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| Our kitchen after refinishing the laminate countertops |
Trevor and I bought our first home close to 6 and a half years ago. As with any starter home we opted for the best we could afford on a meagre budget. We were lucky to come across a fully finished 1,600 sq ft, 9 year old home. Compared to other houses in our target price range it had the most to offer. Many of the houses we looked at were 20-40+ years old, and needed extensive repairs or remodelling to suit our tastes and our needs. The newer homes we looked at were only partially finished, with basements that needed drywalling, flooring and painting.
I am so thankful that we chose the one that was move-in ready. It wasn't long after we moved in that we realized (in the midst of rebuilding a wall we tried to remove on our main floor–a story for another day!) that we are really not cut out for home renovations or major DIY projects. We managed to make it through that round of renovations with our brand new marriage in tact (no easy feat!), but vowed it would be a while, if ever, before we tried it again. We decided if there was work to be done, aside from basic painting, we would hire a contractor. We haven't done anything around the house in the 5 years since.
But, there has always been one aspect of our home that I have dispised from day one. Take a look at this picture and I'll give you one guess as to what it is....
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| Our lovely dusty rose coloured countertops |
Our house was slapped up at the same time as 6 others on our street and they used what I can only assume were clearance or reject materials when building the kitchens, to save money. The kitchen functioned just fine, but I knew the minute we had the opportunity we would abolish this home of the horrendous pink counters, which also made their way into both of the original bathrooms. *gag*
This Christmas my parents gave us a real push to finally do something about it, knowing how much it bothered me and how unlikely we were to fix it anytime soon. As a gift they gave us a
Beauti-tone Countertop Refinishing Kit. I had heard about a few different styles of refinishing kits, but was not familiar with the Beauti-tone version.
It was purchased on sale for $169.99 (regular $199.99) and it only took about half the kit to complete our kitchen (with plenty left over to rid the bathroom of the ghastly pink as soon as we have time). For non-DIYers like ourselves it was very easy to apply, start to finish was completed in 1 weekend, and we are absolutely thrilled with how it turned out. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a refresh on a budget. The finish looks really nice, it appears to be quite durable so far, and it's very economical. It can even be applied to damaged countertops, with a few minor repairs performed first. I don't think it would ever pass for a solid surface stone countertop, but I would say from a normal distance it could easily pass for brand new stone textured laminate. Based on what I've heard it seems much easier to apply than the Rustoleum or Gianni refinishing kits.
The kit comes in 5 colour choices: black, slate, taupe, tan and ivory. When trying to decide what colour to go with I did some Googling and surprisingly found very little information online about this particular kit. To help others who want to go this route I documented every step of the process, and hopefully my tips below are helpful.
Rather than explain all the little details, a good place to start is to watch
this instructional video, and then you can check out my pics and tips below.
Here we go:
Supplies included in the kit:
- 1 can of base coat paint
- 2 cans of stone coating glaze
- 1 can of top coat paint
- 1 paint tray
- 1 roller handle
- 3 rollers
- 2 sheets of 80 grit sandpaper
- 1 dust mask
- 1 paint brush
- 1 instructional DVD
- 1 instruction sheet
Supplies you will need that are not included:
- painters tape (Frog Tape works really well)
- a paintbrush (optional - a better quality one than what is in the kit)
- plastic drop sheets (we used this)
- wooden stir sticks
- a paint can opener (or flathead screwdriver)
- electric palm sander (optional - we used this one)
- 80 grit sandpaper for the electric sander (if using)
- plastic bags for wrapping paintbrushes and trays between coats
- TSP for cleaning
- A vacuum cleaner to remove sanding dust
- plenty of rags
- an Exacto knife
- wrenches for removing the sink
Step 1: Prep
Clear out the kitchen, and prepare for painting. We taped plastic drop sheets over our lower cabinets, taped around the edges of the countertop where it met the wall, and we removed our sink. The kit says you can tape around the sink, but we chose to take it out and I'm glad we did. I didn't want to take a chance on any of the pink remaining visible if the tape job wasn't perfect. Also, the paint was much easier to apply and required much less use of the brush. We thoroughly rubbed down our counters with a damp cloth to remove all dust, dirt and crumbs, then we washed the countertops down with TSP to remove any greasy residue, which will help the paint adhere better.
Step 2: Sand
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| Scratched it up a little bit |
Using the enclosed 80 grit sandpaper we scuffed up the countertops to roughen the surface for the paint to adhere. You can't overdo this part. If it looks like you are making a mess you are doing it right! We vacuumed up the dust and washed again with a damp cloth to ensure we got all of it.
