paddytc I think we are talking about the same thing. When I checked out the link it did say that Pietra is a kind of schist! Have you had your counters long? How are they holding up? Do they scratch? Do you oil? Sorry for the spewing of questions. But I think I may have found my countertops!! Where did you get them and do you know where they are mined?

PADDYTC I LOVE YOURS! . . . I saw a photo of them under the following topic: The counter(s) I chose is/are right for ME because...

You or someone wrote

Posted by paddytc (My Page) on Fri, Mar 7, 08 at 20:07
"Craig00 I love your answer.lol
My counter are a beautiful schist too. They are Pietra Cardosa. It has the feel and look of soapstone but a little harder. It works for my family. Love it!! Plus DH didn't care by that stage in renovation he was all about "if it fits the budget!"

Schist is the name of a metamorphic rock. Pretty much any "granite" with movement is a metamorphic rock (subjected to heat and pressure after the original formation). When granite is metamorphosed, it's called "gneiss." When a clay-based rock is metamorphosed, it's called "schist." Geologists of course have such subtle senses of humor, and a typical field trip can yield such lovely comments as, "Aw schist!"

Anyway, schist can be formed from slate, shale, talc (aka soapstone), gneiss, and a host of other rocks. Schists have a distinct linear trend that occurs when all the long, flat clay minerals line up and get squished. I particularly remember finding a fabulous talc/garnet schist on one trip. All the soft talc fibers where so flat and it was loaded with huge garnets.

I can't speak to its use in a countertop. Kevin? What about you?

Hi judydel. We got our stone from a local quarry, Ashfield Stone (in Ashfield,MA.) It's a small operation.

I couldn't be happier with our counters. We sealed them when they were first installed, then DH sealed them again a few months later and we haven't done anything to them since (installed May '04.) I haven't had to be careful with them in anyway (lemon juice and oils are fine.) Even though we got the polished, the counter doesn't have much of a shine and seems quite informal. We haven't had any chipping or scratches.

I loved seeing a photo of paddytc's counter since I hadn't noticed any other schist counters in this forum before (nice counter, paddytc!)

I believe our schist contains a lot of mica.

{{gwi:1570741}}

The Ashfield Stone website doesn't seem to be around anymore but I found the following link.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ashfield Stone

zelmar,

Thanks so much! Your counters are beautiful! I'm glad to hear no chips or scratches. Do you/can you oil them?

I'll call and see if I can get a number for Ashfield Stone tomorrow. I like the idea of buying stone that is locally mined. I feel bad about having stone, which is heavy, shipped half way round the world. It must take a lot of fuel and effort to ship these slabs from China, etc.

I'm trying to remember this correctly---I believe the unpolished gets oiled and the polished gets sealed.

I have no idea how our stone compares to other schists, granites, or soapstones, pricewise. It was just a given that we would use the stone and we did no comparison shopping.

The above link should have the phone number.

Good luck with your counter hunt.

If you want to email them, their email address is ASofficegals@aol.com. We almost went with Ashfield Stone, especially after seeing Zelmar's pictures. Unfortunately, their was a 6-8 week lead time after templating. We were trying to finish our kitchen for the holidays, so we couldn't afford the extra time. Also, the prices were a little out of our budget which had already been stretched too much. They do their own fabricating, but recommend Tom Holden of the Westone Company in Northampton, MA for templating and installation. His contact information is 413-585-9988 office, or 413-575-9183 cell. It is beautiful stone and I loved that it was quarried locally. I hope you get it!

I have schist too (Pietra). I'm happy with it. No scratches, easy care, sealed with a color enhancing sealer. I do have one ring mark- I think it is from a glass of lemonade left overnight. So I'm just careful about things that would etch the stone.
Here's a photo (taken before kitchen was finished)

judydel, I have included about all the pics of my countertops. We have had them for 1 1/2 years and no problem so far. I usually cut on a cutting board but sometimes myself or kids have cut on counters. No scrathes or stains. We have left many things on counters including grapefruit and greasey pizza boxes overnight. The granite guys put a color enhancer sealer after they installed the counters. They also left me the bottle of color enhancer and told me to put it on 3 months later. I have sealed my counters with the enhancer sealer 3 times since Aug. 2006. It is super easy to do. You pour on sealer wipe on with paper towel then wait 15-20 minutes and then wipe off with clean paper towels. The hardest part about sealing is getting everything off counters:)

California Dreamer have you sealed your counters since install?

Sorry I don't know how to resize on photobucket:(

Wow! Love those photos. Glad to see you combined stained wood with white cabinets. Love that look.

Thanks everyone for all of the help and photos. I'll keep you posted.

I'm so happy to have found some fellow pietra/schist countertop owners! I had my pietra slabs installed just a few weeks ago, and they look great! I love them! But my installer wasn't too helpful about maintenance/etc. (I have marble on the island and questios about caring for that too b/c installer was very vague, but that's a question for another day).
Anyway, can you share the name of the sealer/enhancer you use?
On a daily basis, how do you clean the counters/what products do you use?
When I googled "pietra cardosa" another site came up where someone said they "oiled" their pietra. Do any of you do that?
I'm hoping to get answers on this thread, but if not maybe I'll start a new posting. I know I can't be the only one out there with questions about this stone.
Thanks!
Tara

oldhometara, our installer left us a little sealer and we resealed our countertops a month or two after installation. We haven't done anything else to them since (they were installed May '05.) My daily cleaning routine is just to use a damp microfiber cloth and if I'm feeling ambitious, I'll follow up with a dry one to buff it. When needed, I'll use a dishcloth wetted with hot soapy (dishsoap) water. I've found no need for anything fancier or stronger. Very easy maintenance. My biased opinion is that the schist is the best of all worlds.

