Out, Out, Dang Spot! Or, Send In The Poultices

Books By Patti Liszkay 
​Available On Amazon

​"Equal and Opposite Reactions" http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa
and the sequel, "Hail Mary" https://www.amzn.com/1684334888
​Available on Amazon.

​OUT, OUT, DANG SPOT! OR, SEND IN THE POULTICES

     My West Coast trip interlude being over, now back to my continuing kitchen drama (See post from 10/16/2021, https://www.ailantha.com/blog/the-gremlin-in-my-countertops).
     I left off the story at the day before my trip, October 13.  The mysterious stains in my brand new kitchen countertops had responded to neither several days of drying out nor to treatments with industrial heat and denatured alcohol,

...nor even to one of the tech's incantations to the stone gods.

      After I left Tom stayed behind in Columbus for a few days before joining me in Los Angeles, and during that time one of the stone company higher-ups came by the house to have a look at the stains. He still seemed to think that the stains around the edge of the counters would dry up given a bit more time.

      But as for the stains along the seam,     

...those were a more troublesome matter. The stone exec seemed to think that these spots were caused by the wrong type of caulking being used on this type of stone, and now the oil from the caulking was leaching into the stone (Or some such thing). The oil might dissipate in the weeks we'd be away. Or it might not. He said to contact the stone company with an update on the state of our countertop when we returned from our trip.
     When we returned home from our trip on November 2, the stains around the edges of the countertops had miraculously disappeared, just as the stone company intelligentsia had predicted they would. 
​       Not so the spots along the seam. They were still there.

       The following day, Wednesday, November 3, I called the stone company. On Friday, November 4, we received a visit from one of the stone mangers who gave the seam another - unsuccessful - heat treatment. He said he'd return the following Monday to apply a poultice to the stain. This would be our last treatment option.
        Now, to me, the term "poultice" sounds like something one's old great-granny might whip up by stuffing a cotton sock with Vick's Vapo-Rub and hanging it around someone's neck. However, for a stain on a stone applying a poultice made of acetone and baking soda is apparently the equivalent of sending in the Marines. Or so I was made to understand.
    So the stone manager arrived on Monday to lay a poultice treatment on my countertops. He applied poultices in two places then he covered the poultices  (poultici?) with bandages of plastic and tape.

         He then gave me specific instructions: 
       Leave the poultices alone until Wednesday. Then on Wednesday afternoon pull back the tape from one corner of the each of the poultices to let some air in.
​          On Thursday night pull off the tape and plastic to let the poultices dry out.
        On Friday morning brush away the dried poultice. If the treatment has worked, the stains will be gone.
          "And that's it?" I asked.
        "That's it," he said. "One way or another, in one week we'll know what the outcome is going to be. Do you understand what you need to do?"
         "Yes, Doctor," I almost said.
     I followed the stone doctor's orders meticulously. Over the days I frequently visited my countertop because I couldn't stop looking at those poultices and wondering what was going on underneath. On Wednesday I pulled back the taped corners, worrying whether I had pulled them back too far or not far enough. On Thursday night I removed the plastic bandages, being careful not to disturb the poultices. I stopped just short of offering thoughts and prayers for my countertop's recovery. 
          On Friday morning with trembling hand I brushed away the dried poultices. Here's what I saw:

      Today I received word from the stone company rep that, sadly, all their efforts to save my countertop had failed and they would now have to perform a countertopectomy.  
          All right, what he said was that they were going to replace the countertop. They are going to try and put in the new one without a seam. 
          I'm both relieved and anxious.