DIY Kitchen Countertop Makeover

why hello there brent here with bring your own tools on today's episode we are completely transforming these old existing countertops from this too to this if you want to learn how to do it keep them watching let it started [Music] after we painted these cabinets in our last video we quickly realized that these countertops need some dressing up as well they're old laminate countertops with a wood edge and they need a full refresher which all starts with removing the base the wall base specifically on this project now you don't have to salvage all this wall base but it does come in handy later on because we are going to be creating our own wall base out of mdf this gives us a determining as to exactly what the length needs to be because they're already pre-cut i do also remove the existing sink because we're me replacing it with a brand new one just make sure you remove any of the leftover grease and grime and potential silicone that's left on the edge to have the proper bonding strength between the new existing epoxy and the old laminate and the degreaser that i choose to use on this project is a tsp water solution i fill up a spray bottle with hot warm water and a few tablespoons of tsp then squirts it onto the surface let it soak in a bit and use a scouring pad to try and break up all that grease and grime that's been there for generations once i go over that area i then take a clean lint-free cloth to wipe up all the excess moisture and as you can see these countertops were dirty yeah pretty disgusting once i have all the countertops fully wiped down and degreased we need to start abrading the surface of the countertops properly but before we do that we need to make sure that we protect the cabinets in order for us not to chip or paint i'm just placing a single layer of painters tape in order to make sure that once we start abrading we're not accidentally abrading the surface of our cabinets at this point in time we have the entire surface fully cleaned up and we have it taped off on the edges here so we don't scuff up that while we sand and with the sander it's actually a random orbital sander with 60 grit sandpaper we want something really abrasive so when we do prime the surface it adheres properly let's start sanding 60 grit might seem a bit overkill but we want to guarantee ourselves that we have this surface properly braided prior to applying our epoxy one key aspect when doing this is to try and get a saner that also hooks up to your shop vac in order for all the dust and debris that's created with the sailing process to be sucked up doesn't catch everything but it catches the vast majority of the dust the edges of a countertop are more prone to chipping so you do want to take your due diligence in this specific area with sanding and making sure those edges are fully rounded over in areas where it's more difficult for my sander to get into i just take a bit of that same 60 grit sandpaper with a soft sanding block and a braid those areas as well especially on the underside of our countertop lip this soft sand block does work well but if you want to speed up the process a little bit more you can always use your multi-tool with a sanding pad and abrade it that way which does speed up the process once you have all the countertops fully sanded down properly it's time to clean the surfaces and for that i'm taking a tack cloth and picking up all the leftover dust and debris that the shop vac didn't do while i was sanding however one final step of the cleaning process that i would suggest doing is taking in some denatured alcohol and removing any of the leftover film that's left on the surface it's a final cleaning aspect prior to applying our primer but before we apply our primer i do take some painters visqueen and tape off all the surrounding areas because we're gonna have to do this no matter what once we start applying our epoxy so we might as well do it now the zinzer bullseye 123 primer is a perfect primer for this type of application because it can stick to mirror everything especially if it's a clean surface which this is now i apply this primer with a foam roller as well as a brush around tight knit areas that the roller can't get into whether that's the very bottom edge or the side of the wall and keep in mind that the primer you use is extremely important because if there is an issue with delamination with the epoxy to the countertop it's because of the primer to the laminate surface if this isn't adhered properly then the likelihood of the epoxy chipping up is going to be more prone to doing so in the long run i let the primer dry overnight and then come back to it the next day i go over the existing primer very lightly with a 200 grit sanding pad and after that's taken care of i do go over it with a tack cloth just to clean up any of the debris that the sanding pad might have left behind the epoxy that we're using for this project is from stone coat countertops and this product also comes with a base white you could just use another coat of the primer if you didn't use the stone coat product but this base white is really nice and a vibrant white for our countertops in some cases you may need to apply two coats of this paint but in this circumstance we only had to apply one coat of paint which is nice especially due to drying time after i have our base white fully applied i can move on to our base our wall base specifically because we need to make our custom wall bases for this project we're using three quarter inch mdf for a couple of different reasons number one they can come in large long sheets like this which are very easy to cut down to the appropriate height with a table saw as well as the proper length with a skill saw once i have all my baseboards cut to the appropriate sizes i can then start sanding with 120 grit sandpaper these boards are already quite smooth and i don't have to worry about any grease or grime like the countertops so 120 is just fine the base that's going up against our sink cabinet does have a window that's actually fairly low which is why we have to actually cut out a small section of our base in this specific location and my trick to get a nice clean straight cut is to