Hearthstone...

If you have a reputable local dealer then you will be fine. Many of their stoves have that flat grey finish as of late. The older models were polished better. They will darken some with use, but not very much.
Your friends stove looks like mine I guess?

I think they are either using a different supplier of soapstone or could be a different vein. I've got a dark green and love it but I've seen the light grey ones in the showrooms and it's not my personal taste. It will darken a bit but not much. The advantage I have found with the dark color is that stains tend not to show as easily. We do some cooking on the top and we get the odd stain from a spill. It does eventually burn off but not sure what it would look like on the light grey. I guess one advantage of the light grey is that it would not show dust as easily.
If it's a big deal, call them and ask if you can get a darker color. Ya never know till ya ask

I have called 4 to 5 times and only once did I have to wait for an answer. They've always been good and I bought mine used, so there was no money in it for them.

bfitz3 said:

Looking at the hearthstone catalog and models in a local showroom, the stone used on numerous models appears to be a very light grey, sometimes with a tinge of blue. Visiting a friend recently, I noticed they had a hearthstone where the stone appeared a very dark grey, almost black. My wife doesn't like the light/bluish, but does like our friends' stove's dark color. I'd love to get a soapstone stove.

So... Does anyone know if soapstone ages under heat from light to dark or is it a case of what you see now is what you'll have forever? Can the color be altered with an oil/stain/heat/etc?

Perhaps more importantly, numerous posts here suggest that Hearthstone stoves are great when all goes well, but if something goes wrong, their customer service is... perhaps, not as good as one would hope. I emailed the coloration question above to Hearthstone over a week ago and have received no reply. I'm leery of working with a company that won't reply to a potential customer... It's a bad sign that they will won't reply once they have your money. I'd love to hear from someone that they are actually okay to work with.

Thanks!

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Your customer service really has to come from your dealer. Have a lonnnng chat with the service department of the dealer you're thinking of buying from about your house, your potential installation, your hearth, your draft, your clearances, anything you can think of that requires more than superficial knowledge. If the repair/service people at the dealer know their stuff and are willing and eager to advise you in considerable detail, you're golden. If not, not.

My dealer has two service guys, one of whom is fantastic, the other of whom is a sullen, unhelpful, not knowledgeable, er... let's just say he's a jerk. I assume this second guy is the owner's wife's second cousin's wastrel offspring because I can't imagine why he has a job otherwise.

That said, your post sent me out to the living room to look at my Heritage, purchased new two years ago. I got the version with the black matte cast trim, which I do think makes the stove as a whole look darker in comparison to the blue-green enamel-trimmed circa 2004 Tribute I had before. But there's definitely variation in the soapstone pieces the stove is made up of. Some are dark, dark blue-gray, others are a lighter gray, and some in between.

Honestly, I cannot imagine your wife wouldn't love the look of this stove once it's in the house, especially in the evenings when one is most likely to be sitting around and admiring it. How the space is lighted also makes a difference. I like soft indirect lighting, but I can imagine a brighter overhead light would change the way it looks. But still, it's a beautiful piece of furniture under any circumstances..

Whether you can order up a dark stove I suspect would depend on how eager your dealer is to make the sale. He probably couldn't do much more than keep an eye out for one coming in that's darker and hold it for you, but I don't know how many dealers would be willing to go to that much trouble. You could try offering extra $$ for him to look, I guess. Hearthstone itself is famously difficult to contact directly. They much prefer to have you work through their dealers. But if you can make contact with the right person, you might be able to arrange a special order of some kind, I guess.

gyrfalcon said:

Hearthstone itself is famously difficult to contact directly

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That's not my experience at all. Yes, they want you to order stoves and parts through dealers but there are very few mfgs that will sell directly.

Have you taken a look at the Woodstock stoves? They don't have a dealer network but have reportedly one of the best customer services in the industry. As far as I know they are happy to wok with you to get the right color of soapstone on your stove.

