Here is a past thread on this topic.

Here is a link that might be useful: pietra cardosa

Hi,

I have Pietra Cardosa and have had it for almost 6 years. So far so good. No etching, no straches!! The factory sealed it first with an enhanced sealer. Then I did seal it with a enhancer sealer, especially when I first got it but I haven't done anything to it in at least a year or so. I also picked a slabs that had movement. I forgot how to post pictures, if I figure it out I will post updated photos of my counters, otherwise you can see them in the finsihed kitchen blog.
Good Luck

senator13: thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

paddytc-your kitchen is lovely and that is exactly the dark tone I like. It sounds like the enhancer makes all the difference. So glad to hear that it's holding up so well. And your idea to use coasters in the backsplash was truly inspired!

My good friends have it. He is the most prolific home chef I know, they have 10-20 people over for huge, amazing Italian dinners once or twice a week.

3-4 years ago they installed PdC both as countertops and as backsplash. The part behind the range is MASSIVELY stained. Of course, you're not asking about using PdC as a backsplash, but just wanted to drive home the point about staining (I'm not sure how much or how often my friends seal theirs.)

Also, they do have a few good size chips, which I only took notice of because they had said they chose PdC over soapstone to avoid the chip and ding factor of soapstone.

It's got a lovely depth and subtlety. I can see why they chose it.

viva99-thanks for the info. I'm curious; what do the stains look like? Do they look like darkened spots, or something else? It's already so dark so I assume that may be how the stains appear. I"m an avid cook but this is for our beach house, where I don't think I'll be as busy in the kitchen(at least not in the stove area) as I am on a regular basis but I am really trying to find surfaces that are low maintenance but still appealing aesthetically. Do your friends like it overall? I like the way they live!

Put in 7 months ago and really love it. Kept walking by it in the granite yard and would stop in my tracks. Sales person kept saying "you don't want that", while my kids ran circles around me. Soft, natural, dark (but not too dark), with some veining and variation.

We have a few chips, but zero staing (it was sealed on site.) The chips have "softened" over time. Surprisingly, it does not bother me (yes, a bit when I found the first one :) I was told it is more durable than some soapstone, but not as durable as many granites. We only have it on our perimeter counters. Did a white and gray granite on the island that we knew would be very durabled, but in retrospect would have been fine with the PdC on the island as well. We did have some trouble with our seam. Had to remove one side and have it taken back to have it refinished because of chips. They said it was more brittle.

Here is a not so great photo. We originally planned on enhancing it to be darker, but held off and are happy. When you wipe it or get oil on it, it darkens temporarily but goes away quickly.

In my view, there is no stone more beautiful than Pietra Cardosa. I love the soft gray. I appreciate reading about everyone's experience with it. I was scared off from it early on in my counter top search by negative reviews I read on GW and elsewhere. Maybe it is time to reconsider...