Has anybody ever heard of this??? - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

Complete Pro · 06-24-2008, 03:38 PM

I had a neighbor call recently wanting pricing to replace their kitchen counter tops. Existing was Formica with a routed wood edge, fairly common in the area for a 15 year old house. The old tops were in great shape, but they wanted a different color. I wasn't allowed to remove any existing cabinets, because they had just refinished them and they were built in units, along with the tops. They also had an appliance garage that sat on top of the counter tops and was mounted to the rest of the upper wall cabinets.

After I made my measurements and I explained some of the difficulties to them, I left for the office to work up an estimate. When I presented it to them they told me they were checking a few other options too, and might not even do the counter top work. No big deal.

I went by their house the other day and they showed me their new tops, FAUX PAINTED. I had never seen such a thing. Paint over Formica and the wood edges with a with a splatter pattern that mimicked solid surface. They told me the price was less than half of my estimate and it took about eight hours start to finish. They said that everything was masked off, and no fixtures or appliances were removed to do the job. Turtle wax was suggested as a care product for the finish.

DavidC · 06-24-2008, 05:11 PM

I'd like to see that one in a year.

Do they plan on staying in the house any length of time? Sounds more like a flipper technique.

Good Luck
Dave

**slickshift** · 06-26-2008, 05:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Complete Pro

Has anybody ever heard of this???

Yes...it seems to be a thing now
I've had people ask about it
Must have been on HGTV or in a magazine or something

Seriously, I can't imagine it's a good (safe) food prep surface, and I'd like to see what it looks like in a year

K2 · 06-26-2008, 07:33 AM

They did something sinilar down at the gym to about 2000 sq ft of tile floors. Looked good for about 3 days and then it took a full time guy to keep the paint touched up. 6 mos later they tore it all up and retiled..

I'll bet these guys ask the homeowners to "let it cure for 5 days to make sure the check clears"

Brian · 06-26-2008, 12:30 PM

I saw this done at a customer's house about a year ago. It looked good, but I too was curious about its durability. Supposedly it's safe around food. The appeal is that it is less expensive than new counter tops.

Brian Phillips

Complete Pro · 06-26-2008, 01:38 PM

Well it sounds like most everyone is echoing the same concerns I had about the product. I could see it being useful if you were rehabbing a house to sell quick, but I have no desire to promote it as long term solution.

mikenewman@fron · 06-26-2008, 05:29 PM

modern masters makes a product that is really good for that. The key is prep as in any coating job.

**genecarp** · 06-26-2008, 05:32 PM

its called skimstone, modern masters makes it

**Teetorbilt** · 06-26-2008, 06:28 PM

This, I gotta see in a year. I'm having trouble thinking of ANY system that would last that long and WHAT I'm thinking of would cost somewhere around $30-40 a sq.ft. You can get a nice new countertop for that kind of money.

mikenewman@fron · 06-26-2008, 07:19 PM

Modern Masters makes it it's called Shimmer Stone. Skim stone is the floor version. I have never used it but I use the glazes and faux supplies. They are a good company. MOPAINT

**genecarp** · 06-26-2008, 09:52 PM

skimstone is for countertops as well
http://www.modernmastersinc.com/pdf/...oatTDS2006.pdf

regal · 07-03-2008, 08:58 PM

make sure if you decide to epoxy a counter top that you state and have home owner sign/acnowledge that the counter will not be an acceptable for food prep. just in case ............we hvlp for a couple of apt complexes it can with stand rough use 3yrs light use in a nice home probably much longer

Masterpiece · 07-08-2008, 07:10 PM

Saw a faux finisher do the same a few years ago....didn't hold up. Needs something like urethane almost to have any durability...