Cheap kitchen countertops

flogen

Hi folks,

Recently moved into a new house and am in the process of freshening up the kitchen, which is tired-looking but in okay condition (or at least not bad enough to justify the expense of a total overhaul at the moment).

As it stands the counter has a dark-coloured veneer on it and, as part of my attempt to brighten up the room as much as I can, I'd love to replace it with something else.

Ideally I'd like something butcher block-esque - but I'm trying to keep things as cheap as possible so am open to alternatives.

Can anyone recommend the best place to look? Is Ikea as good as it gets price-wise or are there places where you might pick up some odds and ends for less?

(and if anyone can recommend a good way to deal with manky wall and floor tiles that doesn't involve replacing them I'd appreciate that too!!!)

Thanks in advance.

DublinDilbert

Nothing wrong with the ikea counter tops, just check the thickness is close to what you have already. Depth should be about the same, but check that too. It really transforms the place putting in a few new counter tops.

colm_mcm

ikea do nice ones and they're well priced.
I got a solid oak one for mine. wearing well.

You will need to oil them before use, and every year or so after that.

They also do a semi solid worktop too, but hardly worth the bother of sticking edges on etc, not much difference in price. Worth noting that the solid ones are a smaller thickness than the semi solid ones.

Mine is called hammarp

6ft is 120. 8ft is 140



Ref the tiles, I used tile/slate effect floor tiles on my walls. A lot more realistic than you'd think. Used grab adhesive to stick them on. They're great. Moisture/heat resistant, easy to clean, no grout to get dirty.
Outer corners are a bit tricky, you'd want to be handy. They're not massively cheap either but saved me getting a tiler in.

Don't mind the food, was the only pic I had

dodzy

Colm, PM me your address. I'm bloody starving looking at those 2 pans.

flogen

DublinDilbert wrote: »

Nothing wrong with the ikea counter tops, just check the thickness is close to what you have already. Depth should be about the same, but check that too. It really transforms the place putting in a few new counter tops.

Thanks for that - did a quick check and it looks like the ikea counters are a good 1cm or more thinner than what I've currently got - so that would cause problems.

Might need to go back to the drawing board.

flogen

colm_mcm wrote: »

ikea do nice ones and they're well priced.
I got a solid oak one for mine. wearing well.

You will need to oil them before use, and every year or so after that.

They also do a semi solid worktop too, but hardly worth the bother of sticking edges on etc, not much difference in price. Worth noting that the solid ones are a smaller thickness than the semi solid ones.

Mine is called hammarp

6ft is 120. 8ft is 140



Ref the tiles, I used tile/slate effect floor tiles on my walls. A lot more realistic than you'd think. Used grab adhesive to stick them on. They're great. Moisture/heat resistant, easy to clean, no grout to get dirty.
Outer corners are a bit tricky, you'd want to be handy. They're not massively cheap either but saved me getting a tiler in.

Don't mind the food, was the only pic I had

They look really well - I'm guessing you had to do all of the cutting etc yourself, or do they do it for you?

colm_mcm

nah you need to cut them yourself. it's easier than your think.{work top}

you could always put ply or chipboard or something on top of the units to bring the height up 1cm.

flogen

colm_mcm wrote: »

nah you need to cut them yourself. it's easier than your think.{work top}

you could always put ply or chipboard or something on top of the units to bring the height up 1cm.

Looking again and some of their 'Karlby' wood-covered particle board stuff is much closer in thickness to what I'd need... might pop in and have a look to see how that stuff looks.

Good to know it's not hard to cut too - though I may need to get something a bit more professional than the hand saw I have at the minute!

DublinDilbert

flogen wrote: »

Looking again and some of their 'Karlby' wood-covered particle board stuff is much closer in thickness to what I'd need... might pop in and have a look to see how that stuff looks.

Good to know it's not hard to cut too - though I may need to get something a bit more professional than the hand saw I have at the minute!

Get a cheap jig saw, hand saw would be murder. I picked one up in Tesco as I was stuck, after a few jobs gave it to my brother who still uses it for bits of flooring.

Mark it out the required cuts approximately with paper tape, then you can draw the correct line on the paper tape with a pencil. If your cutting an internal piece out for a sink/hob, drill a hole in each corner and join them up with the jig saw.

After you cut out for the sink coat the edge of the counter top with a few coats of PVA glue / poly bond, this will stop any moisture entering the counter over time.

colm_mcm

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/81T%2BB5zm7oL._SL1500_.jpg

Have one of these. They're great for cutting straight lines. Much more intuitive than a jigsaw. You can use them for ripping out plasterboard walls etc too.
You would need a jogsaw as well though as it doesn't do curves.

I went all over-complicated on the first one. Used a router and a straight-edge. The ones I did with the saw actually came out better.

The Karlby looks exactly the same. It's real wood on the outside. Looking at the sample they had in store, the edging took a bit of a beating and was starting to flake off. There's only €30 in the difference between that and the Hammarp.