LESLIE: Heading over to Washington to help Vicki deal with a countertop situation. Tell us what’s going on.
VICKI: I had countertops installed. They’re 12×12 tiles that are 3/8-inch thick. And when they finished them they put some sealer on that didn’t seem to work at all and now I can’t even get a drop of water on it because it’s so porous. I would like to know what product to use to strip it, if that’s necessary, and what is the best product to seal it. It’s surrounded by wood trim, so I wouldn’t want to damage that.
LESLIE: Have you tried to deal with the installer and get them to do the whole project again?
VICKI: Yes, I have but since they already had their money they were not very …
LESLIE: Less than happy to help you? (Vicki chuckles)
TOM: Well, OK. So you’re kind of back to doing this yourself. There’s going to be a couple of things you have to do. First of all, insofar as that wood trim is concerned, you’re going to drive yourself crazy trying to preserve that. It might be easier to mask it off or to remove it and replace it after this process.
VICKI: OK.
TOM: What you’re going to need to do is to strip off as much of the old sealer as you can, using a stripper designed for that purpose, and then you’re going to want to reseal it. DuPont has a line of products called StoneTech that are professional sealers for stone surfaces. They come in different glosses. And you’re going to have to get the old stuff off first and once you do you can apply this new sealer and you’re going to need multiple coats in order to get it to the point where it’s not going to be so porous anymore and make it easy for you to maintain it.
VICKI: OK, great.
TOM: Alright, well thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
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