Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with countertop

Good Silestone Vendor in New York City

Davidissimo — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 08:30:54 -0800

I'm looking for a good place to get a Silestone countertop in New York City. Trying to get a good price and reliability. Anyone have a suggestion?

Food Safe Wood Treatment

RandlePatrickMcMurphy — Wed, 07 May 2008 12:33:34 -0800

I'm planning to use bamboo plywood for a section of kitchen countertop. How should I treat it to make it both water and stain resistant and food-safe? I like the look of this, - its a fairly subtle poly, not the thick built up layers kind.

But would it be safe to use on a surface that might have occasional contact with food? I'm not planning to use it as a cutting surface, just a surface for cutting boards, plates etc.

Hiding burn marks in laminate countertop?

GPF — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 07:20:49 -0800

How should I treat burn marks in a bathroom laminate counter top so that my corporate landlord doesn't ding me? Any advice before I start into it with sandpaper, chisels and paint? My internet research suggests replacing the counter top entirely, as laminate can't be easily repaired. However, I don't need it perfect, I just need it to be not obvious to the corporate employee that walks through when surveying the apartment.

I've got my "normal wear and tear" arguments ready to go. I'm pretty sure I understand the legal, ethical, and interpersonal ramifications of my situation. I'm really after handyman advice.

How do we restore the shine to a granite surface?

clarkstonian — Mon, 07 May 2007 07:37:34 -0800

Granite is impervious to most things, except... dishwasher liquid. My husband ran the dishwasher last night but accidentally spilled some of the detergent on our black granite counter and did not clean it up. I saw it this morning, it had dried to a white powder. When I washed it away, it left a quarter-sized dull spot in an other otherwise shiny and beautiful surface. It's not scratched, so I'm not sure what happened. The stuff doesn't do that good a job on dishes! Granite cleaner did nothing. What to do, what to do? I do not want to make it worse.

Solid Wood Countertop?

jalexei — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 08:15:18 -0800

Wood as a kitchen counter top - pros and cons? We're in the process of ordering everything for a kitchen update, and while we were originally considering granite as a counter top, I've been grooving on photos of a solid oak counter top from Ikea - It's also (no surprise) dramatically cheaper. Anyone have experience with wood in the kitchen?

I don't mind oiling it, and we'd still use cutting boards, but I'm wondering about overall durability and water resistance (thinking of the puddles around my sink whenever we're cleaning pots and pans). Are there any issues with germs/bacteria and disinfection that might vary from other surfaces?

It's so gross!

theantikitty — Sat, 15 Jul 2006 14:20:27 -0800

Please help me figure out how to replace this nightmare of a (rental) counter! See My husband and I recently moved into (and renovated) an old apartment. We've done a lot of the nastiest jobs, but figuring out how to cheaply and easily replace the gross old countertops is becoming a thorn in our side. I found some good ideas in this mefi thread, but I was hoping for some advice that was a little more specific to our problem. The main issue is that the countertop piece is absolutely not standard size in any way. See exact dimensions here. The diagonal part is actually a curve, which you can see in photos below.

Originally, I believe the counter had a formica insert in a stainless steel frame. They've covered it over with plain, cheap, vinyl tile that has long since past its prime. Not only that, it's totally nasty in between the grooves, and has lots of stains. See photos here and here. Our first idea was simply to buy a standard size of laminate countertop from the hardware store, cut the end, and mount it on. Because of the size difference and the curve, this proved somewhat impossible. I tried peeling up a bit of the vinyl tile to see what was underneath, and there was some old, nasty, wood stuff. See here. We're desperately seeking a cheap and easy solution to this problem. We're renting, so we don't want to pay a fortune and get something really nice, but we do want a liveable countertop as we plan to live here at least the next couple of years.

Ideas we've thought of:

1. Cutting and finishing a piece of butcher block to cover the counter. This is possibly too expensive, and I'm not sure who would cut it to those exact specifications for cheap.

2. Removing the counter and laying a piece of plywood. Cheap (i mean cheap!) tile over the plywood. Not sure how durable this would be, and also requires that we rent a tile cutter and put in lots more work.

3. Using a heat gun (?) or some kind of scraper to get that old nasty vinyl out and laying tile in the empty part, but this may be difficult because the tile won't necessarily be flush with the stainless steel.

We've also considered looking at those big, thin, cheap pieces of laminate they sell next to the standard countertop pieces in the Lowes. I'm not sure if we could have a piece of that cut to size and glue it down inside the frame?

Obviously, we're totally lost about which direction to go in. We'd really appreciate some experienced advise about the easiest and cheapest way to do this. TIA, guys.

Marred Marble?! Help!

SpecialK — Sat, 24 Jun 2006 13:13:54 -0800

Marble Countertop Help! It seems that the finish/sealant/coating has bubbled or otherwise created a white spot on the black marble countertop in our house. What would've caused this? How can we fix it? The countertop is man-made black marble, and there's now a white spot on the top marring the perfect marble-ness.

The best kitchen counter material for our new kitchen

iTristan — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 05:43:43 -0800

We're trying to figure out the best kitchen counter material for our new kitchen. I know there are lots of great options, but we've narrowed our needs/wants down to a few important ones and have a shortlist we can't get past too easily, so are looking for some insight. As far as features go, we will be getting an undermount sink. We just hate overmount sinks that much.

Secondly, we have stoneware dishes. They are great but are tough on counters, therefore scratches are inevitable, *but* can be minimized – or their appearance can be minimized – using the right material.

Finally, we cook with spices a lot. For some materials, this can cause stains difficult to remove.

Thus, our shortlist so far is:
Staron/Corian (slightly less expensive, great looking, but scratches can look terrible)
Granite (needs to be sealed regularly, scratches can be obvious)
Quartz (could be the best of both worlds?)

Other option we don't know much about:
Concrete

Who's had experience enough to offer their thoughts? Much appreciated.

Corian sinks

dpx.mfx — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 17:41:49 -0800

We have corian countertops in our kitchen. The sink, which I think is made of enamel, seems as if it's part of the countertop. I hate the sink. Does replacing the sink mean replacing the whole countertop?

Superglue Issues

slim — Sun, 11 Dec 2005 09:38:23 -0800

What is the best way to get superglue off of a countertop? I was supergluing something that was painted black... I applied the glue and then laid it down to dry without putting down newspaper, etc. Now I have superglue, mixed with black paint on my white bathroom countertops. I have tried fingernail polish remover as well as every cleaning agent I have. Any suggestions?