Revamping worktops

givememoney

I have a kitchen that although 16 years old is very plain in design and I am quite happy to keep it for some time.

What isn't in such good condition are the worktops. To replace the worktops themselves would be an upheaval plus the tiles above which again are in good condition would possibly get damaged in the removal and replacement.

What could work, if there is such a thing, is a tough coating that could be applied to the worktop to smarten it up.

Does anyone know of such a thing or better still have used it themselves?

owey

I have not heard of anything to coat them with, but I would change the tops for what it costs. The most expensive part is the cuts, if you have any corners?. You might also find that the worktops today are alot thicker so you could hide the bottom of the tile if they did move?.

Mrs_pbradley936

When we were in this position my husband tiled over the worktop. He put a moulding on the edges at the right height to take the tiles. The only other thing I can suggest is a couple a large glass or wooden boards placed over the worst bits.

I know what you mean abot the upheaval and cost because you start saying "should we get a new sink while we are at it?" " the handles look a bit shabby" etc. etc. Then suddenly you are spending a lot of money on tarting up when you could put a bit more and have new everything!

Debt_Free_Chick

What are the existing worktops made of?

If laminated chipboard/MDF it should be possible to remove them without damaging the tiles. Fiddly - and you would have to hack them to bits, but could be possible. Depends on what they're made of.

Someone mentioned to me a coating for worktops made out of crushed marble, which is painted on! I'd never heard of it, but will see if I can find out more.

However, replacement would be your best option.

givememoney

pbradley936 wrote:

I know what you mean abot the upheaval and cost because you start saying "should we get a new sink while we are at it?" " the handles look a bit shabby" etc. etc. Then suddenly you are spending a lot of money on tarting up when you could put a bit more and have new everything!

How true, I have made that sort of mistake before, replacing one part and couple of years down the line regretting it. A case in point the front room carpet. Redecorated but kept the old carpet as it still had life in, 3 years down the line it died but the decorating still looked like new.

Debt_Free_Chick wrote:

What are the existing worktops made of?

If laminated chipboard/MDF it should be possible to remove them without damaging the tiles. Fiddly - and you would have to hack them to bits, but could be possible. Depends on what they're made of.

Someone mentioned to me a coating for worktops made out of crushed marble, which is painted on! I'd never heard of it, but will see if I can find out more.

However, replacement would be your best option.

If you can find out the name of the coating I would be grateful.

The worktops are laminated chipboard.

roswell

I read somewhere that you can get granite overlays ... just for the life of me cant remember where, this may be a option.

recovering_spendaholic

I just recently replaced my worktops and sink and it cost me in the region of £200 all in, and I have over 22ft of worktop. The old laminate worktops came out without any bother and there was no marking or cracking of the tiles. I got my worktops in a worktop centre which was about half the price of B&Q and got the sink in an old fashioned plumbers merchant for £49 including all the wastes and it is one of those trendy set in round ones.

tawnyowls

roswell wrote:

I read somewhere that you can get granite overlays ... just for the life of me cant remember where, this may be a option.

Yes, company called Granite Transformations https://www.granite-transformations.co.uk