Thrifty-Something

Another After Picture

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 01:58:11 GMT

I'm proud of how it looks and still amazed I could pull this off within my skimpy budget.

My Kitchen Project is Starting to Come Together

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 01:51:16 GMT

My hubbie installed the new sink, a new over-the-sink light and hooked up the wiring for the hood, but I did the rest. I've discovered the simple willingness to venture out of one's comfort zone is the key to success. Thanks everybody at TF, you encouraged me more than you know. Whoo-hoo!

Newly Painted Counter

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 01:38:49 GMT

Click on photo for more info.

Old Laminate Counter

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 01:35:00 GMT

I cleaned the counters with TSP (available at any hardware store) and water. After they dried completely, I applied a coat of primer. Click on photo for my info.

My old laminate counters.

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 01:33:44 GMT

Time to say good-bye.

EnviroText Lite

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 01:20:31 GMT

Hobby Lobby carried Envirotex, but in small sizes only. Lowe's didn't know what it was when I inquired and said they didn't have it. I found them in gallon-size at Menards for around $55.00. I needed two gallons for my counters. Notice in the photo below how it comes--in two seperate containers sold together. The stuff activates when they're mixed together, and according to the directions, you have two minutes in which to mix it. So, be sure to mix thoroughly and rapidly, like a mad woman (or mad man), scraping the bottom of the bucket, or else you will have soft spots in the Enviro-tex after it dries. The directions say absolutely DO NOT use an electric drill to mix it with --- BY HAND ONLY! If you do it right, you should have lots of bubbles. Carbon dioxide removes the bubbles, so breathe on them with a straw if it's a small project. For a big one like mine, I used a blow torch. The stuff is non-flammable, so unless you do something really stupid like catch the curtains on fire, you'll be fine.

Envirotex is supposed to be self-leveling, but I found it needed a little help. The directions recommended a rubber putty knife. It didn't work very well. Since I had on rubber gloves to begin wtih, I simply used my hands to spread the goo around. Don't do this unless you have gloves on, because the product can be absorbed through the skin, so I recommend donning a pair of gloves before you even begin to mix.

Detailed instructions come with the product, plus, there's a ton of information on this site about it already, so I'll spare you the details.

In my opinioin, the process was relatively simple, yet not for the faint of heart based on the fact you have to work quickly and it's a messy job.

I ran into some trouble along the way.

First, a horsefly the size of Texas landed in the middle of my solidfying Enviro-tex. When I got the booger out, it left a quarter-sized mar in the surface.

Then the infamous glitter fiasco further dampened my hopes that this would go on without a hitch. The gooey Envirotex made the square glitter stand on end, which caused bumps to appear in the surface. The only solution was to apply another coat of Envirotex, which soaked me for another $110 bucks. For another five-hundred I could have gotten my a brand new laminate. Oh, well.

SO NOW THAT I'VE USED MY ENVIROTEX CABINETS A WHILE, WHAT'S THE VERDICT?

I love they way they look, better than plain laminate in my opinion, but they are slightly less durable. They scratch slightly easier and take even less heat than laminate. My hubbie never uses a cutting board (grrrrr), just like he refused to do with the laminate and hence the reason they looked so bad, so I already have a few knife marks in the surface. But if your husband and kids are trainable, then it should hold up as well as laminate.

Also, I want to add a warning. Even though had plastic on the floor during application, unbeknowst to me, some of the Envirotex got underneath it and dried there. It's next to impossible to get up. Now I have to replace a section of floor. I have spare pieces, so it won't cost me anything, but it's still a pain-in-the-rump.

Glitter Galore!

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 00:51:59 GMT

Another product I used was glitter like the kind you get at any craft store. I got mine at Hobby Lobby. Before I started the project I read about the counter-painting process here. Some people expressed regret that they didn't apply enough glitter. Since I love glitter, always have, I wasn't going to make that mistake. So I applied some square shapped white glitter and also black. Then I used the golden slivers glitter, which was much smaller than the squares. I should have used the slivery kind only, because the black glitter, for some strange reason stood up on end once I applied what should have been the final coating of Enviro-Tex. This caused bumps to appear in the surface of the Enviro-tex after it dried. I had to apply another coat, which I was not very happy about, not just because it's pricey, but because it's a messy, gooey process.

Preparing to Paint the Countertops

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 21:17:46 GMT

I felt anxious at the prospect of painting my counters. TF was the first place I read about the technique. At first I was skeptical, thinking it couldn't possibly turn out any way other than tacky. But the photos people had posted showing their own handiwork were hard to deny. I had to admit they looked pretty darn good, and as the estimates for new laminate countertops rolled in from around $700.00 to $1500, they were looking even better.

I mulled over using the techniques found here for weeks on end. My old the counter tops were scratched and I was tired of filling in the chips with white appliance paint, so I figured if I goofed up, and made my ugly counter top even uglier, perhaps totally disfunctional, maybe that would force hubbie into buying new ones. So, with my sisters shouting at me over the phone, "Don't do it! Don't do it!" I took a deep breath and . . . did it.

Tiling Project

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 20:23:28 GMT

Several people told me tiling was super simple. They lied. Personally, I found it messy and time-consuming. It took me a week to finish, but that might have something to do with the kids being off of school and me having to stop and start, stop and start, because of life's little emergencies.

