Not gonna work around water. The manufacturer recommended substrate for DIY laminate is particle board because it is much smoother and provides a better surface to adhere the laminate to. The pre bonded laminate ply is sold as cabinet carcass material to many manufacturers. It is not cheap, nor terribly easy to work with unless you have plenty of experience. Water resistant it's not.

A better option would be the traditional laminate over particle board with applied wood edges. If you bought a sheet of marine ply and thoroughly sealed the particle board, then applied ripped built up edges from the ply, you could then sheet the top with the laminate and trim the ragged edges with a laminate trimmer. That would give you maximum moisture resistance. You'd need to do a top mount sink though.

Thank you LWO for the valuable info. I appreciate it! I don't think I like the look enough to justify the extra effort and/or expense required.

I may be totally misunderstanding what you're seeking but this Bergstena laminate from IKEA (with the white side up) seems to have the look you're going for.

You're right, omelet. It does, but unfortunately I have a 42" length of counter that's 6 inches deeper than the bergstena. Otherwise I'd look at that option again. I remember it feeling pretty cheap, but as this renovation wears on that's becoming less and less of a concern :-)

I would build and put my name on and guarantee behind a Baltic birch plywood top with a plastic laminate top and exposed built-up edge with a polyester finish. I'd insist on a drop-in sink without some other detail for an undermount, but considering the adhesive for Baltic birch is exterior grade and there aren't any voids, an exposed vertical edge with a finish would be fine even in front of a sink.

I really like the exposed plywood edge. But, if you cannot it have you thought about metal edge banding? In my thread about slab doors you mentioned that you are going for a 1940s vibe and the metal edge is era appropriate and could look really cool too.

Joe- do you know a guy in Portland, OR who would do the same?

Mo buddy- I've been thinking about that, but I'm hung up on the metal/chrome visible from the living room. I don't think I'd like it.

I can understand that. If it were a kitchen that did not open to a casual living space, it would be better.

benjesbride:

Unfortunately, no, but I've sent templates across the country for fabrication by others for installation by me. You could do the same.

Benjesbride,

Are your countertops in? Any issues? Pictures?

benjesbride what did you end up doing for a countertop? We are considering this application for our island, if I can find a laminate color we like.

We ended up with bamboo countertops and are very happy with them. My husband put a crazy amount of coats of tung oil and they’ve held up super well.

I got an estimate for custom laminate withtypical laminate edges and it was >$4000 for our small kitchen, so we DIYd bamboo for $800. It was the right choice for us.

Thanks for the update! I am glad the bamboo is working out.