Did my kitchen with stone counters, new oak cabinets. Drain lines can be moved. Forgot about my new 10" deep sink.

our home has blue formica countertops throughout (both bathrooms and kitchen), i am so sick of blue i could scream. (the carpeting is blue also). i cannot afford to replace the carpeting right now, so my plan is to replace the countertops to help de-blue-ify the house. it seemed a shame to replace perfectly good countertops just because of the color, so i did some sleuthing around and found this cool stuff that you smear on the countertops and it makes them look like granite. (it is basically granite granules in an acrylic sealer). we are going to try this on our countertops and see how it goes, it sure beats tearing the kitchen up.
if the reason you are thinking of replacing your countertops is more because of aesthetics than because it actually needs replacing, then you might also be interested in this stuff.

Here is a link that might be useful: spread rock

That looks like an interesting product. Thanks for the link. What we did to change the look of our counter was to purchase the 12x12 granite tiles, (they also come in 18x18) with the matching edging at a local tile stoe. We went with the Absolute Black and everyone who see's them raves about the new look. It was very easy to work with, they cut with a standard wet saw, and the results were well worth it. It was lots less expensive than the solid granite but almost the same look. We have been very happy with the results.

Will the counters be smooth or have texture to them?

I thought about painting the bathroom ones but they're changed now and I'm not going to bother.

The kitchen, I feel just needs new countertops. First of all they are cream and just about everything stains them. I can't stand it anymore! We have lived here for 5 years but my father rented it to a lady for 7 years prior to that. She really ruined a lot of stuff and I have a few chips out on the edges plus cut marks from chopping on the counter with no cutting board.

It really shouldn't cost a lot and DH says he can do it because he's done everything else. I guess if we have to cut the back off, we have to.

I'm not going with anything too fancy because well, it's a mobile home and we're not staying here forever. The plan is to actually get a double wide and put it up back on our lot down the road but that will be after I get to work and the kids are both in school.

Thanks for sharing your experiences. It's nice to hear about others that are updating their mobile homes!

You can buy sheets of laminate and re-laminate over older existing counters. Although we did rebuild our counters, our purchase price for 16 x either 3 or 4' of laminate was around $125.00. We also bought the adhesive and paid a little more to get the non-toxic type. There is a forum member, mrsmarv I believe, who has pictures of the counters she re-laminated.

jonig99, do you have any pictures of your countertops that you can post? they sound beautiful!

jiggreen

Hi jiggreen,

I don't have any pictures of the counters, but will take one and post this weekend, so you can see how they look.

Jonig99

I'MVE BEEN TRING TO FIND OUT HOW TO PUT LAMINATED OVER MY EXSTING LAMINATED COUNTER TOPS IN MY KITCHEN . U SEE I TOO LIVE IN A DOUBLEWIDE AND IT'S COVERED IN BLUE FLOORS AND COUNTER TOPS I'M SICK OF IT SO IF U CAN GIVE ME THAT INFO I WOULD BE SO INDEDT TO U PLEASE.

like most of the previous posts I also live in a double wide. I went a differant route in my last home and probably will here as well when the times comes. I redid my counter tops with ceramic tile just used the adhesive right on top of the existing formica. I did have to take out the sink and purchase a tile cutter but it wasnt real hard and took less than a couple of days. The results were great I wanted to do a splash board behind the counter tops but never got around to it. I used black and white tiles and put them in a checker board pattern. I only wish I could find the pictures I took before and after.

I am a senior female who is preparing to tile and grout all countertops in the MH. I am buying the 1/4" on mesh tile for the bathroom counters and the heavier tiles on mesh for the kitchen countertop. I will add the backsplash of my choice.
From Craig's List I have managed to buy 3 porcelain replacement lavs .

the only issue I foresee is possibly the bull nose on curved countertop. Straight is no issue as Lowe's has the oak bull nose and they'll cut it to size.

Any suggestions on the curved counter?????

Senior female here too and I did my bath counter tops too. Also back splash in guest bath. Have not done the master YET.

I used glass on the front edge in my master bath. Nothing perfect but we like it. I made many of my tiles. Stained glass bits on top of mirror to make then 1/4 inch thick. I used silicone to glue directly to the existing counter top.

Here is a link that might be useful: Counter done needs back splash.

I looked into the product you mentioned and it looks like the way to go. Did you use it? How did it work?

Senior female here too, and I put in a butcherblock countertop.. I did not take the old one out. I put a counter where there wasn't one. I moved the fridge to give me more counterspace. I love it and the new countertop and cabinet was not expensive. take a look...

Love the new countertop! Goes great with your "outdoors indoors" theme. I'm trying to convince DH to let me paint our cabinets white, add a beadboard backsplash and wood countertops. Did you get yours at IKEA?

Dulcimerduo - That is absolutely gorgeous!!! Is the back wall glass or a mural?

Hi,
No, we picked up the countertop from Southeastern Salvage, and that is a mural I picked up at a yard sale years ago, just found the spot for it.

If you want to see the "before" the countertop, use search for "Purple Door award". There are photos of my front door and kitchen after I painted it purple.. lol This is an OLD, read 1976 model mobile home.

We decided to go all out and we did granite counter tops in the kitchen. A carpenter beef up the cabinets with extra support and the granite was installed with no problem. We also replace an awful vanity top in the smaller bathroom. Kept the cabinet order a top for a good price from a store and put it in without a hitch. Lots more to do with painting but if you plan on staying like we are for a summer home this was well worth it. We have put formica over existing counter tops before. You can buy sheets and use the adhesive. You need to cut yourself, but it works good also for a great upgrade.

Here is a larger photo of the counter tops after they were installed. We love them. I did switch out all the hardware also which helped a lot. Now paint, blind and floor and appliance are ordered. One more room down soon. Having a mobile home is great and you can do anything just like a regular home. Don't be afraid to try things.

Lol. This post is from 2006 and I'm still getting notifications of replies to it. We replaced our counter tops with the inexpensive Formica at Lowe's about 5 years ago now. We had a water leak at the kitchen sink which caused some damage that we wanted to fix so while we were ripping things out we decided to replace the counter tops. We did end up having to build a new face for the base of the counters as the thin paneling stuff was not the best, so my cupboards on the bottom are stronger than ever. My husbad also had to cut the piece off the back of the countertops to make them fit as mine weren't as deep as the ones from the store but with a little trim along the back of the counter and nobody knows. I love my kitchen even to this day. The money was well worth it! If I remember correctly they cost about $150?

In Sept we will have lived here for 12 years!!

I redid my countertops with an acrylic paint kit. It has been on for two years now and is holding up great. Also did a tile backsplash. the kits you can get online or at the home improvement stores