Fireslate

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On Apartment Therapy

Home Design

Sep 10, 2004

Did you behave in high school lab? If you are sweating over what to use as a counter top material in your kitchen, here's something else to think about. You can consider marble, formica, butcher block or FIRESLATE:

21 comments

Recent comments

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. msblakely on Aug 5, 2009

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. teriz on Dec 11, 2008