Our Fireview 201's color has "deepened" over the years. The effect is very pleasant; seems to effect the prominence of the figuring in the stone. I've noticed the stone on my beloved Woodstock Classic has changed, too. The figuring of the stone that had formerly been white/pale grey now has a creamy-beige cast on the front panel, which is really handsome! I don't object to the "change" at all, personally. It's rather like a Meerschaum pipe; and the changes mark the time its been in service. I think people rather miss the fact that soapstone is porous and it will change with time and use; some may not like that, while others think it's a pretty cool.

begreen said:

I've read that if you want the soapstone to darken that you wipe it down with mineral oil, then let air dry.

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Yes that does work and the soapstone will go darker immediately but after a month or so, it will return to just a tiny bit darker than the original color. You use mineral oil on counter tops to seal the soapstone so it will not stain as easily. Soapstone does not really absorb the oil, it sits on the surface, even after wiping. Stains are also on the surface and can be removed with a very fine sandpaper.

I put a lot of mineral oil on my soapstone hearth ('cause it's dirt cheap - the oil not the soapstone) and the stone wall behind the stove. The effect on both faded within a month. On a stove, the effect lasts for even less time. I tried 4 different oils, sealants and mineral oil was the best and cheapest. Some of them were $70/qt and next to useless.

Soapstone is mined in many areas of the world and comes in a wide variety of colors. I think any mfg would be willing to make a stove to the customer's request IF they have the materials in stock and the customer is willing to wait. My guess is that Hearthstone has gone to light grey either due to cost savings or due to better acceptance by the public. Not my personal taste though. I thought the same thing of the Woodstock IS in light sand color or wood stoves in white or cream enamel - yuk. I admit I have bad taste though on some things.

OP, I can answer a few of your questions. I own a Hearthstone and it's soapstone. So here is what I can tell you:

Soapstone does darken somewhat over time. Mine has not darkened a lot, but I can tell it's darker than the first season. The specific color of your soapstone is mostly going to be determined by the mine that each manufacturer gets their supplies from.

As far as Hearthstone, I can tell you this. They make quality stoves, that is why plenty of people here have them and love them (myself included). I have had my stove for 6 years and have never had any problems with it. Any time I have even had a question I just went back to my local dealer. They could answer any question I had and have always been extremely helpful. If you do have problems, you're going to be mostly dealing with your local dealer anyways and they will play middle man with Hearthstone. My advice to you would be to find your local dealer, go in and ask lots of questions. If you like the vibe you get from the dealer and like something they sell, go with your gut. You're spending lots of money on something that will be a focal point on your home for years, so be sure you have no regrets about what you bought.

I have owned maybe 3 Hearthstones, all great, the first was a factory second as the enamel was chipped (and I knew someone who worked there). They all darkened a bit. I also recall that at the factory slightly different colors of soapstone were in different batches. Obviously they match up the color for each particular stove. The last was a Mansfield which I had zero problems with over a 10 year period and loved it. Then I was forced to move (thank you Southbury police and first selectman for not upholding the law), and had to buy another stove for my new residence. This was a fireplace install and the Mansfield would not work. So I searched who had a soapstone that could adapt to my situation. Woodstock, Progress fit the bill. I am floored how little wood I am using, even in this frigid winter. Above the door on the PH I am getting some smoke discoloration, but I'm sure I can clean it up some how when she cools down. And when will that be?!

DougA said:

I put a lot of mineral oil on my soapstone hearth ('cause it's dirt cheap - the oil not the soapstone) and the stone wall behind the stove. The effect on both faded within a month. On a stove, the effect lasts for even less time. I tried 4 different oils, sealants and mineral oil was the best and cheapest. Some of them were $70/qt and next to useless.

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With the intense heat from the stove the oil probably just evaporated. I guess that the ones that lasted longer had a higher boiling point. Since they can have some adverse health effects when inhaled (http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/81-123/pdfs/0472.pdf; albeit at much higher concentration than what you would have gotten) I am not sure if I would use it for simply aesthetic reasons.