Protecting the granite.

After being finished building the new six one bedroom condos for eighteen months and the first three condos being completed for 4 years, I noticed dark stains on my kitchen counters. Needless to say this drove me mad, I take a lot of pride to maintain the appearance of Casa De Compai. Having my counter tops discolored wasn’t going to remain. The issue was how to remove the stains and who was to do it.

Sosua is a small town, most people who live her year round mostly know or know of the other expats. So it was, the manager of the condo complex where I purchased my first condo, her husband cleans granite. Go figure, it really can’t get any easier than that.

After waiting for Eddie from Eddie Bubble Cleaning ( facebook page https://www.facebook.com/bluebubblepremium/) schedule to open up he finally came to have a look. I took him to a condo I rented out to an older guy who had a Haitian girlfriend who used to cook often. She cooked with oil and wasn’t shy about letting it splatter everywhere. To be honest I was pretty upset because, this didn’t have to be, all the pots and pans have lids. But I guess the condition of my kitchen wasn’t a priority to them. That’s part of the rental business. Even Eddie said this was uncalled for. But he said he could greatly improve the situation.

Every one bedroom has a full kitchen with stove and full appliance.

This is where my education in Granite maintenance began. I knew even though granite is a stone it will absorb liquid and stain. I believed granite came out of the factory sealed to prevent stain and marks. Eddie said granite does come sealed, but with China exporting so much granite world wide, that other companies in other countries have to cut cost to remain competitive so one place they cut back on is the sealer. It makes perfect sense, you can’t see the sealer so you will never know till the damage is done by stains. What happens here in the Dominican Republic that I wasn’t used to growing up was the use of cooking oil. My mother never fried food. In this part of the world its all fried. What happens is the hot oil opens up the pours of the granite faster than a cold drink sitting on my granite kitchen and coffee table would as an example. The hot oil is then able to generate deeper into the granite thus making the stain darker ( I have light granite throughout my condos.) and more difficult to remove.

The process to remove the stains is a wicking process. Eddie would apply a calcium paste to the surface of the counter top. The calcium would harden and wick or pull the oils or other liquids into the paste. The paste would remain in place for 12 to 24 hours. Then it would be scrapped off. This process might take a couple of coats. The unit I referred to earlier took three application to get most of the oil out. After the calcium is all cleaned off a liquid cleaner is used to remove any other stains close to the surface. This also polishes the granites at the same time.

After that is completed the granite is polished. Eddie imports his chemicals from Germany and Switzerland in bulk. This is one of the reason he is able to provide the great service he does. The sealer is applied, then allowed to soak in and removed. At this point he uses a special cloth to speared the sealer evenly. After that dries the job is done.

It took Eddie about two days per condo. This was done over a two month period between clients. It was great working with Eddie on this project, the best part a good friend was made in the end. If you want to visit Eddie facebook pages here are the links.

https://.facebook.com/handymanfixyourhome/

http://.wwwfacebook.com/tornadopressurewasheringdr/

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