Formica has some really cool laminate out there now.. 180fx series I think its called?

I am considering it for my bathrooms as I really dont like granite and everything else is too expensive.

I agree with you. I didn't want it to mimic something else. I like laminate just fine, and wanted something neutral and plan. That being said, I like the dark colors that remind me of soapstone, but I didn't like the ones that had white veining. I went with Black Grit by Arborite. The other one I did like was Smoke Quarstone by WilsonArt. I didn't end up going with it because it would have taken longer to order it (my husband did our counters), and we needed to get moved in. I like the Black Grit alot, but I think the Smoke Quarstone would have hid more crumbs, etc. until they were cleaned up.

Here is a link that might be useful: Black Grit Arborite

Teraza, I suspect that the 180fx is what the builder is talking about. He wants us to start making our choices from his design center so it will be interesting to see what options they offer. I looked online at the 180fx colors and they are lovely, that's when I started second guessing my original idea and wondered if I should try to recreate the marble look on our island.

Senator, what a lovely kitchen! The fact that your DH DIY'ed your countertops is very impressive. Thank you for sharing your images. That helps me feel much more comfortable with choosing a darker hued laminate. Our builder said he would do a nice deep mitered edge to make it look like a more substantial slab if that is the way we decided to go. I read that you colored in your edges with a sharpie. How is that holding up?

I would do something like Senator13 did, work in the same color as your ultimate stone, but not try to mimic it.

Since the island is separate perhaps you could do real stone on rhe island, or the 180FX on the island.

Remember that because the 18FX has one repeat per sheet that if you need a seam it will be obvious since it is not an allover pattern and seams can't be laid out like they can on a larger natural stone slab. This makes it ideal for islands and vanities, but not so much for long adjoining counter runs.

The sharpie method holds up perfect. Because it is on the seams where the underlayment of the laminate is exposed, it is there forever, from what I can tell.

I can say that we did get a sample of some of the FX's and I think they would make a nice island. I agree with Pal that the repeat makes it more obvious on long runs, than on an island. I think the Slate Sequoia and the Blue Storm are quite lovely on these islands. I know another member did the marble laminate (in the attached link), and hers looks great.

Here is a link that might be useful: Laminate

Pal, thanks for your thoughts. I hadn't even considered mixing stone with laminate in the kitchen. I don't know why - because I had considered mixing stones (sometimes I can't see the forest for the trees). That may be the ideal compromise. One real stone slab for me to enjoy and use on the island and perimeter counters done in a nice simple laminate for cost savings. I really like the way that feels as the idea rolls around in my head. It is good to know about the seam requirements in 180fx. Our island is 72"x63" so just a little bit bigger than the 180fx.

Get prices to see exactly how much you would be saving. It might not be as much as you think.

Senator- I think yours are soapstone everytime I see pictures! Love that look.

OP- I don't know first hand, but just from reading on here, that the 180fx types of laminate can cost as much as the lower entry level granites. I would get an estimate on what you love, then maybe a lower end granite, and then the 180fx. You may be surprised!

Thank you debrak and angel. That is of course, the right process. Get the quote first and then make the decision. I have to be honest, I'm not a huge fan of the entry level granites as I find most of them too busy. But, no sense making my mind up one way or the other until I can actually see what my choices are and how they impact my bottom line.

If you are not locked into your builder ordering them somewhere, you might also be able to get a laminate fabricator to give you a price. There is a local guy around us who does them for a lot of the big box stores. My estimate with Lowes was $3600 for our counters with Wilsonart, and $2000 with him. I think the entry level granites for our 77 sq. ft. were close to $4000. So it would not have been much cheeper than Lowes, but it was much cheeper with the custom guy.

I happily gave up the expense of granite in our house, knowing I'd been perfectly happy with laminate for decades, never feeling it was a sacrifice. In choosing the exact pattern I wanted, I didn't care what the manufacturer thought it was supposed to look like, I only cared if it gave the room the overall look and color I was after. Our ultimate dream would've been to do concrete counters in the kitchen, in the natural light gray coloring, so as has been suggested, I chose one that was a similar color without trying to look exactly like concrete close up. It was the overall ambiance to the room that led the choice.

