Kitchen counters

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We are remodeling a kitchen with an almost no money..We need counter tops.. When I got the vinyl tile for the bathroom I saw some nice looking 12X12 tile that looked like marble.. Would it be possable to use that on counter topes,if we use water proof glue.. Does anyone else have any cheap ideas..Doris in Idaho

-- Doris Richards (dorisquilts@webtv.net), July 18, 2000

Answers

Doris:

I would say no to the vinyl tiles. It would be extremely difficult to keep the joints sanitary, they will pick up nicks and cuts quickly and anything hot set on them will likely cause burns. Check with a place which makes kitchen cabinets/counters. They might be able to cut and install formica to go on top of what you currently have without a lot of disruption. The butcher block look is very popular. They might even be able to take your old counter top off, take it to their shop, install the formica and return it for an exact fit.

-- Ken Scharabok (scharabo@aol.com), July 18, 2000.


My "cheap" counter tops were 3/4" plywood covered with ceramic tile from a salvage yard. Durable, no hot plates needed, washable, etc. Stay away from the vinyl - it'll look good for a few weeks, then like it was said above - nicks, cuts, scrapes, melted spots, the joints collecting dirt, etc.

-- Eric in TN (ems@nac.net), July 18, 2000.

How about slate ? Its cheap and durable.

-- Patty Gamble (fodfarms@slic.com), July 18, 2000.

I also have ceramic tile counter tops (in the house when we bought it) and they are nice as far as durability. However, the grout between them makes cleaning a royal pain in the neck. It's almost easier to vacuum the counters of crumbs, etc., because they just fall onto the grout. I make it a practice to sanitize with bleach/water solution at least daily and more often if I'm cutting up chickens or such. The uncomfortable thing is that at some point someone spilled green food color and it still migrates to the surface when it's wet. I'm sure bacteria and such do the same.

-- marilyn (rainbow@ktis.net), July 18, 2000.

We just finished remodeling our kitchen. I am funny about wanting a floor that you can walk across without falling through! Check with local area remodelers. When someone puts a new countertop in, they usually throw away their old one, we had to. Maybe if the remodeler knew that you wanted to recycle one, they could be careful with the removal of the old one and cut it down to fit your needs. And many times, the only reason for getting rid of the old one is to get a "new look" and there is nothing at all wrong with the old one.

-- Lori Price (klnprice@yahoo.com), July 18, 2000.


If you want to go with tile there is a grout sealer on the market. They designed it for bathrooms so you won't have anymore yucky moldy grout in the shower. They seal it and the grout stays clean and white.

-- Vaughn (vdcjm5@juno.com), July 18, 2000.

Hi: My counter tops are plain wood with several coats of polyurethene. When I first did them, they were supposed to be a temporary fix. Well, that was 3 years ago and I still have them and they do fine. I sanded between each coat and used a good quality poly and brush.

-- Marci (ajourend@libby.org), July 19, 2000.

One place I had, I made a countertop out of some old parquet wood flooring that my mother had ripped off her kitchen floor. I glued them down, then used a belt sander to get it all even and clean, then oiled it. Polyurethane would do, too. It looked great, although it was for my eating counter, not my cooking/working counter. I think it would work fine for that with the polyurethane. Belt sander is a must -- ordinary orbital kind takes forever.

-- snoozy (allen@oz.net), July 20, 2000.

You can use just about anything for benchtops, provided you don't use them for food preparation. Find a kitchen furniture manufacturer, and go dumpster diving (or ask them) for offcuts, cut to size for cutting- boards, pads for hot utensils, etc, seal the edges (surfaces where necessary) with polyurethane. Do your food preparation on those. If you wanted to, you (or your kids) could make some cash out of making and selling such boards, or at least make some gifts.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), July 20, 2000.

Long shot. Ask at local bowling alley(s) when they plan to next replace their lanes. Heavy use results in basically ruts in the lanes so they have to be taken out and replaced. Don't see why sections couldn't be used for a counter top with generous coats of poly.

-- Ken Scharabok (scharabo@aol.com), July 20, 2000.


We have a tiled counter ...DON?T DO IT!!!! It is a big pain in the butt too keep clean. Afriend of mine (who is an organic farmer) made her kitchen counter with some sort of resin (I know nothing about resins but I do know this woman has about everything in her house environmentally friendly, so I imagine this resin stuff is pretty good). It looks great, easy to clean, and cheap. I don't know exactly what it is called in english, anyone know the stuff I'm talking about?

-- kelly (kellytree@hotmail.com), July 24, 2000.

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