Seacoast Soapstone

Seacoast Soapstone is a small shop on Piscataqua Bridge Road in Madbury, New Hampshire, minutes from Portsmouth, that does one thing: soapstone. Countertops, handmade sinks, drain boards, corbels and fireplace hearths, plus custom wood tops and cabinetry, for homes and businesses across New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts. The company says Jay Trahan brings over 30 years of design and build experience to the work. The record is small but unusually consistent. Google carries a 5-star average from 35 ratings, and the written reviews from 2021 through 2025 almost all name Jay personally and describe him doing the design, the template and the install himself. What reviewers keep describing is one-off custom work rather than a slab-and-go countertop order. A 2025 customer detailed a Lorraine-style sink with a curved lower front, sills added over the backsplash and range, and shallow notches cut into their ceiling beams so the wood could move without leaving gaps. A 2022 reviewer said Jay was willing to build a corner style he had not made before. A 2024 reviewer had a twelve-year-old soapstone kitchen sanded and refinished rather than replaced. Others describe a black walnut island top and wood counters for a custom entertainment centre, so the wood side of the shop is real work and not just a listing. Word of mouth outside the review platforms is thin but positive. In a 2023 southern New Hampshire recommendation thread, a homeowner named Jay Trahan for an outdoor kitchen that "came out amazing." A 2026 shopper on a countertop forum listed the shop among the yards they had visited without finding the slab they wanted — a note about slab selection, not the workmanship. That is the thing to plan around: this is a small operation working by appointment out of one shop, and the reviews describe custom fabrication with the owner rather than a wide standing inventory. If you know you want soapstone and value a maker who will build a sink or a notched detail to fit your room, that fits. Ask to see what slabs are actually in stock before you commit, confirm the lead time in writing, and ask who will be doing the install.