Doing a Kitchen - What Do You Do About Countertops?

If you’re in an older home, there are only two types of countertops you’re likely to have: tile or laminate (such as Formica). If you have tile, perhaps the tiles are cracked and the grout is discolored. If you have laminate, the surface may be burned, discolored, or worn through in spots, or the laminate may be peeling off. Either way, it may look bad. But you don’t want to spend an arm and a leg. Can you fix up the old?

Keep in mind the quality of the home you’re in and what is justi¬fied by the neighborhood. In a higher-priced area, it may be the norm to have tile, granite, or one of the newer synthetic surfaces. In a lower-priced area, tile or laminate may be the norm. You don t want to do any renovation project that will drive down the quality of the home for its area.

Can I Save the Old Countertop?
If your countertop is tile and it is cracked and banged up, then replacing it entirely is the only solution. On the other hand, the biggest problem with tile is likely to occur around the edges, which take the worst abuse as things get bumped against them. If only a few edge tiles are in bad shape, you may think to yourself that you’ll sim¬ply replace them and then live with the rest of the countertop.

When kitchen tile is old, replacement becomes a prob¬lem. Unless you have extra tile in the garage, the chances are remote that you’ll be able to go to a store and find the exact same tile in terms of color and tex¬ture as in your kitchen. You may be able to find close. But close will look terrible when installed. It will look like a bad job and will create just as much of an eyesore as the original cracked tile.

If any of the edge tile is cracked, I suggest that you replace all the tile on the countertop. Alternatively, you could put an entirely new edge on, if you can find tile that is complementary.

Another solution is to remove all the edge tile and put a hard¬wood border around the countertop. The hardwood borders, intro¬duced in Scandinavia, are considered fashionable and can add an elegant touch to a kitchen.

On the other hand, perhaps the tile is intact, but the grout is dis¬colored. The situation can be salvaged by using a narrow screwdriv¬er (or other pointed tool) to carefully dislodge the old grout. Try to remove it as far down as you can, if possible to the base, without damaging any of the existing tile. This is a time-consuming and arduous job, and there’s always the chance that you’ll damage or break loose a few tiles. Maddeningly, this often happens just at the end of the work!

If you’re successful in cleaning out the old grout, then regrout the tile. If the old tile is in good shape, regrouting can rejuvenate an entire kitchen.

If a single tile is loose here and there, you can careful¬ly remove it with your fingers or a pencil and then reat¬tach and regrout. (Don’t use a hard object such as a screwdriver to pry up the edges, which may result in chipping.) The result is often very acceptable.

It is possible to renovate an existing tile countertop without actu¬ally replacing all the tile. I have done this, and the results can be spectacular.

But if you have a laminate countertop that looks bad, simply plan on replacing it. There’s really nothing that you can do to salvage it. Old burns won’t come out, and faded, worn tops can’t be resur¬faced. The only thing that can be done cosmetically is to reglue any strips that have come loose from their laminate bond. Usually, how¬ever, this is only a temporary fix and rarely looks good.

What If the Existing Countertop Is Not Salvageable?
Before you install a new countertop, the existing countertop must be demolished. This is a messy job that usually requires sledgeham¬mers (in the case of existing tile) to break out the old surface. With other surfaces, such as laminate, it involves unscrewing the counter-top, breaking the seams, and removing the large base pieces. Demolition usually can be done within a few hours.

Then a new foundation (cement, some type of cement board, or plywood) must be laid on the cabinets, and the new countertop placed on top of it. The time frame could be anywhere from a few days to several weeks. You will not be able to use the kitchen during installation of a new countertop.

How Much Will I Recoup?
If you do a good job in replacing a countertop, you should be able to recoup not only all the money you spend but more, sometimes far more.

The reason is simple: As I’ve said, the kitchen is the most impor¬tant room in the house. People spend lots of time in the kitchen, and in many respects it is the showcase for the home. Whereas other rooms are just floors, walls, and ceilings, the kitchen has cabinets, appliances, and of course countertops. These show off the quality of the overall home. Often as much money goes into the presentation of the kitchen as into all the other rooms combined.

Renovate the countertop and you will have changed the overall character of the kitchen, presumably for the better.

Kitchen is the most important part of a home. After knowing how to manage countertops. Now you should know how to decorate a small kitchen and also how to choose kitchen materials.

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