Because I hoped for a little bit of new interest to having all laminate counters before, I added a wood topped island, and some stainless around the stove, rather than try to have stone and laminate in close comparison in the same room.

I am in the same situation, or will be, and even though the laminate doesn't fool anyone, I am going to use one that looks like soapstone for a couple of reasons. It's the look I want, and there is nothing close enough that will look good, and it will help me see what the real thing will look like. If, for some reason, I don't like the soapstone, at least I'll know before buying the real stuff.

I was shocked by Home Depot's price for laminate, as was the gal preparing the quote! I asked for a quote for a mid-range laminate with a granite-like edge and it came within a few hundred dollars of the lower range granite. It was the edging which through the pricing off kilter, which may not be an issue for you as your builder is going to do the edge, if i read your post correctly.

Of course, I went with granite and went with a higher grade once I was choosing the actual slab.

In my opinion, no matter what surface you pick, any option is not going sense like anything besides what it is, because all: granite/stone/tile/wood/laminate all have distinct amounts of shiny-ness, hardness that is apparent when setting things down and picking them up, thermal properties in how they feel, smoothnesses, and reflectivity, and even sound properties in how things sound on them.

That being said, this begs the question, what does laminate look like?

Think about that.......

What does laminate look like?

I say that is a question with no answer.

If there is no answer, then there is no way to "authentically" use it.
Some might say it looks like the manufactured version of whatever then current trend may be in natural materials. Some might say that it must look manufactured on obvious first glance.

My mom redid her kitchen last year. She went with very nice formica that looks like a granite, but it is the thickness of a laminate counter. So it's obviously not a 5 cm granite counter. But it since it does not have the built in 4 inch backsplash that her previous counter had, it looks updated. She put in a lovely cut stone and polished stone tile backsplash, and it is very nice. Her kitchen would not be any more functional or updated with granite, and I have to say that the formica is very easy to keep clean and doesn't show crumbs.

A friend of mine built me a countertop using Wilsonart 'Olivine' if I remember correctly. I wasn't really into it, but needed a countertop vs. plywood around my sink. I have ended up loving it!

The manufacturer (maybe the wholesaler) has a warehouse near here in Ellicott City, so I bought a 4x8' piece and he had the plywood.

If I'd had it made, it would have been pretty expensive, but still no where near the soapstone I absolutely love.

The bad thing is that I've scratched it, which I'd never done with older types of formica or laminate before. I'm going to try to cover it up with shades of green and black felt markers. A plus!

As far as mixing? I now have butcher block on the other side of the kitchen that I built myself. Someday? Soapstone by the sink.

Christine

senator13 - I have admired your kitchen for some time and always enjoy seeing it posted. I remember being impressed how you combined made your apron-fronted sink work with the laminate.

Count me in as a supporter of laminates, especially those that aren't trying to mimic stone. When we were picking ours it seemed like at least half the options were stone patterns and shiny. I specifically wanted something with a matte, casual feel.

Shmeal, it sounds like you are making some home investments that you will really enjoy for years to come. When I read your post, I too thought that mixing countertop materials might work very well, especially since you were already thinking shiny for the island and honed for the perimeter. I first heard the idea of using granite on the island only in one of the "not so big house" books and think its a great idea. IMHO, it has the potential to let the granite you choose take even more of a center stage, because it is used less. In our own remodel we are doing laminate perimeter and large (2' x 2') porcelain tile on the island.

I replaced my wood grain formica last year. It was so worn, the wood grain pattern had worn off in places. I looked at a lot of samples of Formica (and others) and was not impressed by the FX180 which was very expensive. I chose Formica Basalt Slate, which looks 1000 times better in my kitchen than the light countertops did. I selected it because I hope to have soapstone someday, and like Marti8a, I wanted to make sure I was happy with the dark color.

Turns out I love the color, but the new Formica scratches far more easily than the old Formica did, and every scratch shows white. Ugh. I go around with my dark gray Sharpie 3-4 times a month.

I would ask a lot of questions about the durability and scratch resistance of whatever you choose.

Before our reno, we had white laminate counters which were still white and in great condition after 40 years - no yellow, no stains, the only scratches a couple of actual gouges vs. casual scratches. It had the real advantage of being able to see the grub so you can wipe it off vs. my "Guess where the grub is - catch me if you can!" granite. I kind of use the Braille approach to being sure they're clean. I'm dismayed to hear a couple of people say that their newer laminate counters scratch so easily.

