I can't actually answer your laminate question, but have you looked into butcherblock countertops from Ikea or Lumber Liquidators? Both are very affordable and I'd wager they'd come in under your laminate quote particularly if you go with the fancier beveled edge. The edge treatment becomes a non issue w/ the bb.

Ours is flat on the front and on any exposed sides. We've always had laminate...In 24 yrs of marriage this is our 5th house with laminate counters, and I grew up in houses with laminate. The only way clothing can get caught is if a portion is loose, because of it not being adhered correctly, and we've never had that happen. I have seen chipped laminate elsewhere, but we've never personally experienced a chipping problem, or a problem with water getting into an edge, beveled or otherwise.

Thank you rhome410, I said the same to my husband. This laminate we have now is 56 years old and has no chips at all! He's just stressed!! lol

laxsupermom, no, I haven't thought about that at all!!! We have a butcher block island so it would make sense! I will look it up, thank you for the suggestion!!

I second what rhome said. We are on our second laminate counter in 20 years. The first one was in great shape, just time for a change. On the old counter there was one side piece beside the stove that separated for about 1 inch. That happened just before our facelift. It may have been due to the heat of the oven? or just wear and tear from cleaning. We have one side that is open to traffic and never had a problem there. Good luck.

Not sure when it happened (before my Mom bought the unit anyway) the inside edge of one side of her stove opening delaminated. In fairness to DH in commercial applications you often see laminate chipped . When my Mom was shopping for laminate she was discouraged from choosing a postform edge that didn't wrap under the nose of the counter because you can catch things on it and chip it and with postform you would have to replace it all because it is made from a single piece of laminate. If you have flat edges it wouldn't be a big deal because those edges like the ones by the appliance opening can be repaired fairly easily with another piece. Some laminate bevels use moisture resistant MDF as their substrate. I don't think the side will get that much wear and tear.

Don't you just need chrome edging? Just kidding. I had verrry old laminate in one home that was perfect at over 40 years old. It had square ends cut to fit, no curves anywhere. And no chips.

I think good installation counts for a lot with laminate durability.

I love chrome edging. I had a piece of formica with metal banding in my kitchen that looked absolutely perfect (until the demo 3 days ago). I even considered doing my new kitchen with it. It's still available.

Here is a link that might be useful: Metal edging for countertops

Boomerang is available too. :) I might do it. I might!!

We made a beautiful edge for our old Formica countertops that gave them a much richer, custom feel. We used maple, about 2.5" high and 1/4" wide. No chipping problems at all. Also no molded backsplash, we tiled to the counter. It made a very cheap kitchen reno look a lot classier!

This is our third countertop made with laminate. The only reason we changed was to get a different look/color. We never had a problem with any of the edges, and one of the edges is at the end of an extension. The two previous countertops had a square edge which didn't wrap, our latest countertop is made from Wilsonart HD with a beveled edge. I
believe it will hold up just as well. If you have a good fabricator you should not encounter any problems.

Jane