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candicec318

Painting kitchen countertops? Any advice on epoxy based coatings?

Candice
7 years ago

We are updating our kitchen. Painting cabinets with rustoleum cabinet transformation kits. We are doing a lot more prep than kits recommend, priming cabinets and using polyurethane for 3 top coats. The lack of prep and top coat supplied seem to be biggest complaint. I feel comfortable with doing the cabinets.

We are looking into countertop refinishing kits. The reviews on the big box store kits, like Rustoleum and Gianni kits, are great when first applied then after 6-12 months they need refinished again due to chipping in high traffic areas. Upon some internet research I found the epoxy type kits from garage floor companies. I like that some of these options do not include having to sprinkle stuff onto counters or sponging paint in special patterns. It won't be granite and I am ok not faking the granite look, anything is better than our current yellow and white 70s counters

These are options I found that seem similar:

Armor Garage Countop Refinishing -

http://www.armorgarage.com/corekit.html 

ArmorPoxy - Armor Granite Coating System

https://armorpoxy.com/bath-and-kitchen/armorgranite/ 

My game plan is to do the following steps:

1. Clean counters with Dawn dish soap solution, rinse, dry

2. Remove all edge caulk

3. Clean with TSP solution, rinse, dry

4. Tape off edges, sink, cabinets

5. Fill any gouges or cracks, apply caulk to any seams and smooth

6. Sand with 220 sandpaper

7. Apply deglosser

8. Sand again and remove all dust

9. Apply coat of included primer

(Would you do a coat of really good primer first before using the included primer? Or do you think one coat of included primer is adequate?)

10. Apply 2-3 coats of stone epoxy

(Would you sand between these coats or just after last coat??? Instructions do not say to sand at all after starting stone epoxy, but I worry it won't be as smooth or adhere as well without sanding.)

11. Apply minimum 3 thin top coats, allowing 24-48 hours to dry and light sanding between coats.

(Would you go for 4 coats to be safe? I will have enough to do 3-4 coats)

12. Allow to fully cure for a week, product says 24-48 hours. Giving more time just to be sure.

Does anyone have experience with this? Any tips they could share?

We cannot afford to replace our countertops for probably a few years. I was looking at refinishing to give updated look and feel to kitchen. Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated.

Current before photos attached:






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