I think we should reseal again soon. I'll try to find out the name of the sealer. We have a polished surface. The unpolished stone gets oiled rather than sealed (for Ashfield Stone, I assume it's the same with the others.)

oldhometara, I just wash my counters with regular dishsoap and water. Don't use anything else.

The sealer enhancer that my counter guy put on and left for us is StoneTech Professional Rich Color Enhancer Pro. It does turn the stone into a soft black but then lightens at tad as the days go on. I have sealed probably twice in the last 1 1/2 years. I love the richness after the enhancing. It really brings out the veining and movement in stone plus I am try to protect is from my kiddies and myself.

Thank you both for the cleaning/sealing info. Anyone else know anything about oiling? (Sounds fishy to me but I know someone said they oil their pietra). Also, what about using an oil based sealer? I want to keep these countertops looking great, and the only reliable info I have on these countertops is from this forum!

I don't know about an oil base sealer. The one mentioned above (Stone tech) might be. I know my countertop guy told be to seal about every 3 to 4 months for the first year. They sealed it once at the shop then a second time after the install. Then he came back 1 week later and sealed counters again. After that I took care of the sealing. I guess it is like seasonisng a cast iron skillet. Like I said mine look great and haven't sealed in 6 months. I did seal them 3 times myself the first year and might consider doing it again since we are talking about it :)

paddytc, thanks for the followup.
My installer did one coat of sealer and said countertop does not need to be sealed again. He said the sealant lasts for FIFTEEN years. What he said about my carrara marble island also sounded weird, so I'm thinking maybe he doesn't know how to treat these countertops.

Not that I know anything either!

My cluelessness isn't helped any by the kitchen magazines which describe pietra cardosa/cardoza as any of the following: black marble, limestone, soapstone, granite, schist.... I've lost track of all the misinfo.

Anyway, thanks for your help! Since you actually have it in your kitchen, I trust what you say.

My husband and I saw this at a showroom today and really liked it. My question to you all is did you get honed or shiny, I can't really tell from the pictures posted. Anyone purchase theirs in NJ? If so, where did you go?

Thanks!

We just installed pietra cardosa in our kitchen, and I am just sick about it. There are blemishes all over the stone (bits of rust, black bits, some cloudy haziness) that I did not see when I went to pick out the stone in the stone yard. I'm upset that the salesman at Olympia in Needham, MA did not help me look closely at the stone to see what might show up with fabrication. I feel I've made the most expensive mistake of my life. I had the stone "aged"--hoping it would help the blemishes to blend, but it did not. If I had any experience with forums, I would upload photos. I just wanted to get the warning out there as soon as I could.

paddytc

thank you for the great photos. can you tell me if your stone was polished or honed before you applied the sealant/oil? It looks not, and that the satin like finish probably came from the post installation products. I'm also having a hard time getting straight answers on this stone. I found a beautiful slab in Brooklyn but I was worried it was too matte looking. Those at the yard told me it wouldn't buff or shine-up at all. I only want a little sheen. But, your pictures are helping me because my slab looks like yours did before install. Flat and not as rich. I'd love when the transition happened and how....or are my eyes fooling me when looking at your photos? Also what type of edge do you have?

Zelmar, you say your slab was polished when you selected it or did you have the fabricator do that somehow? I'm hearing from most people that it can't be polished, meaning only the after products create the effect. but i don't know whose answers are straight answers anymore.
if i had a clue how to upload photos with this posting, i'd send a few of the slab i've tagged.

mfr822---I imagine different schists are a bit unique in their properties. Ours was quarried here in Western, MA. The operation that did the quarrying also did the polishing and fabricating. We checked out both the polished and unpolished in some local kitchens before we chose. The polished doesn't have a high shine--I would say it lies somewhere between satin and high polish.

I've linked to the quarry below. The top picture (of a floor) shows what my counter would have looked like unpolished (or at least I THINK it's the same type of stone.) This type of surface would have been oiled rather than sealed (I think it would probably turn darker with the oil--at least it looked darker in the kitchen I looked at.) The 4th picture down, of a kitchen, is what our counters are like.

I'm also enclosing a picture that shows the more polished aspect of our counter, with some reflection. Maybe you could bring this to the stone yard and ask them why your slab wouldn't look like this if they polished it. The counter shows up shinier in this photo than it is in reality.

{{!gwi}}

Here is a link that might be useful: Ashfield Stone

Can any of you give updates on how your schist countertops are holding up through the decades, how often you have resealed, whether you’re still happy with your choice? We’re considering a leather finish Matrix schist countertop.

Hi Craig, I'm zelmar on houzz with a different name than I had on Garden Web.

I can't believe it has been 17 years since we redid our kitchen and yes, I am still in love with our schist counters. There is a small chip near my undermount sink but that is the only thing that has happened to them in all of this time. I'm sure we could fix it with something but it doesn't bother me enough to look into it.

My daughter recently renovated her kitchen and was hesitant to use the same counters as her parents but ended up with them when she couldn't find anything she liked better. She just moved into a new house in December. The first thing on her list for a kitchen redo are the same schist counters from Ashfield Stone. It is something she doesn't want to live without.

I love the slab in your photo.

Thanks for the response! After being cautioned about durability, we ended up choosing a leathered granite slab. Ended up looking great, though I‘m sure we would have loved the look of the schist!

I'm glad you ended up with something you really like! Good luck!