Problem No. 1: The kitchen countertop is showing its age.
Problem No. 2: Granite and marble countertops are $100 to $150 a square foot installed, way beyond your budget.
Solution: We've found a bunch.
A little dab will do you
It won't last forever, but a coat of specialty paint on your laminate top can brighten it up. Benjamin Moore's Advance, roughly $60 for 3.7 litres, is a good choice. And if it doesn't last long enough, just repaint it.
The paint comes in a rainbow of colours. Make sure to clean the countertop thoroughly before painting and follow the manufacturer's instructions. Sharp knife blades and hot pots can scratch or discolour paint, so go easy on your freshened-up countertop.
Lovely laminate and terrific tile
Laminate is considered the poor cousin of higher-priced, must-have materials such as granite. That's unfair -- modern laminates can look beautiful, with really nice textures. Available in everything from brushed nickel to granite look-a-likes, laminate is also an easy match for almost any style of kitchen.
IKEA's Numerar line of contemporary laminates start at $69 for a two-colour, 65-by-126-centimetre section with a black-metal or white-metal effect. Standard laminates elsewhere run $10 to $15 a square foot plus installation, which costs anywhere up to $500 for a standard kitchen.
Tile is another alternative to more expensive upgrades. A product such as a Schluter membrane can be used as a buffer between the tile and existing laminate or wood to provide waterproofing.
Tile itself is sturdy and heat-resistant, although the grout is tough to keep clean and usually needs replacing at some point. You should also opt for full-body porcelain tile: the colour goes all the way through so you don't notice a small chip as much as you do with ceramic tile, where the clay subsurface can show through.
Companies carry a wide selection of tiles starting at about $5 a square foot. The bigger the tile, the fewer the seams and the less grout.
As soon as you start doing major countertop replacements, costs mount. The new countertop, for example, may not reach as high as the old one, leaving a gap between it and the backsplash. Moulding sometimes works to fill the gap, but a new backsplash may be necessary. Changing the countertop normally means removing the sink and faucets as well, which may require calling in a plumber.
Get cultured
Although normally used for bathroom vanities and shower floors, cultured granite can make an affordable and attractive kitchen countertop. The product is a blend of 75 per cent limestone and 25 per cent resin and pigment. It comes in 25 colours.
The product is usually installed on three-quarter-inch plywood to give it rigidity. Compared with solid granite, this is a little softer, so it will mark but not stain. Small chips can be filled in or just sanded out.
Granite look at bargain-basement prices
Create the look of granite, marble, slate or travertine for a fraction of the price by using a concrete overlay system on an existing countertop. A thin layer of concrete is hand-trowelled onto any surface, from tile to Corian. Colour is then added and a sealing epoxy applied. The total thickness is about 1/8 of an inch.
Also suitable for showers, fireplace hearths and other applications.
Mix and match
If you have an island, make it the showpiece with a granite top and use laminate in the rest of the kitchen. Make them complement each other by having one patterned and the other more understated. Stick to a common granite colour such as Cambrian Black so that, if you want to change the laminate to granite in a few years, you won't have any trouble matching it.
As long as it doesn't interfere with cabinet doors, a new two- or three-inch wide laminate or other edging will give a modern, chunky look to an existing countertop.
-- Postmedia News
