vondab's Profile

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!