just do a plunge cut with your table saw very easy just watch out for kickback and the ends you can cut with a jigsaw mdf is extremely easy to sand down smooth if there are any sections that you need to fill go and fill them with bondo let it dry and sand those areas smooth as well prior to painting in order to soften up the edges a bit i just take a soft sanding pad with 120 grit sandpaper and sand all edges of each board once all the sanding is complete you can then start removing any of the dust and debris with a tack cloth and then prime the surface with the same primer that we used previously which is that zinzer bullseye one two three once all the boards are fully primed i let them dry appropriately then come back to them and apply our base coat of white that i did to the countertops as well but at this point go ahead and let all of your base white color dry overnight and come back to your sink the next day in order to make sure that our epoxy doesn't drip everywhere we want to make sure we tape off certain sections this includes the sink area because we want the epoxy to flow to the sink but we don't want it to flow into the sink cabinet you can use duct tape but i'm using ductine foil tape this is a very strong sturdy tape that will definitely stick to this interior area without giving away i do also apply some painters visqueen on the inside so it catches any potential epoxy which i'm glad i did i also apply a bit of painters tape around the perimeter of each countertop this makes sure that the epoxy stays as put onto the countertop without dripping off before it stiffens up a bit if this epoxy does set up in a room temperature it does thicken up quite a bit which is why i place it in a hot water bath prior to mixing because it's a lot easier to mix up thoroughly at that point okay moment of truth we are now ready to start applying our epoxy we have all our countertops fully taken care of we have our epoxy warmed up properly now we have a big large bucket for mixing we have a paddle mixer attached to my drill we have a torch to make sure we get up all those small tiny little bubbles as well as a heat gun to try and disperse disperse the epoxy a little bit more naturally we have of course some gloves a proper respirator some towels and of course some denatured alcohol but the one thing you really want to keep in mind especially with this project is the type of pigment we're going to be using we have a white pigment we have a silver metallic pigment and we of course have some black restorium spray paint it'll be fun let's get to it because the epoxy is warmed up it is a lot easier to pour into a large bucket like this if you don't do that step it feels like you're trying to get honey out of a bottle that's just been in there cupboard for months on end it's not easy and therefore warming it up makes it a lot easier as well as mixing because mixing is extremely important you want to mix this stuff up for at least two to four minutes prior to applying your pigments and for pigments i'm using stone coats white metallic as well as a secondary opaque white this is a very vibrant true opaque white which basically means you're less likely to be able to see through it which is exactly what we want in this application after we have this mixed thoroughly we can move on to our other pigments this is a very vibrant concentrate silver that i use as well as pour in some semi-gloss rust-oleum black spray paint this creates just a unique variance and look that i feel adds a great deal of beauty but it doesn't over saturate the area with a lot of epoxy countertops it looks a lot like an epoxy countertop which isn't always the most desirable i'm actually going for more of a natural look and this will reduce the overall look of an epoxy but it will still provide a very vibrant color this is why i'm layering the pigment into my epoxy versus just pouring it in and mixing it this creates a very unique variance when pouring it onto your countertop as you can see it provides a really nice more natural look and feel which again is what we're going for on this project we're going for a more natural stone look on this countertop not just a extremely vibrant unique countertop that is obviously epoxy once we pour the epoxy onto the countertop now we can take our heat gun and the heat gun is actually nicely used to maneuver the epoxy into areas that it hasn't reached yet which also provides a much more natural look and feel than if we were trying to trowel this whole thing on after the epoxy is applied to the entire surface i grab my denatured alcohol put in the spray bottle and apply that to the entire surface i find that it breaks up a bit of the pigment as well as pop some of those air bubbles and then grab my propane torch and apply a bit of heat to the entire surface in order to pop any of the remaining bubbles there were a couple areas where i wanted a bit more of a natural vein structure so i did put a bit more pigment in those areas i don't know if it was the right decision but let me know in the comments section below what you think especially after you see the final end product because i do really love how it turned out as you work on this epoxy countertop you realize quickly that your heat gun is your best friend especially if you want a more natural look because as you blow towards these pigments it really feathers out those areas and makes it look like a beautiful natural stone at least in my personal opinion i also suggest having some type of plastic spreader to maneuver some of the epoxy into more finite areas that are hard to get into if you're up against a wall like this the one key tip when pouring this epoxy is that you don't want to over saturate the area if you pour too much epoxy out it's probably going to drip down heavily for hours on end just keep that in mind because some areas on these countertops did drip for hours i assure you after i took care of the application of the epoxy on the countertops i proceeded to our wall base and luckily for us we had the perfect amount for this entire project which was two gallons of epoxy i poured the remaining contents out onto our backsplashes and then maneuvered all the epoxy evenly across with my plastic spreader