Countertop Resurfacing? Don't even go there!

I am all for being frugal where you can on your home remodel. What I will never promote, however, are do-it-yourself projects that will devalue your home, and the home stores are FILLED with them. Today I have to go into one of the newest and worst ideas I have ever seen for your kitchen- Countertop Resurfacing…

I can’t say enough to discourage you from ever using such a product, but I’m going to do my best! Rust- Oleum has some fantastic products. I use their spray paints all the time for various projects around my home, but this product is just WRONG! My strongest advice when you are ready to replace your laminate countertop- is to actually REPLACE your laminate countertop. Consider where you live and the materials that other homeowners in your surrounding neighborhood are using for their home. If you are not going to upgrade to a more luxurious material such as granite or quartz, I can tell you that Formica, Pionite, Wilsonart and a few other laminate manufacturers have come up with a slew of amazing laminates that resemble granites and slates and fantastic stones. Many have textures or scratch resistant coatings and are very affordable. I will most definitely do a post on one of my favorites by Formica soon. For now let’s get back to this horrible idea of resurfacing your countertops.

Have you ever seen a garage with a coated floor? They look pretty neat. The floor has a nice polish, thick coating of paint with a sealer and can contain flecks in the mix to give it some pizzazz. Would you ever put that on your countertop? That’s exactly what you are doing if you use this kit. Yes, it’s appealing to think you can do it yourself and save a ton of money. This kit can range from $140.00-$200.00, but a post-form laminate countertop can cost you around the same price and a custom laminate countertop- brand new- is not much more than that. The look that this kit offers is more similar to the older style laminates of the early 90′s or the older solid surface countertops that had small or medium sized speckles throughout. It looks NOTHING like a granite or stone, like it attempts to represent. The result of the work you will do with this kit will never look even close to the overdone flecking they show on the box and even that does not look spectacular. Furthermore, if you ruin this project or don’t quite like the look when you’re done, you’ve wasted time and effort and will still need to replace it in the future. This project falls under my “Measure Twice, Cut Once Philosophy”. A skilled craftman will measure twice to avoid a mistake. I use this quote all the time to inform homeowners that proper preparation avoids costly mistakes. Usually, when I say proper preparation, I mean hire a professional. It is great when you can do it yourself and some projects qualify for this, but specialized trades have come into existence for a reason. If everyone could do it, everyone would open up a business doing it. Things that require skill should be done by their trade professionals. Countertops fall under that category almost as much as refinishing your own kitchen cabinets (oh, don’t even get me started on that non-sense! That will be another post!).

Resurfacing is a process that offers a questionable time period of wear and tear. The look is not desirable so it is not an improvement and therefore it decreases the value of your kitchen. If you were to sell your home, this would deter buyers who would consider this an item that must be replaced, a cheap fix for the most important room of the home. My D-I-Y divas and divos, please don’t waste your time. You will be disappointed and pay twice as much for something you could have done right the first time. I hope this post will help you make an informed decision on this product. Hopefully, with enough complaints, dislike or lack of sales, the big box stores will take such a bad product off the shelves!