May 02, 05: soapstone countertop resources in Los Angeles

soapstone countertop resources in Los Angeles

Posted by apfb (My Page) on Mon, May 2, 05 at 16:41

Thanks to the Soapstone blog, it looks like there are at least two sources for architectural soapstone 9(SS) in S. CA-- Soapstone West, Escondido, and Bourget Bros, Santa Monica. More questions keep coming up:
1. Are there any other sources for architectural SS in S. CA?
2. Who is the best SS countertop installer in LA?
3. Has anyone ordered the SS from Vermont Soapstone Co and then had a local installer? How did that work out?

My genl contractor is a great guy with glowing rec's from former clients, but he's only done one SS countertop in the past 25 yr. He mostly installs granite/marble or Corian in his other jobs. Our SS countertop would be his second one. He frowned and shook his head when I discussed ordering SS from Vermont for him and his people to install. He thought the Vermont source had high potential for disaster.

Thanks.

Follow-Up Postings:

RE: soapstone countertop resources in Los Angeles

Anyone out there to answer this query?

RE: soapstone countertop resources in Los Angeles

Tom Shadley at Shadley Soapstone is the nicest guy you'll ever hope to meet. He fabricates and installs Green Mountain Soapstone. You can reach him at (626)806-5160

RE: soapstone countertop resources in Los Angeles

I can answer a little bit of it, but I'm still in the process of figuring all this out. I have slabs reserved for my kitchen at Walker Zanger in Sun Valley. It is Mariana soapstone and the slabs are lovely. We are 95% sure we will purchase these slabs- will make the decision shortly. I'm really excited. I haven't had them installed so I can't answer yet who is the best fabricator. Walker Zanger will not see more slabs until June or July, I was told - I got 4 of the last 5 slabs. They aren't sure if it will still be Mariana soapstone, however.
If you are interested in Green Mountain you should call Dave Mahony at ESI -- 951 232-6626. He should help you get in touch with Tom Shadley of Shadley Soapstone -- really nice,professional guy. He does fabrication of soapstone in the LA area. Apparently Green Mountain original is a little hard to come by in LA right now, but recently Tom found some in Anaheim. You would have to ask him about it.

Good luck -- have you tried Sierra Hills Stone? I believe they carry Mariana too and they are alot closer then Vermont.

RE: soapstone countertop resources in Los Angeles

Do you think that Tom would mind if I added "Shadley Soapstone" to the soapstone blog along with his phone number?
And what is ESI? Is this another soapstone resource that could be added to the blog?

RE: soapstone countertop resources in Los Angeles

Starpooh, can Tom email you directly with that answer? I'm going to be talking to him in the morning -- I'll email him the site of the blog and he can confirm with you about that. It seems best to leave it up to him. ESI is a company name I got from an email inquiry I made to Green Mountain Soapstone. They sent me the name and number of ESI as a supplier of Green Mountain Soapstone in SoCal. I'm sure it's probably fine to include them on the blog. Unfortunately I don't know what ESI stands for!

Thanks again for putting that blog together. It's really terrific.

mixedplate

RE: soapstone countertop resources in Los Angeles

Thanks for the help. Where are you finding all of the varieties of SS?

RE: soapstone countertop resources in Los Angeles

apfb, if I understand your question -- different companies/importers sell different soapstone varieties. I've learned about the different varieties from this site and doing my own searches. Just google soapstone counters if you haven't already. If you find something you like, email the company and see if they have a rep in Ca. Or just call places. Starpoos blog is excellent -- just go thru' all the old threads -- you'll learn about different soapstones and companies. Then get samples --

mixedplate

RE: soapstone countertop resources in Los Angeles

Mixed Plate,
I did a google search on soapstone and Walker Zanger popped up in my area (Salt Lake City) and then directed me to a local granite dealer that had no soapstone slabs.

Is there an actual warehouse in Sun Valley that you can say I want THAT slab and load it up in a truck or did you pick out a sample and it is being shipped to you?

If I can pick out my slab in Sun Valley I'll make a trip up there!
Scott

RE: soapstone countertop resources in Los Angeles

I just recently installed my ss countertop.I purchased my slabs from soapstone West. I used the fabricator my GC recomended. I am in agreement with nikkir. Tom Shadley is very forthcoming with good information. I have emailed him several times and he is very responsive. He can email you some work that he has done. I ahve only seen a few varieties of ss. I had originally wanted Cobra and after finding out that it is not available (at least on the West Coast) I chose to look at samples from Tim and Greg @ Soapstone West. I, too called Bourget and they told me they only had 1 variety at the time. Additionally, I looked at the sample at Expo and found it too green. I have evolved with my remodel and remained mutable. I chose Santa Rita and love evert is far more interesting and complex than I could have imagined. I am in awe of the product.

RE: soapstone countertop resources in Los Angeles

mixedplate - sure! Tom can email me through my gardenweb link. (Sorry, don't want to post my email directly on the forum. Too many spambots searching these forums.) http://members.gardenweb.com/members/starpooh
Glad you find the soapstone blog helpful. I'm trying add to the list of suppliers so please feel free to email me any that are not on the list!

Pwdrhdut - Try Cornerstone Masonry at warmstone.com. Their showroom is in Montana but they distribute in Utah. They have Tulikivi soapstone.

For anybody else looking for soapstone suppliers... please visit the blog!

Here is a link that might be useful: Soapstone Suppliers in blog

RE: soapstone countertop resources in Los Angeles

Pwdrhdut,

Yes, you can pick out your slabs at Walker Zanger in Sun Valley. Maybe you could have it shipped to a fabricator in your area, but I'm not sure. That said, as I stated above, they don't have anymore right now -- I bought all their last slabs except 2 -- and they were the only Walker Zanger in the area that had any soapstone. One of the ones left has a big single vein in it that is brownish and white. Kind of reminded me of bird doo doo, unfortunately. The other is quieter with spidery veins running thru' it. It's pretty. Walker Zanger said they hope to have slabs again by June.

Have you tried Sierra Hills Stone? I don't have any experience with them, but they might be a little closer...

good luck
Mixedplate

posted by starpooh @ 7:53 PM   1 comments

1 Comments:

At Friday, January 06, 2006 3:09:00 PM, Blogger Cate said...

Hello Fellow Soapstone Lovers: I've perused this site, and have not found mention of the place where I'm buying my soapstone from and I wanted to offer it to my Los Angeleno brethren. It's Royal Stone, Inc., and they are located on Sepulveda Blvd near Santa Monica. 310-477-3223.

In theory they charge for the materials by the square foot, which for the soapstone is quoted as $25/sq ft., and then they charge for installation and fabrication by the complexity of the job. But in reality, you are paying for the slabs. My kitchen designer says we need 48 square feet, and really only need 1.5 slabs, but because the slabs are small and they won't sell a half slab, we need to buy two slabs to accomodate all the weird sizes and angles in our kitchen. So for the two slabs, we're paying about $2300, and for fabrication and installation, we're paying about $2100. So in all, we ended up paying $93/sq ft. Pricey, yes. But we hope it'll be worth it, since we really love the look. The counters will be installed in a couple of weeks, so I'll let you all know how it turned out.

 

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