My only hesitation on laminate counters would be an over- vs. under-mount sink. I do love the undermount, but you're right, that can be easily changed in the future.

Personally, I prefer the surfaces like senator13 showed that don't pretend to be stone. The FX180 is impressive, but not to my taste. As long as you're considering not-granite or quartz, be sure to think about wood counters - there are some beautiful ones here!! - and other non-stone surfaces. You never know.

We have laminate in many rooms in our house and none scratch easily like mabeldingeldine's is doing! Most of ours aren't as dark, but that in our sewing room is, and it probably gets more scratch-possible activity with pins and scissors. Some laminate patterns come in different finishes that can be different in thickness and durability. I didn't think the Basalt Slate came in the lower grade finish, though, so should have been tougher than that.

Juliekcmo talked about the standard thickness of a laminate counter giving it away, but that doesn't have to be the case. We made ours 2 1/4" thick to resemble the heft of concrete counters (also in case we ever want to replace them with concrete, which is very unlikely), and I'm pretty sure thinner to mimic 2 cm stone would be possible, too, since in past decades laminate counters were thinner.

Here is a link that might be useful: my kitchen with laminate, wood, and stainless counters

Wow, Thanks Everyone for your thoughts! I am so appreciative. It's nice to read that laminate is still a very viable option. After my experience this morning I am more willing than ever to go with the laminate counters. I appreciate the heads up about the scratching. I will make sure I check into that before I order anything.

I walked through the granite showroom this morning and was underwhelmed by the choices that the builder offers. They have maybe 10! - 12! slabs total! in the warehouse and the sales associate wouldn't even show them all to me.?! She only wanted me to look at the 5 level one stones they carry. I saw a pretty Delicatus slab and walked over to it and wouldn't move until she came over. When I asked, she had never even heard of quartzite and had to go to the office manager to find out what I was talking about.

DH & I decided that we will have them price out the Delicatus with Hanstone perimeters and the Delicatus with laminate perimeters. The sales associate was not excited about pricing out the Delicatus slab for me. What's up with that? It's my house. It's my budget. If I decide not to use it I want it to be my choice, not some salesperson who thinks New Venetian Gold is a better choice than Venetian Gold because it "is Newer". I am not lying. That is exactly what she said.

Unfortunately, I believe that I am locked into this granite showroom with our builder. I'm waiting to hear back as to whether or not that is true. At least I know I can order laminate and I will be more than content to do so.

Showrooms tend to have a pretty small selection as they cater to builders who often go with entry level granites for most spec homes, and then Delicatus for higher end custom homes they build. That way the builder knows exactly the price they will be paying for your kitchen and can give you that as your fixed cost. Delicatus is beautiful, but definitely a premium granite (ususally a 4 compared to a 1). Beautiful, indeed, but brace yourself as the price for the Hanstone and the Delicatus is probably going to run about $100 per square ft., as opposed to 1/3 that for the entry level granites.

I have never heard that "Newer" comment about Venetian Gold. That is priceless.

LOL on the "newness" of Venetian Gold!! New is definitely a relative term here. From Wikipedia:

"Granite has been intruded into the crust of the Earth during all geologic periods, although much of it is of Precambrian age."

And when was the Precambrian Age?

"It spans from the formation of Earth around 4600 Ma (million years) ago to the beginning of the Cambrian Period, about 542 Ma, when macroscopic hard-shelled animals first appeared in abundance."

Did this saleperson chew gum? Did she say, "Like, you know..." Maybe the "New Venetian Gold" was formed during the Cambrian Period which only ended 488 million years ago or so, which would make it much newer than Precambrian granites, sure enough. Or maybe "new" in this case means when someone got around to digging up that particular piece of granite. I've never known "new" to be such a slippy, slidey word!

Does anyone have a link to the apron front sink with laminate countertops? I'd love to see how that was done.

Suzannesl- I stand corrected...YOUR comments are priceless. Thanks for that laugh!

Deedles-I do. If you follow this link I posted at the top of this thread I discuss it more with the last set of pictures.