it doesn't get to all areas in all sections but on the sides all i had to do is take my finger and apply a bit of extra epoxy on those areas and then let it drip naturally after i had the epoxy applied evenly i then propped up all these boards with a couple plastic cups so they were able to drip naturally without sticking to anything during the drying process i let the epoxy sit for approximately an hour and a half and then came back to it removed the tape so the epoxy on top could flow naturally but i also applied a bit of epoxy to the lip first before it could start flowing that direction this way the edge is pre-lubricated with the epoxy i apply with my hands and then it's able to flow as needed during the drying process i work my way around the entire room making sure that each edge gets a little bit of a tension and making sure that even the bottom side is coated with some type of epoxy we don't want the bottom edge to be just paint we do want it to also have epoxy on it so it's not a weak point in the countertop later on after three hours or so i thou come back to it and actually start removing all the leftover drips at this point the epoxy is extremely thick and easy to remove with just a stir stick this leaves a really nice clean edge and for some reason is extremely satisfying i don't know why but it's always satisfying to remove drips like this on a countertop edge once you feel confident the epoxy drips have finally stopped you can start removing all of your protection around your cabinets now there might be a couple areas where you need to do a bit of work to clean up but if you do need to clean up epoxy denatured alcohol and a clean lint-free cloth are going to be your best friends i assure you and as always i will leave links in the description box below on all the materials and tools that you see in this video okay so i'm even impressed with how good these turned out my goodness amazing completely changed the entire look of this space ah so good the next day i came back to our beautiful kitchen and removed any miscellaneous tape that i still hadn't removed at this point i did bring in a space heater at night to try and decrease the curing time but i waited over 24 hours before i really started handling these significantly in order to remove all the drips on the bottom edge of all of our backsplashes i take my rotary sander and just sand down all those drips very quickly and easily i'm using 120 grit sandpaper and all the setting didn't take much more than 15 minutes to do it's just a matter of trying to remove as much as possible so the back side is perfectly flat just make sure you're in a well ventilated area as well as having a proper respirator before doing this type of sanding in order to adhere these boards properly against the wall i actually like to use silicone 100 silicone because it's extremely strong when it dries but it takes about 30 minutes to actually fully set i want these to set in place instantly which is why i actually come back around and apply a bit of hot glue to the back side that way the hot glue adheres almost instantaneously to the wall but it also allows the silicone to dry in place within its proper drying timeline all i have to do in order for these boards to set properly is to hold it against the wall for approximately 60 seconds and after that's taken care of i can remove my hand and it will be there for eternity well at least you know it won't be going anywhere once that silicone is fully set after the silicone is dry i then take some painters tape and apply that to the edge of each backsplash then i actually take a coke that's specifically designed for kitchen bath use apply that to the crevice between our backsplash and our countertops as well as where the back splash meets our wall that way it's fully seamed up and we don't have to worry about any type of moisture or any other unfortunate items find its way behind our beautiful backsplash i don't wait for the caulk to dry before i remove the tape so actually go ahead and remove that tape once you apply it and if need be you can wet your finger and actually go against the caulk after remove the tape and that will completely smooth out your seam if need be i could have kept the old stainless steel sink in place but i wanted to upgrade to this nice black kohler sink which fit perfectly without any cutting after i determined the exact positioning of where the sink needs to be i actually marked it down with painters tape then applied my silicone and then reinstalled the sink that way i know for certain exactly where the sink needs to be placed plus once the silicone is fully applied it's easy to remove any of the excess because it's just on the tape i do add a bucket of water for weight in order to guarantee that that sink isn't going to move on me while i'm removing the tape or accidentally bumping it before the silicone is fully set while i wait for it to set i reinstall any of the drawers that i had removed and of course reinstall our oven with a couple love taps and of course no kitchen remodeling project would be complete without an upgrade at your kitchen faucet this is a faucet from fister and like everything i'll make sure and i have a link in the description box below with this product or any of the other products shown on this video but once our plumbing is installed and working correctly with no leaks we are done [Music] i'm truly impressed with how amazing this transformation turned out it's incredible and one of the most satisfying things is to see the before and after look at that amazing transformation and difference it's unrecognizable to see what the transformation was originally to what it is now and that's what i call one beautiful sexy beast oh yeah

Channel: BYOT

Views: 1,125,055

Keywords: byotools, diy, do it yourself, how to, bring your own tools, tutorial, byot, diy kitchen countertop makeover, kitchen countertops, diy epoxy kitchen countertops, stone coat countertops, stone coat epoxy, stone coat kitchen countertops, how to pour epoxy countertops, epoxy countertops, epoxy kitchen countertops, kitchen countertop makeover

Id: B40aqwg9Z14

Length: 19min 51sec (1191 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 07 2022