Does Counter Top Paint Really Work?

If you are planning on making a few updates to your domicile you only might want to read this post get-go. Before y'all paint a countertop make sure you don't make these mistakes!

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Once upon a time, we had an outdated bathroom vanity.

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Nosotros painted our bath a light blue color and got a new mirror, which looks awesome! But at present our vanity looked fifty-fifty more outdated! And clashed with the new paint colour!

The countertop looked yellowish… non pretty!

Nosotros decided painting would be the cheapest way to update our vanity. Merely by saving u.s. like literally $900!

Stride 1: Research

I'm guessing that if you are thinking about painting your countertops, you are in this footstep correct now. That is probably how you concluded upwardly reading this post.

I did lots of Pinterest inquiry on how to paint a countertop. Every mail I read did a groovy task of going into item nearly how they painted their countertop, but none of them talked about running into problems. Everything for them went smoothly. No problemo!

Maybe I had faux hopes on how easy this would be.

Please acquire from my mistakes!

Step 2: Determine on a Method & Buy Supplies

You tin can brush/roll the paint, sponge pigment, spray paint, or fifty-fifty buy marbling kits that volition brand your countertop look similar information technology is a marble.

We went with spray paint because it looked like the easiest method. And I liked this expect:

Step three: Prep Countertop

Remove any caulking around the countertop. An Exacto knife and screwdriver work well for this. Be careful not to gouge the drywall.
Remove faucet and drain.
Plug faucet holes with paper towels or something to prevent pigment from going downwards those openings.
Put a baggie over the drain pipe and secure it with a condom band to prevent sewer gas from coming into your room.
Tape edges with painter's tape.
Lightly sand the countertops. We offset used 150 dust then went back over it with 220 grit.
Use painter's record to tape upwardly drop cloths around the room (only if you are using spray paint… to prevent the spray pigment mist from covering areas you don't want to be painted).
Wipe down the countertop with pigment thinner to make certain they are completely clean before yous start painting.
Make certain you ventilate the area well! Open a window, identify a box fan in the window pointing outside to suck the fumes out, wearable a respirator, and turn on a vent fan if you lot take one!

Step 4: Prime Countertop

Since we were going to spray paint our countertops with this stone textured spray paint, we wondered if this step was necessary. Our countertop was already a lite yellowish colour, and then we didn't demand to lighten it, and we assumed that the spray pigment would cover it completely.

We ended up priming it anyhow since we already had a tin of white paint… it couldn't hurt anything.

Well, this concluded up beingness Error #ane!

Nosotros brushed on white paint as a primer. We definitely needed to prime it considering the stone textured spray pigment we used was more of merely colored specks and not a solid color. And then priming was a good thing. The mistake was using a paintbrush! We could easily see the brush strokes through the pigment!

The castor gave great coverage and was like shooting fish in a barrel to apply, only left some terrible-looking brush strokes. This was one of the mistakes nosotros decided to fix the 2nd fourth dimension around by using a roller, and at present there are no brush strokes!

Use a 4-inch foam roller and handle.

Pace 5: Spray Paint

One time once more, we got the opportunity to practice this twice (the first time which had to be stripped off, and then the re-practise). And so here is how the second time was improved upon!

Milkshake the can actually well — since ours was speckled, nosotros wanted the texture and colors to be even. And so continue to shake it oftentimes… like really often the whole fourth dimension you are using information technology!
Start painting from the back and piece of work your manner towards the front edge. If you painted from the front and worked your way back, the spray mist would comprehend the dorsum before y'all got there, and it would take a heavier coating than the front (which is what nosotros did the first time, and it was noticeable). Starting at the back and working your way toward the front end will give your counter a more even coverage (which we did the second fourth dimension, and it looked better).
We gave our counter 2 coats, waiting 15 minutes between each coat. My husband has work lights that get really hot and put off a lot of heat. Nosotros set those upwardly in the bathroom to help information technology dry faster.

At this point, I'1000 super excited! Our countertop looked astonishing! I was so happy that it turned out and looked similar a whole new countertop!

Simply my excitement didn't final long…

Stride six: Clear Coat

So everything went downward the drain…

My husband went to the hardware store and asked the human at the paint section what to put on superlative of this to seal it, explaining our project to him. He (poorly) advised that nosotros put POLYURETHANE: Clear Satin on the top.

He was working at a paint counter at a hardware store… we assumed he knew best!

Nosotros brushed the first coat on. It looked yellow… but the can said Articulate SATIN! Information technology should dry clear, right? Not to mention, there were now a lot more visible paint strokes.

Nosotros practical 3 coats like what was suggested. And I was very sorry.

The whole reason nosotros wanted to paint our countertop was to get rid of the yellowish color. At present our countertop was even more xanthous! The texture was amazing, but the color was horrible!

I very sadly told my husband that I did non like this, and he agreed.

Time to start over!

He stripped it down with Klean Strip, which is used to strip furniture. This chemic might not work on all surfaces, such equally laminate then be careful if you decide to use it.

While this was disappointing, it was a very inexpensive mistake. It cost us less than $10 to ready, but information technology was a time-consuming mistake.

Repeat All the Steps 🙁

Prep
Prime number (with a roller!)
Wait 2 hours
Spray pigment 2 coats, 15 minutes between coats
Look 4 hours
Articulate Glaze, see below, 3 coats, 10 ish minutes between coats
Look 24 hours earlier reinstalling faucet or using counter

This time we used a spray-on Clear Glaze.

And this time it actually was clear!

The spray paint we used does have a small bit of a crude texture to it.

I love how this speckled look helps to hide dirt and messes. There are also NO brush marks!

Step seven: Re-caulk

Wait 24 hours earlier doing anything with your countertop.

Now you need to re-caulk around the edges to prevent water from settling into the spaces between your counter and wall.

Use a Bath and Kitchen Waterproof Caulk to help it last much longer.

Tips for helping caulk wait overnice:

Wear a latex glove
Accept a glass of water nearby
Caulk the edges
Dip a gloved finger in h2o and run information technology over the wet caulking — this helps give it a smoothen terminate
Re-dip finger in water as needed to smooth out the caulk

Pace 8: Reinstall Your Faucet

And savor your newly painted countertop!

How to Paint a Countertop Don't Make These Mistakes

Once again, here are all the steps in order:

Prep
Prime
Await 2 hours
Spray paint 2 coats, fifteen minutes between coats
Await 4 hours
Clear Glaze, 3 coats, 10 ish minutes between coats
Wait 24 hours before reinstalling the faucet and re-caulking, or using counter

Have you painted a countertop? How did it plough out?

Anna

Update:

If you have read the comments department of this mail, then y'all will encounter that almost everyone wants to know how my counters have held up over time. Well hither is the get-go update. It has been almost four months.

Sadly, my daughter spilled fingernail polish remover on i spot. After well-nigh a week or and so, the textured office of the paint slowly started wearing off until information technology was but the white primer was showing in that spot. As we kept cleaning the counter, more of the paint was wearing off. We ended up trying lots of unlike methods on how to repaint just one small spot. What worked the all-time was spraying the spray pigment heavily on a newspaper plate, then using a small paintbrush to carefully brush the speckles back on. Nosotros let it dry and added some other layer of the clear glaze.

Moral of this story: Be very careful with Acetone (fingernail shine remover) and what cleaners you use. A vinegar cleaner would probably be the safest bet!

P.Due south. I seem to have blogged a lot virtually this bathroom! Bank check out these posts:

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