Recently I had the opportunity to talk to a homeowner who was considering new countertops. She was leaning towards engineered stone because of her understanding of the difficulty sealing and maintaining natural stone.

I pointed out that granite was not hard to care for and that I thought that sealing a granite countertop was easier than waxing a car. She was shocked. She had been told that this was a big chore and impossible for a homeowner to do. I guess the take-away is that the synthetic countertop industry has pretty effective advertising while natural stone does not. (Hint-perhaps the MIA and slab importers should step it up!)

I discussed this incident with a well-known industry figure who represents a stone chemical company. He pointed out that he has never understood why fabricators don't offer countertop care contracts. In today's world, we hire people to cut our grass, detail our cars, and do preventive maintenance on our furnace, so why don't fabricators offer an annual "countertop tune-up." He stated that minor chip repair, stain removal and re-sealing could be a profit center for the fabricator and could also build word-of-mouth advertising, leading to new jobs such as replacing vanities, building outdoor kitchens, etc. He also stated that fabricators could re-sell daily care chemicals to the home owner and make additional profit.

So, I asked him the obvious question, why more fabricators don't offer this type of service, and he said he did not know. So, I thought I would throw this question out to our readers. First of all, is anyone doing this? If so, what have been the results? If not, why not? Please send your email to Publisher@SlipperyRockGazette.net . I will report back what I hear. There may be the germ of an idea in here somewhere. By the way, the winning response (as judged by the SRG staff) will receive a free Lustro Italiano countertop care kit by Tenax.

Hope you enjoy this month's SRG,

Rich Hassert

Email responses to: publisher@slipperyrockgazette.net

")