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Hi - Texas LL here. I put new Granite Countertops into our Rental house kitchen prior to our last tenant move in - and now that the tenants have moved out (2 year stay) - they are saturated with oil/grease and are noticeable darker. This will not just simply wipe off as it has penetrated the stone. The granite was sealed properly when installed but if the tenant doesn't keep them clean then this will happen. (ie leaving grease on them overnight). No I did not specify in the lease that they need to be kept clean. I got 3 estimates that state this is a $600 job to get them properly clean again - requires taking a layer off - multiple poultices to remove it. I would like to charge the tenant for these costs since they were caused by her cooking spills.
How would a judge look at this?
Yes granite is just there to look pretty. Best used to when selling a house.
A porous surface really has no business in a food prep area.
Your lease would have needed to actually state kitchen counters not to be used for food prep.
Otherwise it is normal for people to use it as such to prepare meals. So normal wear & tear if a porous surface used.
Yes you put down sealer. But besides wearing off on food. All of them are water based. So easy for them to be affected by cleaning chemicals or food juices.
Even if tenant tries to keep them clean. Grease and other things will soak in before you can clean.
It will help if your lease requires a tenant to seal this high maintenance surface.
By then the question is how often?
Daily, weekly monthly etc...
Since could be sealed one day and something gets on the counter the affects this WATER based sealer the next day.
Best bet is to explain all this to ever new tenant and hope to just limit any stains. And leave them some granite stain cleaning products for when it happens.
Again just hope to limit the damage.
I'd guess this would be considered wear and tear, not negligent damage.
Next time consider a countertop material that's either not porous or real cheap to replace.
It is negligence on the tenants part. Who leaves grease on a countertop? I don’t care what the material is... you don’t leave food and grease on your countertop.
I have granite and paid a pretty penny for it.. there’s no stains on it and it’s not because I got a owners manual, but because I have common sense and keep it clean.
It is negligence on the tenants part. Who leaves grease on a countertop? I don’t care what the material is... you don’t leave food and grease on your countertop.
I have granite and paid a pretty penny for it.. there’s no stains on it and it’s not because I got a owners manual, but because I have common sense and keep it clean.
Who said they left grease on the countertop?
They may have spilled some or came from food prep. You can wipe up the grease on top. But not the grease that has already soaked in a porous surface.
And you may seal yours more often so it did not soak in.
But the sealer has to be redone every so often. Water based so wears off on your food or with cleaning.
It does not just evaporate.
It is negligence on the tenants part. Who leaves grease on a countertop? I don’t care what the material is... you don’t leave food and grease on your countertop.
Negligence aside, one has to ask...who puts granite (an expensive, porous surface that requires care) in a rental? Seems like begging for trouble to me.
It is tenant caused damage, charge it and move on. These arguments are as stupid as the people who argue that water damage on a laminate countertop is wear and tear. You have to leave the mess a while for the damage to actually take place in both situations; that's neglect and you charge for it.
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