Step 3: Primer Coat 1
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| 1st coat of primer |
We stirred the primer with a stir stick and poured it into the included tray. We used the included roller to start applying the paint. At first it didn't want to roll smoothly, but I realized I had pushed the roller onto the handle too tightly. I pulled it out a centimetre and it worked much better. It's important to just apply a light coat. It was tempting to glob it on to cover better but I knew it would only make a mess and waste paint. In the crevices along the edges and along the walls we used the included brush to apply the paint. I found the included brush to be cheap quality and a lot of little black hairs were coming off making a mess. I'd recommend using a better quality brush, I just didn't happen to have one when we got started. We sped up this step by both working at the same time, Trevor rolled and I brushed. I was careful not to miss the underside of the front edge of the countertop (where it curves around underneath to meet the cabinets). With such a drastic colour change I figured it would be noticeable if we missed this spot.
We let it dry for 30 mins. Rather than washing out the brushes I just wrapped them in plastic bags (as well as the tray) so they wouldn't crust over before the next coat is applied.
Step 4: Primer Coat 2
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| 2nd coat of primer |
As directed we applied a second coat in the exact same manner as above. They say to apply two coats of primer, however after the 2nd coat went on we decided you could still see too much pink showing through. I wasn't sure if the stone coat would add any further colour coverage, so we decided to go ahead and do a 3rd coat.
Step 5: Primer Coat 3
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| 3rd coat of primer |
Optional. If you are sticking to a similar shade you may not need this third coat to fully cover. Our dark pink to ivory transformation definitely required it, and by the 3rd coat we knew it was the right choice because it was fully covering.
After this phase we washed out our brush, roller and tray. The kit comes with a clean roller for each step, but you'll want to remove the first roller and clean the handle part well so it doesn't get too caked in paint.
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| After the 3rd coat dried it looked nice and solid with no pink showing through |
Step 6: Apply the Stone Coating Layer 1
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| After applying the 1st stone coat |
I was a little nervous about this step. It turned out to be extremely easy. The main pointer is to make sure the paint can is stirred very well. The stones will settle to the bottom of the can and it will take some muscle to get it mixed properly. Once you start rolling be sure to let the roller do all the work. When I started the roller was on too tight again, and I had to loosen it off because it wouldn't roll, it just kept pushing the stone coat around. It needs to go on quite thick. I found that the spot where I touched my brush down is where the stone seemed to gather, so I was reloading my brush quite often. Just keep applying until it looks fairly even. During the 2nd coat you can apply extra to any areas that look sparse. The stone coat doesn't dry too quickly, so you have lots of time to re-touch, no need to rush.
The stone coat seemed more like a glaze than a paint, so if we hadn't done a 3rd base coat we definitely would not have covered the remaining pink with this step. I'm so glad we took the time for the 3rd coat.
At this point we could begin to see what the final effect would look like, how exciting!
Step 7: Stone Coat Layer 2
The second coat went on much like the 1st coat, except that this time the goal was to bulk up the stone flecks, and make sure to fill in any spots that were looking sparse. It's easy to get very anal about it, so after going over each area a few times, and then going back for a spot check I had to let it be. Even now I notice a few areas that look less coated, but I suppose it adds a natural look to it.
Step 8: Sanding
Before we started sanding we used some of the extra drop cloth to cover off the doorways into the kitchen, to cover the stove and table (which was piled with stuff), and cover the contents on the top of the fridge. We knew the dust would likely get into every nook and cranny, so covering everything over made clean-up much easier.
The kit provides enough 80 grit sandpaper to sand everything by hand, but we chose to use our electric palm sander. I'm very glad we did because it made quick work of smoothing everything out very evenly. I was able to get the sander all the way into the corners, so I didn't have to hand sand anything. It was hard to know how much to sand as the stone showed through pretty well before we started sanding, but while sanding it revealed the multi-coloured flecks even more. I wanted to get it as smooth as possible without removing too much texture, so I just used my judgement.
Once the sanding was done we vacuumed up the dust, took down the drop cloths, and wiped everything down with a damp cloth.
Step 9: Top Coat Layer 1
The top coat was very easy to apply. The hardest part was making sure we didn't miss a spot. We found that shining a flashlight on the area of application made it easier to see any spots that weren't shiny from the wet top coat. To avoid a bubbly rough finish you have to be very careful not to roll over each spot too many times.
Step 10: Top Coat Layer 2
After the 1st coat dried, we did the 2nd coat, cleaned up our brushes, removed the plastic drop cloths and sat back to wait for it to dry. Once it was fully dry to the touch, but not totally cured, about 2-3 hours later, we took an Exacto knife and scored along the edges of the painters tape. The scoring was an important step because there were too many layers of paint caked on for the tape to peel off easily otherwise. After scoring it came off easily and created a nice clean edge.
And here is the final result:
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| All put back together and looking great! |
The results were so good that now I think the oak cabinets are looking a little dated and shabby. Maybe a coat of paint is just what's needed. To be continued...
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