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Countertop Refinishing Options: Price and Tips
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Countertop Refinishing Options: Price and Tips
earlyexperts.net
Your kitchen floor is hardwood and timeless. The backsplash, plain white tile, has come back into style for its minimalist look, and stainless steel has always been sleek and functional.
Examining these facets of your kitchen gives you some relative peace of mind. You know that, at least for now, one of the most integral rooms in the house when it comes to resale and property value is mostly up to date.
But then there are the countertops. Bold colored formica that peels from the island edges, or stone that is truly worn and even gouged in some places.
No doubt, these will have to get fixed, but countertops can be one of the most expensive parts of a kitchen remodel. This has you thinking, and while the surface itself is in rough shape, structurally everything is still solid.
So what can be done to truly JUST resurface without breaking the bank and replacing countertops completely? Believe it or not, there are a few options, most of which are pretty doable at very low cost for the average homeowner and handyman.
In this article we’ve outlined a few of those with some costs and general tips.
Cement Mix Kit
There nothing more in right now than concrete countertops, except maybe concrete countertops with a waterfall edge. Made crazy popular by Joanna Gaines on HGTV’s fixer upper, cement kitchen counters have soared in popularity as a part of the rustic farmhouse design style that has made the show so famous.
The best part about concrete countertops, though, is the relative ease with which they are installed and all the DIY options out there.
One of these installation options is the Encore Concrete Countertop Refinishing System. This kit of sorts includes a cement mix that is stain and scratch resistant. In addition to straight concrete finishes, Encore comes in other shades and styles including river rock, espresso, slate, and onyz.
The whole resurfacing process with the cement system takes roughly three days including drying and cure time. One kit covers up to 50 square feet of counter.
Counter Paint
For a truly quick and easy fix that will still hold up over time, you can always go with a countertop paint. The best of these paint kits is by Giani Granite, which allows you to coat your existing surafce with a faux stone design in sicilian sand, , chocolate brown, white diamond, mumbai black.
These kits are slightly cheaper and cover up to 40 square feet of counter.
One thing to consider: painted counters will often not do much to protect the existing surface, which is already chipped or scratched in some way. In order to defend against this, it is wise to use some sort of epoxy finish over the paint.
Straight Epoxy
Another similar option if your existing countertops are still agreeable from a design standpoint is a straight epoxy coat.
There are a bunch of general epoxy resurfacing kits on the market, all designed for DIY to some degree. All of these, however, are not necessarily food safe as they are meant for wood sealing.
That said, there are commercial, kitchen grade products that will give your surface a safe, glossy top coat that is impervious to forks, knives, water, heat, and the like.
The most highly recommended for counter and table tops is UltraClear Epoxy. This product is two-part. One side is resin and the other hardener. You will need to do some mixing back and forth, as per the directions, and lots of stirring (nearly 12 minutes worth), but the finished product is worth it.
One container of UltraClear will cover nearly 50 square feet of counter.
With any epoxy, one of the major concerns is bubbling. One way to discourage bubbling is with a constant heat source and storage at a reasonably high room temperature.
Conclusion
With any of these products, you are capable of saving your countertops and extending the life of your kitchen before any remodel must take place. Before you choose a product, consider the following:
- Is the structural integrity of your countertops still solid?
If the answer to this question is yes, than any of these are sound choices or refinishing.
- Is the design of your counter dated?
With design challenges, clear coat epoxy is ruled out, and you must focus your energies and research on paint or a cement finish.
From here, it is really about personal preference. If stone is what you are after, the cement mixes that emulate stone will be more authentic in feel and likely more durable. That said, you can get a little creative with paint, but it will not protect your new design from any repeat mishaps.
Once you’ve considered these factors and found the choice that is right for you, you are ready to get started. Like anything else, go all in and do not fear potential DIY debauchery. All of these products are user friendly and capable of making vast improvements to your existing kitchen countertops.
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