I got Owen to restore two small marble table tops and they certainly look better. We moved them into the garage and he wet-sanded them there. But you should be careful – dealing with him left a bitter taste.
First, he was late. He said he would arrive at about 8:30 so I called him at 10:30 to find out where he was, and he said he had only just seen my address in an email I had sent a few days before. But he had already responded to my email several days ago! He finally arrived at about 11.
Second, I had agreed with him to restore the bigger of the two tables for less than his “minimum charge” because I thought it would not take very long. But I felt bad so I offered to pay an additional $100 if he did the smaller table (which is only 18 inches in diameter) so he could at least make a bit more money since he was going to be here anyway. He didn’t comment at all on this in his next email so I thought he wasn’t interested – I understand that this would still involve quite a bit of sanding. But when he arrived he said ok but he asked for more money!
Third, as we chatted I observed him with the sander on the larger table. I left him for a few minutes, and when I returned he said he had finished. I asked him if he was going to put on a sealer and he said he had already done that. A silicone sealant. I thought that was a bit strange that he had sealed it so quickly so I asked him if I could see what he had used. He said “later”. I thought – hmm, again strange – but whatever. I then watched him do the smaller table. Instead of putting sealer, he asked me if I had any “ArmorAll”. I said no, but I did have some Pledge furniture polish (oil-based). He said ok – that will do – and he proceeded to cover the smaller table with Pledge! It was slathered all over. And he then pronounced the smaller table “sealed”. I then pressed him on his promise to show me the silicone sealer he had used on the larger table and he refused saying this was a “trade secret”. Finally after I insisted he showed me a couple of small bottles of stuff – strangely he had to dig them out of a box in his truck. And he liked the furniture polish so much he put some on the larger table. I guess he put it on over the sealer!!
Oh my. You would think he could bring his own materials. At least the tables look better. But they are obviously really oily and I must remember not to eat off of them. (Pledge is full of petroleum distillates and can be harmful if swallowed.)
