Hello. I Have Never Posted On Any Site Before , So Please Be Patient. I Need To Know If Anyone Has Ideas On Replacing , Resurfacing Or Painting Our Existing Kitchen Countertops. We Have Laminate Tops Now And Have Gotten Bids For Just Replacing The Sheets And For Actually Replacing The Whole Thing. It Is Much More Than What We Allotted In Our Budget. I Have Heard U Can Paint Them. True? How? Any Better Less Expensive Ideas That We May Can Do Ourself? Any Ideas How We Can Remove The Existing Countertop Ourself With Out Doing Damage To Cabinets? Thanks For Any Suggestions.

I would be very surprised to see a paint last very long. Certainly you would need to sand the surface to break up the gloss. Might select a paint specified for fiberglass. Most fiberglass uses unsaturated polyester resins similar to the ones used in laminate.

To remove the entire top, remove the molding around the top and sides. Then find and remove any screws into the bottom from the cabinets below. Should lift right off. OK, if there is a sink, it has to come off first.

There are paints for countertops. It's a type of glazing that works OK.
Did you consider installing tile ontop of the counter? That is a DYI type of project.
If you do replace the counters yourself, take all measurements of lengths, sink cut-out, etc from the existing top your taking out.
To remove the existing countertop, stick your head in the base cabinets and look up in the corners. You'll see screws in corner blocks of the cabinets.
As for the sink,turn off the water at the valves under the sink, disconnect the hot and cold lines from the valves or faucet, disconnect the waste pipe at a joint and lift the sink w/ the countertop. Much easier than lying on your back in the cabinet undoing sink clips. On the new counter, it is easier to install the sink and faucet in the top then put the counter in place. Then all you have to do is reconnect the water and watse lines.
Don't use too long of screws to resecure the cabinets to the top, just long enough to "grab" the top. Good luck

I would be very surprised to see a paint last very long. Certainly you would need to sand the surface to break up the gloss. Might select a paint specified for fiberglass. Most fiberglass uses unsaturated polyester resins similar to the ones used in laminate.

To remove the entire top, remove the molding around the top and sides. Then find and remove any screws into the bottom from the cabinets below. Should lift right off. OK, if there is a sink, it has to come off first.


Elissa828 - thanks for the info. I believe my existing countertop is glued on . How would i take that off ?

If the countertop is glued on, you will need to pry it off. Look in each cabinet and see if there is any room to slip in a pry bar between the bottom (underside) of the countertop and cabinet top.

If there isn't room, you will need to make it by forcing a prybar into the space. Start with a thin metal spatula of the type used for filling in nail holes.

Slip the knife between the cabinet and countertop and move it up and down. Keep repeating that ALL OVER THE UNDERSIDE OF THE CABINET.

Eventually, you will open up a gap where you can slip a prybar between the two parts.

S L O W L Y apply pressure. Moving the prybar to a new spot as it becomes looser.

Be careful on any end cabinets that have an exposed edge. It is easy to damage the cabinets.

I would consider what skiberger suggests. Tiling over the laminate. As long as the countertop is secure and the laminate is sound, tiling would be no issue. Just roughsand the laminate to provide a "tooth" for the mastic to bite into.

Another option would be to look for someone who will install a thin sheet of granite, solid-surface (corian) or similar on top of your existing laminate.

Good Luck, Dan

P.S. Unless you need to get by for a short period, don't bother with the paint. It WILL come off quite easily unless you spend an inordinate amount of time and effort prepping the surface. In that case, just tile over it.

I have put in new countertops on my house and all of my rental properties, keeping the cabinets on one job. New laminate countertops are fairly cheap- around $100 for an 8 ft piece at Home Depot, they have a good looking selection. They are also the same countertops I see in most new construction of middle class homes. On one of my boyfriend's units he pulled up the countertops, put down plywood, and is currently tiling them with Granite 12x12 tiles that cost about $2.00 each. It is an in-exspensive way to get granite countertops, he saw it at a neighbors house (who also did it themselves) and loved it. You do have to have a tile saw, would be exspensive if that is the only time you are going to use it. We are also tiling our rental properties w/ ceramic tile ourselves and showers, so it was worth the money.
Dan's idea of tiling over the laminate was also very creative/ good.

Thanks, I Think I May Go With The Tile Over The Laminate. Can Anyone Tell Me Step By Step How To Do And What All I Will Need For This Project. You All Have Helped So Much Already. As You Can Tell I Have Never Done Any Home Improvement Before.

Here is a thread from another website regarding installing granite tile over laminate that may help.

http://www.johnbridge.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=22439&highlight=tiling+laminate

Good Luck, Dan