here's how the stone behaves, what the city asks for if plumbing is part of the job, and what our quote will list.

Where soapstone comes from

Soapstone is a metamorphic rock, which the National Park Service describes as rock that high temperatures and pressure have changed. The U.S. Geological Survey says it is rich in talc and that it is very smooth thanks to the talc.

The Survey also says major talc deposits in the United States run through the Appalachians and Piedmont, from Vermont to Alabama. Some of them have been key sources of darker talc, commonly called soapstone, which takes its color from impurities.

How soapstone wears in a busy kitchen

The National Park Service rates minerals on the Mohs hardness scale, which measures how well a mineral resists scratching. On its chart, talc sits at 1, a fingernail at 2.5 and a steel nail at 6.5. The U.S. Geological Survey says talc is made of tiny flat plates held together by very weak bonds, and that is why talc feels soft and greasy.

Because soapstone is so rich in talc, the Survey says it is not as strong as other rocks. We'll ask you to keep a cutting board out for knives on any soapstone top we put in. We also install granite and marble if you want to compare stones.

Cutting soapstone and the dust it makes

OSHA says stone holds crystalline silica, and that cutting, sawing, grinding and drilling stone throws off silica particles at least 100 times smaller than ordinary sand. NIOSH, part of the CDC, says breathing that silica causes silicosis, and OSHA calls silicosis an incurable lung disease that can lead to disability and death.

Whoever you talk to, ask where your slab will be shaped and how they keep the dust down.

When a soapstone job needs a city permit

We treat a new top on the same cabinets differently from a job that moves the sink or changes pipes. The City of North Charleston issues a plumbing permit, and its permit page says no work can be done until that permit is issued. The application has to include a contract with a detailed scope of work, including what the materials and labor cost.

The city also says the permit card has to be posted in a permit box on site, and its inspector won't inspect a job that is missing the permit drawings and that box. If your plans reach the sewer line, the city says you'll need an extra permit from the sewer district. We'll tell you when we measure whether any of this applies to your kitchen.

What your soapstone quote covers

We price your soapstone top after we've measured, and we give you the quote in writing. The total depends on the slab, how many feet of counter we cover, the edge shape, and the number of cutouts, the holes we cut for the sink and the cooktop, the burners set into the counter.

Whoever you hire, the written quote should spell out:

• The soapstone's name and the slab thickness.
• A layout drawing that marks each seam and each cutout.
• The edge shape you chose.
• The shop where the slab gets cut.
• Whether removing and hauling off your old tops is included.
• Who unhooks and reconnects the sink, faucet and cooktop.

Questions about soapstone countertops in North Charleston

Get a soapstone quote

Call us, or fill in the quote form with your ZIP code and the rooms you have in mind. We'll come out to measure, show you soapstone slabs and edges, and send a written quote. You can see every countertop we install on the North Charleston Countertops home page.