it’s Thursday, let’s blog The New York Times

Hmmm, it’s Thursday, so here’s an idea…let’s blog The New York Times Home & Garden. We’ve trolled today’s paper and found a couple of maintenance-related items of interest.

First off is a conversation with contractor Stephen Fanuka (Shopping for Renovation Materials With Stephen Fanuka) about materials used in high-end Manhattan jobs. He makes an excellent point about honed Carrara marble. Sealant is not as strong as polish. And polish is removed when a stone is honed. Honed surfaces are very vulnerable to acids, which must be wiped immediately (even then it is sometimes too late). The only way to repair a damaged surface is to sand and reseal.

Clean+istry once owned a honed slate countertop and the problems were identical. Take it from us, avoid any surface material in the kitchen upon which a drop of lemon will damage. Sometimes “pretty” is pretty stupid.

Next up, Jay Romano covers laminate floor coverings (Under Your Feet, the Floor Show), a material that we can’t imagine any self-respecting high-end contractor using. Still, laminates have come a long way. Contrary to conventional thinking (Clean+istry’s), laminates are NOT plastic. They’re derived from paper (so no old-growth forest was sacrificed for your entry hallway) and according to nalfa (north america laminate flooring association), laminates are free of the toxic chemicals frequently found in carpet production.

Laminates are extremely easy to maintain. They’re shipped sealed and are impervious to spills and moisture. Although they are scratch resistant, they will in fact sometimes scratch.

And that’s Thursday.