After much debate, I decided I liked the look of subway tile. Some prefer wide grout lines, but I gravitated toward the clean, uncluttered look of thin lines. I spent countless hours reading about how to apply it and finding the best bang for the buck. Tile shops wanted up to 4.99 per single piece of subway tile. I thought I'd get a better deal online, but I was mistaken. I ended up narrowing my search down between Menards and Lowe's. I went with Menards and purchase porcelain subway tiles in the color bisque. I can't remember for sure, but I think each tile piece was like seventy-nine cents. I applied them with pre-mixed mastic and I had to buy a notched trowel (like $5.00) with which to butter the back of each tile. Most people apply the wet mastic to the entire wall, but for some reason I had better luck buttering each tile individually. I used spacers only on the bottom pieces along the counter top, and not between the tiles themselves. I had a hand tile-cutter, but never got the hang of it and kept breaking tiles. My brother-in-law let me use his electric wet saw, which was designed specifically to cut tile, and even though it left me drenched and covered with wet tile dust, it worked much better for me. I had a lot of flubs, so I'm extra glad I went with the cheapest tiles I could fine. In my opinion, now that they're up, they look as good as the expensive kind.

I removed the old range hood and with hubbie's help (a miracle in and of itself) I replaced it with a new stainless steel one. I regret that I didn't leave the new hood in the box until I finished the tiling project. The new hood was in place when I started tiling, so this meant I had to stop tiling when the tile met the hood, which meant cutting tiles to make them meet up properly. If I'd simply tiled up the wall as far as I could, and THEN installed the hood, I'd have saved myself a lot of extra work.

Anyway, back to applying the tiles. Each tile has a built-in line, a raised groove, which functions as a spacer, but if you like a wider grout line, spacers would do the trick. A few days later I filled in the spaces between the tiles with bisque grout, which I bought at Menards pre-tinted. Make sure you use sandless, because sand grout will scratch your tiles. I read numerous how-to sites on how to apply it. A few weeks later I applied grout protector with an old toothbrush. A little goes a long ways and now I have an almost full bottle, which I will never use. Maybe in five years, but I don't know if it will still be good. Anyone know the shelf-life of grout protector?

Bare Wall After Laminate Backsplash Was Removed

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:21:15 GMT

Since I planned to refinish the whitish laminate countertops and the backsplash was done in the same laminate material, it absolutely had to come down. I expected the removal to be a nightmare, but managed to get it all down by prying it off using just a regular screwdriver. Most of it broke off in big sheets. There were small sections that required a bit of elbow grease, but overall it was an easy job taking less than two hours. Prepping for the new tile was minimal. I Spackled a few holes, and didn't apply primer because it had apparently been painted when the house first went up. The brown spots on the walls, I believe, is dried-up adhesive, which I went over by hand with a sheet of sandpaper before applying mastic. This was probably an unnecessary step, but it didn't hurt anything. By the way, the range in the photo is the one I would go on to destroy.

If you give a mouse a cookie . . .

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 00:02:36 GMT

Have you read the children's book that goes like this: If you give a mouse a cookie, he's going to ask you for a glass of milk. When you give him the milk, he'll probably ask for a straw. When he's finished, he'll ask for a napkin. Then he will want . . . and the mouse goes on wanting more and more until his host is worn out.

I am that demanding little mouse and worn-out host rolled into one. I had a big dream for a brand new kitchen, but a small budget with which to make it come true, so I decided to try to compromise, and not go brand new everything. Since cabinets are the biggest expense in most kitchen remodels, I'd risk disaster and paint my dated oak cabinets instead of replacing them. Then I got to thinking, which is always a dangerous thing, and decided if I had fresh-looking cabinets, then I might as well spruce up the chipped counter tops as well. But wait, the backsplash was a continuation of the counters, covered in the same laminate sheeting. This looked like a permanent road block and gave me pause to reconsider, but what the heck I said, my kitchen is ugly anyway, so what did I have to lose? My range/oven, that's what,, but I'll get to that later. The renovations did not stop with "the disaster", beause the new look would be incomplete without new hardware. On and on I go like that crazy mouse.

This kitchen project has turned into a much bigger job than I planned, zapping my entire summer, but on on the plus side, there is light at the end of the tunnel and I'm almost done. I am thrilled with the new look. Mind you, I'm a very inexperienced handy ma'am, but after pouring over websites like this, I found the courage to tackle the work myself.

So far the project rings in at about $2000.00 in all. That sounds like a lot, but when I look at the BEFORE and AFTER photos, knowing that kitchen makeovers normally cost in the tens of thousands, I feel it was a small price to pay for such dramatic results. I made two major flubs in the renovation. Did I mention the range? I used high-temerature paint used for woodburning stoves and grills to paint the range top (so it would blend in the the newly painted counters), but it didn't hold up. Everytime something boiled over the new paint would crinkle away, and because I followed the instructions on the paint can and roughed-up the original surface beforehand, simply scraping the black paint away wasn't an option. It looked awful, so I had to spring for a new range.

But if you paint kitchen cabinets, then you're going to want a new range . . . the saga continues.

Stay tuned for photos.