Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Best inexpensive kitchen countertop options

I've been out of the marble and granite scene for about 20 now, so I'm not sure where the pricing is these days. Most marble shops install these days, so go with someone who is experienced in installation. Edge detail will have an effect on pricing.

Marble: I wouldn't recommend a marble. You have to realize that when you get a polished surface on stone, that is the raw stone that's been mechanically polished with abrasives going finer until the surface is shinny. There's nothing on there to make it shinny, it's just raw stone brought up to a shine. Marble is generally softer, other than green marbles that are the hardest of most marbles. Marble is calcium carbonate which is alkaline and generally has a high absorption rate and porosity. When acidic liquids get spilled on the marble, it eats into the surface and dulls the polished finish. A marble polish can help protect it from this occurring kind of like waxing your car but it won't last. Marble polish does not polish marble, it only helps protect it. About 20 years ago, there was a fad where everyone wanted white marble like what the Italians have used for the past 5000 years. The Italians generally would use White Carrara with a dull finish and would use olive oil on it. They were basically staining it with oil to help protect it from other stains like tomato. So these customers were ordering White Carrara with a honed (dull) finish and oiling it. I can imagine that these counter tops got a bit schitty after a while.

Quartzite: Quartzite tends to be very hard, but may have an increased porosity and absorption rate. Quartzite is made up of quartz crystals which are very hard. We redid out kitchen about 2 years ago and my wife picked out a quartzite. Not having much experience with it, I consulted my brother-in-law who is in the business. He said that quartzite is the hot seller right now. The shop that fabricated it sealed it in the shop and the contractor sealed it after install. Typically a silicone impregnating sealer is used. It doesn't lay on top, it get absorbed into the stone to seal off the pours. So far, so good except one slightly dull spot where my daughter cut up a lemon and left it there overnight.

Granite: Granite is hard as a rock. Different geological make up from marble and quartzite. Not sure because I'm not a geologist, but it's the hardest of these options. It's so hard that in order to polish it, you need to go all of the way up to 3500 grit. I had granite for 20 years and it still looked new. Possibly the highest price, but not necessarily. Quartzite and granite are probably comparable in price.

Silestone or Granerex: FC mentioned Silestone. These are man made products from crushed up granite or something and then reformed into a slab. Not sure about this stuff because I never dealt with it. From what I hear, it's very durable and less expensive. Same basic care as natural stone.

Concrete: One of my customers, who is a stone mason, did concrete in his kitchen. He likes it and if you do it yourself it's cheap. He even imbedded coins and shells into his. Kind of unique. Other than that, I don't know much about it other than you buy a kit and you can color it however you want.

Hope this helps.

On the cheap I have done tile.

A piece of plywood on top of the cabinets. I typically use Russian plywood (comes in 5'x5' sheets and is the most durable plywood I know).

Then I get some metal lath and staple it to the plywood. Half inch staples or you can use a narrow crown.

Trowel on mortar and lay your tile.

I have done this with tumbled marble tile in the 4-inch range as well as 6 inch square ceramic tile as well as larger travertine tile.

Needed to do a countertop in a bathroom a year or two ago and the local tile store, Floor and Decor (I think) sold some huge ceramic tiles 2 feet by 4 feet. I split the tile at the sink and used an infill piece from the sink drop. If I recall correctly the whole vanity was 2 feet deep and 6 feet long and I managed to get it done with a single tile. I think that one tile I was around $30.

These countertops can be sealed with marble sealer, ceramic tile joint sealer or in the case of the travertine I used 6 coats of the polycrylic water-based polyurethane high gloss.

The only downside is the mortar joints have a tendency to collect bread crumbs or whatever during cleanup.

It is a very cheap solution. The edge banding on the front is typically done with a nice piece of finished wood with an ogee router edge.

That is some cool stuff.

That is a pretty cool form system!

kragman1;
Good morning to you sir, I hope this 3rd week of February treated you acceptably and this finds you well.

In the course of my working life, I spent 27 odd years in the cabinet and furniture making business and then another 6 years in a construction company where we also installed kitchens built in house.

During that time I've got to see and oversee warranty work on most any kind of counter top one can dream up.

Traditional laminate/Formica is simple to do well, easy to maintain and relatively inexpensive to change if the mood strikes. It will burn if hot pots or pans are put onto it. It will delaminate if it's not glued on correctly.

Stained concrete looks quite nice if done right. If done not right... well you get where I'm going. It will actually burn somewhat too if a too hot pan is placed on it, though that may have been the type of sealing compound used on that particular counter top, I'm not sure.

