Countertops

[tallyho8]

Did you buy pre assembled, or did you assemlble them? Jon

I took the easy way out and bought pre-assembled.

 

[Oaktree]

Been following this thread, wife's been bugging me to finish remodeling our kitchen this year. Was probably last done in the 70s by the PO. Gotta admit, it's (over)due.

One thing we're considering for countertop is wood with epoxy sealer, similar to what's used in bars or "rustic" restaurants. I have a lot of cherry tongue-and-groove flooring, was figuring on gluing them together then using the epoxy to seal it and fill the seams. Has anyone done this?

I did build some cabinets for the other side of the room a few years ago and used ceramic tile for the counters. Good for there since these are on either side of the stove where we're likely to set hot pots/pans, but I'm concerned about breakage if one of us sets a dish or glass down a bit too hard, also keeping the grout looking nice. It's an option I'd consider for this half of the room, but it's not my first choice. I don't really like granite, it's heavy, expensive, not DIY and I think it's a fad that down the road will look as dated as avocado or stainless steel appliances. Not that we really care, we plan to live here the rest of our lives.

Anyway, I'd be interested in anyone else's experiences with wood counters.

 

[goeduck]

. I don't really like granite, it's heavy, expensive, not DIY and I think it's a fad that down the road will look as dated as avocado or stainless steel appliances. .

Stainless has gone out of style?

 

[CADplans]

Been following this thread, wife's been bugging me to finish remodeling our kitchen this year. Was probably last done in the 70s by the PO. Gotta admit, it's (over)due.

One thing we're considering for countertop is wood with epoxy sealer, similar to what's used in bars or "rustic" restaurants. I have a lot of cherry tongue-and-groove flooring, was figuring on gluing them together then using the epoxy to seal it and fill the seams. Has anyone done this?

Since this is not a "high volume" type counter top,,,
no matter how nice you finish the job, it will be considered DIY instead of professional.

You will enjoy it, but, resale will take a big hit.
There are so many granite kitchens, it will never go out of style.
Just due to the shear volume,,, granite will be in homes forever.

I can name ten granite installers in Roanoke VA,,,
other than Lowes, or HD,,,, I doubt I could find two Formica installers.

 

[tjkubota93]

We just dropped 10k on rta cabinets from cabinet joint. Plywood boxes the rest hard maple. All blum hinges and slides. Each custom sized to our measurements. Made in usa.

 

[Stimw]

Hmmm, we have some well worn Formica countertops and some laminate sections. Any tricks to it? I assume that you glue it down to what's there and then trim the edges to match?

Aaron Z

If there are no uneven areas and it is still fastened solid and straight my best guess is you rough the old up with fine sander.
The laminate is applied to partical board with contact cement so attaching to old laminate should work.
You apply glue to both sides then let it tack.
With a bunch of things (I used 1/2" sticks cut on table saw) to keep them separate, you line up and remove sticks as you go burping as you go.
You use a router to trim edges but you always add the edge strip first, route even, then apply top. This lets top overhang the side.
There are a bunch of utube videos showing/explaining it.

 

[aczlan]

They say a picture is worth a thousand words right?

It's pretty smooth except for some dings at the edge as you can see in the picture above.

Aaron Z

 

[tjkubota93]

Anyone aware that a granite or marble counter top is a wee bit radioactive ?

Probably no more than those quartz counters, if they are made in China no telling what those dudes would put in the mix.

Just kidding, kinda.

 

[Wakey]

While I was researching our remodel I considered pouring an epoxy over the formica that would look like granite or quartz.

These videos are fascinating. This is the link for the channel. StoneCoatCountertops
- YouTube

 

[quicksandfarmer]

While I was researching our remodel I considered pouring an epoxy over the formica that would look like granite or quartz.

These videos are fascinating. This is the link for the channel. StoneCoatCountertops
- YouTube

That looks really cool. Looks like you could do a good job with just hand tools, something I've been looking for. Thanks for posting.

 

[Red Horse]

Late to the thread, but my two cents- good options are granite, quartz and solid Corian.

I think in most areas, the sq. ft price on all three is the same. I think the quartz products are the best in terms of durabiity and cleanliness as they are non-porous. there are many different names for quartz- Silestone is one that I saw s0meone mentioned earlier. From what I read someplace, an Italian company licenses the production machinery as they invented it-so different companies produce "quartz" using the same process equipment.

Having said that when it came time to redo our kitchen my wife liked a particular Corian color and that is what we did-it is a solid product much like quartz but I don't think it uses the same production machinery. We had one chip in an edge and theycame back and fixed it in 5 minutes-never know it was there.

Just bought another property and it has corian and wife doesn't like color-so stay tuned-will do a post on refinishing to change color:confused3:

 

[goeduck]

Anyone aware that a granite or marble counter top is a wee bit radioactive ?

So is my water. Uranium. With the glow, I save on flashlights at night.

 

[zmountaineer]

We did quartz when we remodeled our 100 year old house in 2010.



Then we we built our house in 2016 we went with quartz again



I, personally, do not like any granite that I have seen.

 

[Stimw]

All nice pics of granite and quartz but no one is talking about their cost!
I can without question tell you that I have about $7200.00 STILL in my pocket (not counting tax!!) by going with laminate.
I admit that it comes down to what ever makes you happy so lets all enjoy our choices.
BUT I can always change my mind and upgrade without much pain.

 

[zmountaineer]

Our remodel house cost $3300 for the quartz (including installation). Our new house had an "upcharge" of $4200 for the quartz over the included laminate.

 

[kcflhrc]

We have a very large Kitchen in our 1970 2500 sq ft home. Cant remember the break down exactly but our Semi Custom Cabinets, under mount composite sink, tile back splash, Large Island with Granite on everything was $11k installed. I thought that was very reasonable. Chinese guys did the cabinet install, Mexicans did the granite and a black guy did the back splash. They were all fantastic at their trade. The Chinese guys were hilarious, only 1 spoke English, well, kinda. I was impressed by their work.

 

[tjkubota93]

We have a very large Kitchen in our 1970 2500 sq ft home. Cant remember the break down exactly but our Semi Custom Cabinets, under mount composite sink, tile back splash, Large Island with Granite on everything was $11k installed. I thought that was very reasonable. Chinese guys did the cabinet install, Mexicans did the granite and a black guy did the back splash. They were all fantastic at their trade. The Chinese guys were hilarious, only 1 spoke English, well, kinda. I was impressed by their work.

We got some Chinese folks in the granite trade. Very good and very competitive on price.

 

[tjkubota93]

finally got countertops. Have done every bit of tear out and replacement myself, all the way to studs (and replaced a bunch of those).

They did kitchen, 4 bathrooms and made some pieces for the shower im building (corner seat, entry step and window sill) for $4560. With tear out and everything.

Wife drove all over everwhere getting samples of colors. Ended up this place had the colors she picked somewhere else.

What we got was considered "builder grade" because the small patterns. We didn't like the big crazy looking stuff.

 

[tjkubota93]

View attachment 547706finally got countertops. Have done every bit of tear out and replacement myself, all the way to studs (and replaced a bunch of those).

They did kitchen, 4 bathrooms and made some pieces for the shower im building (corner seat, entry step and window sill) for $4560. With tear out and everything.

Wife drove all over everwhere getting samples of colors. Ended up this place had the colors she picked somewhere else.

What we got was considered "builder grade" because the small patterns. We didn't like the big crazy looking stuff.

All but the shower

 

[goeduck]

Looks really good !!