Syllabus- Husband and I sort of doctored it up a bit, using various ideas we found on the Internet. I was sure I'd seen a video that gave us a good nudge in the right direction, but I'll be damned if I can find it now! Isn't that always the way? Lol Basically, the way we did it without any special tools or kits, you need to use the laminate sheets rather than the preformed countertops. Build the base of the counter with your plywood or whatever (we had existing countertops which we peeled the old laminate off of, thereby skipping this step). After you have your sink hole cut to size and you know the position of your sink, what you're basically doing is sandwiching the sink between the plywood and the laminate layer. We cut the sink hole in the laminate ahead of time, then epoxied the sink down to the counter, vey much like you would with a standard sink, just laying it in the hole with the edges overlapping. The video I had seen used automotive putty to taper out the edges of the sink itself, much like you putty drywall to smooth out imperfections. We found the putty wasn't drying, and was instead cracking and shrinking. Plan b, plain old wall repair patch, the stuff I keep around for filling nail holes and dents in my walls. Let dry and sand til smooth so that the hard edge of the sink itself is tapered out a few inches in all directions. I painted over the putty just to ensure a nice smooth surface that wouldn't soften or crumble when we put the adhesive over it. Then we used contact cement for the bulk of the laminate, however at the edges around the sink, we went back to the heavy duty marine epoxy, just to ensure it was a solid adhesion. Lay the laminate over the counter, positioning your precut sink hole over the sink (carefully! You only get one shot here!) and roll out to smooth and remove air bubbles. Lastly, I did a thin bead of silicone around the edge of the sink where it meets the Formica. Clear as mud? This would be so much easier to explain with pics or video!

I liked the idea of zinc SO much but was terrified of what my 3 boys would do to it (or their dad, or some friend who'd had too much wine at a party, etc!) so I did an extra-sturdy gauge stainless but made its wrap-around height a bit thinner (1 3/8"?) so it would look more like a zinc countertop might have looked in a butler's pantry a hundred years ago. It's not the same as zinc and won't have that amazing patina, but will still have that similar something - and all the scratches don't hurt the look. I know it's not the same but it's a decent substitute if paired with period materials like farm sinks, gooseneck faucets, etc. Here's a pic below of the unfinished kitchen. There are finally nickel bin pulls and latches on and next week *hopefully* the white honed calacatta (2x6") subway tile backsplash will begin being installed. Sore subject (how long this kitchen has taken, considering it's only a partial remodel)!! I think the hanging pendant above the sink will help tie it all together too (black cloth-covered cord with nickel parts and a white glass cone shade). Here is a link that might be useful: Stainless countertop - attempting to imitate the zinc look

>I don't know if the price has skyrocketed or if it's just the fact that I live in a very high labor cost area, and our kitchen has irregular shapes such as a window to the dining room - but it was certainly not an inexpensive option. It's not cheap around here (East coast FL) either, unless you go with the prefab grab and go laminates from the stock areas at the big box stores. Otherwise, one reason formica is less popular in this area is that it's perceived as over-priced these days. Some of those styles are very handsome, but there's nothing budget-friendly about them in this particular market.

There is a kitchen in the comments of [this thread[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/has-anyone-used-lg-viatera-nimbus-dsvw-vd~3628436) with LG & wood counter tops..