JPD Motorsports

MN If you decide to do a tile wathc the grout lines like said. you can also go and do the 12x12 granite pieces with the orunded bullnose on it. Just lay some hardy board down over the existin top cuts with a rock knife set the screw heads flush and use an adheasive under it. smooth top with out tearing out the old tops, use a 1/8 notch trile and spread away evenly. I have a couple of pics from when we did a couple of tops here with the 12x12's that I can email ya. to look at. Just put a good sealer and use a smooth grout in the grout joints. Usually takes a wekeend to do it all start to finish on an average size kitchen. To cut down on the grout joints use the 25x25,s with the bullnose.

cuda

[QUOTE=MnFastBoat]thanks
just got back from home depot
now thinking of tiling over current counter top
more time consuming, QUOTE]

If you choose tile, pick out a porcelain tile, ceramic tile chips too easily.

RebarBox

Concrete is great. I did over 100 SF for about $550 and over $250 of that was for stain in which I only used about 1/10th of what I bought (could only find stains in gallon containers) One day to setup and pour, about an hour to stain and about 3 hrs. to seal. 7000 psi product when done. We have had ours for about 4 months now and we love it.

mcollinstn

If you already have Corian or a solid surface resin style countertop, fixing scratches and bringing it back to looking new is just like what you'd do on your gelcoat. Same process. Just as easy.

Wetsand, then buff. Same materials, same buffer. Only difference is you gotta clean up the kitchen when you're done.

boomer

I just made an office count top for my basement, L shaped 30" wide with 10' and 6' L. Make a template first any inside 90 corners watch out the laminate wants to tear. As for edging you can get a bit for your router that lives a nice edge. Was quoted $700 by Homedepot Cost me about $200 in materials.

Audiofn

Check around, the cost of building a house in the NE is slightly higher then it is in Florida. A average 1-2000sqft house in MA is over 450,000 bucks and that is a fixer upper. New construction costs are rediculous. I am working on three houses now that are in the 20-38 million dollar ranges. We can get premium granit for 50 bucks. The color combo that I wanted however was the most expensive granite that I found, so ya want it, you pay for it...

Jon

BajaChick

Absolutely correct! Solid surface tops (Corian/Avonite/etc.) are the easiest to maintain, BY FAR! Granite, marble, Formica and tile will chip/scratch and cannot be fixed without major time and $$.

Personally, I would go with solid surface. But you won't be able to do the tops on your own, especially if you go with a one piece integrated sink. If you choose to have it done professionally, don't use a home improvement retailer. Hire someone on your own who fabricates and installs tops for a living. You'll be happier in the end!

Les

97BossHammer

If you had the $$, I'd do Silestone......I really liked the product but for our countertops we just couldn't afford to do it all within our budget. We're doing tile. We picked some that requires very little grout. Planning to do the whole dang house tile actually, kitchen, all bathrooms, shower, tub. We picked out several colors for each application. It was basically cheaper for us to tile everything, then to do just silestone in the kitchen.

rchevelle71

iTrader: (1)

Ya mean like this????

It was cheap and easy, 12x12 Granite Tiles, the most expensive part was all the Black Bullnose!!! Thanks to Cuda for a few pieces of advice, I did it all myself including the backsplash in one weekend.

Formula Outlaw

Jon you are so right on "what you want is what it costs". I was over at one of my granite suppliers last month and he showed me this gorgous "sea blue" granite that was $185.00 per sq. ft. Yowsa.........