Can you paint laminate counter tops? Paint does not hold up on laminate countertops. When asked "Can you paint laminate counter tops? Jason Flippo, who is the owner and president of Signature Home Improvement...
When asked "Can you paint laminate counter tops? Jason Flippo, who is the owner and president of Signature Home Improvement Inc, which is a business that concentrates on remodeling kitchens and living areas, replies, "Well, you can, but they're not going to hold up. It's not going to last. I've seen it done many times. It lasts around a year or two at the most. It doesn't look good either when it's done. But I've seen it. There are companies that do it and apply it with a spray. They spray it and it looks fine, but not for the long term though."
Even against expert advice, many still decide to go ahead and try painting their laminate counter tops either because they "just want to see" before they have to add the extra expense of replacing them or because they want to finish up their kitchen remodeling project early, like before selling a house. Either way, if you do not have a company come in and do it, there are some do-it-yourself books on the subject.
The increase of those wanting to try and paint over their laminate countertops themselves may also have something to do with the fact that many interior designers on home decorating shows have been doing it on TV. On an episode of "Room By Room" airing on the popular HGTV (Home and Garden Television Network), the two hosts attempt this in order to make the countertop look more like marble. I am including the steps of this venture for reference purposes only. Of course, the project looked beautiful when they were finished but who knows how long it stayed that way. I can not guarantee its results, short-term or long-standing.
First, they washed the countertop with just plain soap and water and then let it dry. Next they "lightly sanded" it to make it more porous and rinsed it once again and let it dry. They then used an oil-based tinted primer for a base coat and left it to dry overnight. The next morning they taped off a "marble like" design using painter's tape. Taking three different colors of oil-based paint, all within the same tone of course, they first filled in a small area with the lightest. They then blended in the medium color, then the darkest, overlapping each one in different areas to create the "stone" look. When they achieved the desired affect, they took a small thin artist's brush and created the "veins" of the marble with white paint, making sure to make some thick, others thin, some all the way across and some breaking off or branching, just as seen in real stone. After completing the whole countertop in this way, they once again left it to dry overnight before adding multiple coats of polyurethane. You can find detailed directions for this project, with pictures and a materials list on HGTV's official website at www.hgtv.com.
Remember, that if you attempt this or any other do-it-yourself project that is published in any books, magazines or on websites, satisfactory results can never be truly guaranteed. Among other things, human factors, such as slight differences in techniques and even small mistakes have to be taken into consideration. As for those before and after pictures; well, sometimes things just simply book better behind a lens.
