Creative Countertop Issues That I Can't Find Addressed Anywhere... DIY *smh* 0.o

Date sort Score sort
ChickAudie

ChickAudie

Songster
7 Years
Sep 25, 2012
615
9
108
Well Hellooo, and thanks for viewing my post/question!
ya.gif


OK, I have a totally unrelated to chicken issue, but chicken fanciers are so awesome, since I can't find it anywhere, the answer *MUST* be here
pop.gif


I would like, and am really thinking about, refinishing some Formica/that other faux marble crap bathrooms' counter tops (I do believe that was a grammatically correct statement?) with fabric/wallpaper floated with epoxy. Has ANYBODY done this? I can read all day about the UV issues with epoxy and the cost to float some, but I LOVE some fabric and paper patterns SOOOO much, that I simply must find away to preserve them and look at them all the time
hugs.gif
(here I am, hugging wallpaper, don't judge.)

I have also considered hammered Hammerite, but they say you can't really combine the colors and they ain't got da one I want, humph...
 
Last edited:
A good spar varnish might do the trick for a durable clearcoat instead of floating it in epoxy, and most have built in UV protection. Maybe you could use some scrap wood or formica to make a few demo pieces, trying a few different materials and finishes to see what you like and you could even leave them in the bathroom for a while to see how they hold up. It sounds like a really fun project!
 
Justahannah said:
A good spar varnish might do the trick for a durable clearcoat instead of floating it in epoxy, and most have built in UV protection. Maybe you could use some scrap wood or formica to make a few demo pieces, trying a few different materials and finishes to see what you like and you could even leave them in the bathroom for a while to see how they hold up. It sounds like a really fun project!
Click to expand...
Very good advice! A sample should help iron out issues that may come up, thanks Justahannah!
 
They do bar tops with 2 part epoxy/resin so I don't see how it would differ. Bar tops get more wear and tear than the normal bathroom countertop, I would think. We went to a bar in WI that had made their bartops out of plywood, it was decorated with many decks of cards which were laid out to look like poker hands, poker chips, pennies/nickles/dimes and some other things I can't think of at the moment. It was very attractive and novel for a bar.

The only problem I can see would be getting all the air bubbles out of fabric or having the fabric dye spread into the epoxy as it cures. I would definately make up a sample if using fabric. Hard to fasten down fabric to keep it from wrinkling when applying the epoxy. Wall paper may not be as difficult.

Does the bathroom ocuntertop get much direct sunlight on it? That may cause yellowing or fabric dyes to break down.
 
I bet you could get all the air bubbles out by pre-soaking the fabric in your clear coat and using a squeegee to "glue" it to the countertop. Once it's dry, you could use a utility knife to cut the excess off the edges for a perfect fit (avoiding issues with stretching or shrinking or perfect positioning during application, protect your sink/hardware with some tape), and then you could start building up additional coats of the clear stuff.
 
Last edited:
Look up "Decoupage counter tops" or "DIY decoupage counter tops" or "How to make counter tops"online, google, yahoo, what ever you use. There are TONS of info on how to do it. If you don't see anything in the web search itself, click the images button when you do the search (In google, you c an do that, don't know about others) then skim through the pictures until you see something that looks like what you want to do, and click on the website that displays the picture.
 
Last edited:
KristyHall said:
Look up "Decoupage counter tops" or "DIY decoupage counter tops" or "How to make counter tops"online, google, yahoo, what ever you use. There are TONS of info on how to do it. If you don't see anything in the web search itself, click the images button when you do the search (In google, you c an do that, don't know about others) then skim through the pictures until you see something that looks like what you want to do, and click on the website that displays the picture.
Click to expand...

Thanks Kristy! I tried so many other combinations....for hours... added decoupage, found somethings similar!

I was hoping somebody had tried fabric, but I bet it's the same kind of thing?
 
wyoDreamer said:
They do bar tops with 2 part epoxy/resin so I don't see how it would differ. Bar tops get more wear and tear than the normal bathroom countertop, I would think. We went to a bar in WI that had made their bartops out of plywood, it was decorated with many decks of cards which were laid out to look like poker hands, poker chips, pennies/nickles/dimes and some other things I can't think of at the moment. It was very attractive and novel for a bar.

The only problem I can see would be getting all the air bubbles out of fabric or having the fabric dye spread into the epoxy as it cures. I would definately make up a sample if using fabric. Hard to fasten down fabric to keep it from wrinkling when applying the epoxy. Wall paper may not be as difficult.

Does the bathroom ocuntertop get much direct sunlight on it? That may cause yellowing or fabric dyes to break down.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your response! Great information, especially with the test subject.
frow.gif
 
OK! So I have narrowed it down to two choices and am confident they will both look great...

1) I found broken glass bits for $2/pound and only need about 3 or 4 pounds. I'm going to do a broken glass mosaic with white and deep red glass, adding little bits of mirror for sparkle (yes, all countertops should sparkle!). I want to adhere the broken glass the surface and then use the floated Epoxy instead of grout. Now my mosaics are pretty tight, so I am hoping the cracks won't suck up too much resin.; or

2) I went to JoAnn and they have 24" x 12" Mylar-ish contact paper with a metallic 3-D design. I am thinking of dry-bushing the paper with a flat black acrylic paint in a striped manner so that quite a bit of the metallic paper shows through. A flood coat of epoxy mixed with silver flake glitter and then a final sealer coat.

I have my presentation on Tuesday! Let me know what you think and wish me luck!
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom