It's been two years since we painted it. [see here]
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| This is right before the Mister took out the sink.... I was a bit anxious to get the project started! |
My thoughts- The counter tops have held up okay but not spectacular.
In hindsight, I would definitely have put a poly coat on. We've got quite a few nicks in ours- especially around the sink where the most activity happens. I think a poly coat would have prevented a lot of the nicks or at least kept it nicer for a longer period of time.
I think we went almost two months with it in pristine condition before the first few nicks.
>>> I saved the leftover paint in a smaller (well sealed) jar and touched up the first dozen or so marks (using a very fine tipped artist paint brush) but after several months, I gave up.
Also- it says right on the can that you can't put anything real hot on this coating, as it will discolor the paint. We've maintained vigilance on that front and don't have any discoloration (but from my further research, I see that it has been a problem for others).
As for the bang for my buck factor? I think it's spot on. The can of paint cost me $20. It took about 20 minutes to apply each coat (the biggest hassle was taking the sink in and out). My old counter top was ugly, seriously so. Even with the nicks and chips in the coating- I still like it better than what it once was. I wasn't expecting a $20 fix to look like a new $500 counter top. I just wanted better than I had at the moment, so my expectations were right on target.
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| The counter today- those little whitish specks are the chips in the paint. |
Bottom line: I would totally do this again for the price. However, I would consider this coating a temporary fix, like phase one of a project, and I would plan on either repainting it or replacing the counter tops in two years.
Since this project, I have done more research on Rustoleum's countertop coating vs. countertop transformations and my personal opinion is this: don't spend the mega big bucks on the transformation kit. It looks like you'll have the same chipping (nicks) issues that I've had and you'll have spent a whole lot more than I did. [$20 vs. $250]. Plus there's a lot more steps involved in the prepping and painting process.
With drying time and sink removal and re-installation- this project took 3 days (and all but a couple hours of that was drying/curing time).
Right now we're in the planning stages of another kitchen project (when we move to the farm) and I have different plans for the countertop at the farm.
We're thinking either a concrete countertop (a la this)
or our own spin on a faux butcher block top (a la this)
Which do you like more? I'm having a hard time deciding!
The counter top at the farm is way smaller than we have now so we may even go the more professional less DIY route and just buy a new counter top.....
but somehow I doubt that. We love to DIY.
