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Painting counters and bath tile

23 years ago

I see some of you have done this - could I get really detailed directions, like what you used to prepare the surface, what kind of primer and paint, etc? I want to do laminate kitchen counters and the tile around my bathtub. I have done bathroom tile before, but it chipped pretty quickly, even though I used a recommended-for-tile Sherwin Williams primer.

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Comments (7)

User
23 years ago
Ask in the home decorating or Kitchen and bath forums.
Meghane
23 years ago
I can only advise on the laminate counters, since that it what I did.

1. Cleaned surface very well with soap and water, and rinsed about a million times.
2. If the surface hadn't been a textured laminate, I would have primed. But our laminate had a good "tooth" to it, and the paint stuck fine.
3. I used a faux technique to make the counters look like sandstone. I mixed 1 part latex semi-gloss to 4 parts faux finishing glaze. I had 3 colors, which I sponged on using a sea sponge.
4. 24-48 hours later, apply polyurethane. I did it too soon, and the paint hadn't completely cured in some areas. Those areas had chipping problems until I touched up and polyurethaned at the correct time. I used a very nice paintbrush to apply the poly in 10 coats all together. I went in different directions each time to prevent seeing the brushstrokes. You also have to be careful to not overwork the poly, or it will turn cloudy.

I did this last December and after the touch-ups, it is holding perfectly.
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F-I-N-A-L-L-Y............!!!! Some prep-pics of this project! * Gettin' most of the supplies grouped for this pic! * Pic of shower-side after all holes filled & feather-sanded. Primer cut-in around perimeter, and brushed on repaired areas. This shows those repair areas AFTER the Spray-texture was applied to the primer, making them look hazy/whiter over the gray primer. * Closer shot of shower corner, showing the texture-sprayed area that was primed FIRST....THEN textured...THEN cut-in perimeter. * The "pain-in-the-A$$" upper-corner cut-ins over lights, etc. Notice again the lighter look of the spray-tex. around fan outlet, etc. * Kinda cool pic here! Lights were too damn hot to work over, but I needed light obviously!! * "Main rolling" of primer starting!! * Closer look at the final primer-rolling over the primed/spray-textured repair areas. These areas are now TOTALLY SEALED-OFF from the paint layers to come. Wood'ja like to see the FINISHED look...?!!?!? ;-) Faron
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I like -judging by the pictures on my monitor-Snow White with your tile. Tile does have movement in it, Fantasy Brown, albeit beautiful, would complete. The other sample seem a bit too cool a gray to me. I see some gray in the tile, but it's on a warmer side. Again, from what I see on my screen Do try and put all the samples together in the way they'll be installed(Quartz and tile-horizontal plane, sample of cabinets' door color-vertical)-if you haven't yet. That's the best way to see whether colors work. If everything will be (more or less) white, you might want a bit of contrast/texture with your accents later. Can't think of cons of using Quartz in the bathroom..except don't put hot curling iron on it, but that's true for every stone. For better suggestions-photos are always helpful.
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esga
Original Author
23 years ago
10 coats of polyurethane - wow! How long did each one take to apply and dry? I can see keeping my cats off the counters for this long could be a problem. But I saw the pictures of your counter, and it is drop-dead gorgeous! I could re-laminate but it would never come out that beautiful! (Laminate is what I have now too).
Meghane
23 years ago
It only took 2 hours between coats, about 30 minutes to apply each coat. We had to lock the dogs out of the kitchen for 2 days so we wouldn't have dog fur permanently imbedded in the counter. Thanks for the compliments.

Oh yeah, here's a link to my website with the kitchen pics.

Here is a link that might be useful: Meghan's Kitchen
talley_sue_nyc
23 years ago
but polyurethane costs money, too, as does all the paint you use. True, you got exactly the look you want, but by the time you pay for all the poly, wouldn't new laminate be about as much money? And more durable?
User
23 years ago
Talley_Sue -
Color paint for the sponging:
2 quarts of Ralph Lauren satin ($13 each quart)
Copper glaze - $5?
Polyurethane - 2 quarts @ $10 each
Sandpaper and brushes - $5?

Total would be $50-75, with leftover paints for decorating other parts of the kitchen, and you aren't going to get anything made and installed for that, especially when there is an old top to be removed first.
normal
23 years ago
Holy guacamole!!!!! Your kitchen counters look beautiful. We just bought our home about a year ago and also have a western/Mexican decor. In my kitchen there is an ungly light blue counter top which I hate every time I look at it. I have priced what it would cost to get new countertops and decided I better just start saving up and dealing with it for now, until I came across your pictures. You mean I can actually do something like this. I must say I am a little intimidated. We have a lot, and I mean a lot of counter space. I would like more of a dark brown/black (I know that doesn't sound pretty, but Home Depot has a swatch of laminate that I liked) What do you suggest I do. I can't wait to hear from you. I am so excited!!!! Thanks in advance.

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