Butcher block has a nice warm look to it. If exposed to direct sunlight or too much water, I've seen it crack and delaminate. We never figured out how to repair it successfully other then replace the entire piece. Again though, if you live where there's hot sun and direct sunlight on the top, watch for that.

Marble and granite are nice, but not free. As mentioned already, some of the stone stuff needs to be sealed and should be sealed on both sides. Had an installer from Alberta tell us horror stories about mold growing underneath unsealed natural stone counter tops.

Corian type tops are okay, but can be burned and also will scratch. One can buff out the scratches if they're not too deep, but burns are likely going to need the top replaced.

Tiles are tough and can look quite nice, but are difficult to clean as far as the grout lines are concerned and typically the grout will not last forever either.

What I used to ask clients often is whether this was their "forever" house and "forever" kitchen or something they were working on to flip and do it again.

Once you've answered that, then decide on your budget and proceed.

Hopefully that was useful for you or someone out there this morning.

All the best and good luck with the countertops regardless.

Dwayne

The best "inexpensive" countertop is laminate (Formica, Wilson Art, etc.). It has been around for ages for a very good reason. It's affordable and with reasonable care it lasts a long time. The tops in our last kitchen were in for 15 years when we sold the house and they still looked good as new.
Our present kitchen has granite tops, but they weren't inexpensive.
If you don't use the tops for a cutting board or set hot pans on them laminate works just fine. Go with a round or bull nosed front edge to eliminate the seam where the edge meets the top. With a nosed front edge and a stone pattern you get the look of stone for a fraction of the cost.

Dwayne's comments above are spot on and my past experience also includes many years in remodeling and commercial building maintenance.

Had a buddy who did this in Portsmouth.

They dye the concrete a variety of colors and can make the shape you want on site..

Retired from the countertop buisness for 10 years. Have done tons of solid surface, mostly Corian, but others as well. Not up on prices anymore, but LG Hi-Macs was one of my favorites to work with. A little less money than Corian, but same make-up. LG even copied Corian colors when DuPonts patent ran out. Alot of does and donts when it comes to solid surface tops, especially when it comes to heat. I would recomend sticking with the acrylic products over the polyester stuff. Some have a little of both in them. Used to work some of the polyester products such as Avonite and Fountainhead, which seemed more brittle when working than the acrylics.
Good luck!

Bowling alleys? The actual lanes.

Find one going biz or remodeling.

I just did my kitchen in granite. 41 sq feet for $1500 and a free sink. I'm very happy with it.

With saving some of the scrap solid surface pieces, I have found it comes in handy for certain projects. Wife complained the wine bottles wouldnt stand in the refer, so I made a leaning thingy for them. And made some phone stands. Also loading blocks, pistol grip caps, and so forth.

Soapstone.

A month ago we got a butcher block counter top for the kitchen island. Will put a gas cook top in it. The top birch unfinished top cost less than $200. Be Well, RZ.

If I had to do it again, after a Corian which certainly isn't bad, I would do stainless. It may not "fit" with the decor, but it is forever. Why do you think commercial kitchens are stainless?

My buddies are in the stainless business. Nothing inexpensive about it

Thanks guys.

For those who asked, it will probably be the last house I buy, but except for the kitchen cabinets, it hasn't been updated since 1958.
So my plan is to keep the counters cheap to spare funds for the bathrooms etc.
Of course, it nevers pays to do something half added either.

Right, but added accents done in good taste that match the homes age can go a long ways too.

Run with your idea of the butcher block counter tops and plop a new farm sink down into it.

Might just be the ticket for your place.

Well, its just about 50 sq ft of counter. I considered doing the island portion as butcher block and the straight up counters as something else but the girlfriend nixed that idea. Shame, as I would have liked dark counters with a dark wine stained butcher block made of oak or something. Buddy was a hobby cabinet maker. He would have loved to glue it and plane it with me.

Keep the advice coming. Not sure if I will be able to buy the house but got another step closer today.

One regret is that I didn't replace the counter tops with high figured ancient curly maple, birds eye, or figured walnut, cherry. Pink/ yellow poplar is nice too, but soft. Layers of poly would probably take care of it.
If I do it over again someday, I would do that and leave the bark on for rustic contrast edges.

Built a kitchen prep station for my mom for Christmas. Picked up a cherry butcher block from lumber liquidators pretty cheap. All it needed was an edge profile, some finish sanding, stain and a coat of butcher block oil. Hard to beat butcher block for the price and ease of install. When it gets schitty, sand it down and reapply some oil.