REALTOR Heal Thyself…Rust-Oleum Counter Coat a Review

REALTOR Heal Thyself…Rust-Oleum Counter Coat a Review

I’ve lived in my home for five years and for five years I’ve deliberated off and on about what to do with the counter tops in my two upstairs bathrooms. The townhouse that I live in was built in 1974 and is 20th century contemporary in style. The price points of my neighborhood don’t justify Granite or solid surface or recycled glass or those type products; even though I’d LOVE them. So, I’ve pondered and cogitated and browsed endlessly on line and in Lowes and Home Depot.

A month ago I decided. The old vanities and tops and sinks and mirrors and lights would go in both baths. It was time to facelift and I was going to do it right. NO, I wasn’t going to both baths at once, I have a screw or two loose but the bolts are still pretty tight, one in tact bath is ESSENTIAL at all times. But then…I really looked at what I had and I learned…that someone, at sometime, for some unknown reason had GLUED the bathroom mirrors to the drywall. My bath has a 4x4 mirror and the hall bath is roughly 2x4. Oh NO, no, no, no, noooo, nutz, netz, dag nab it all. So much for popping out the old and popping in the new, now we’re looking at dry walling, mudding, fixing damage and ENDLESS dust. Back to square one.

It just so happens at a listing meeting in my very own neighborhood, Five Oaks, a friend/neighbor/prospective client showed me what they had done to their bathrooms. I was blown away. They had coated their old counter tops and they looked FABTASTIC. Off to Lowes I went and right there in the paint aisle was a product called Rust-Oleum Counter Coat, made for laminate counter tops. This product comes in a variety of colors for dark or light colored counter tops and they mix it right in the store, just like custom paint colors.

If you decide to paint your counter tops you will need; rubber gloves, drop cloth, disposable paint rollers-smooth ones made of foam, not the nappy ones, a decent paint brush, brush cleaner, disposable paint pans, sand paper and blue tape. The devil here is in details. This stuff sticks to everything so be careful and DON’T spill it.

First, remove everything from your vanity and be prepared to be out of your bath for at least three days. Wipe down your vanity; I used window cleaner and a rag. Then gently scuff the vanity top with sand paper and re-clean the surface. Use your blue tape and carefully tape off all of your edges, sink surface and anything you don’t want to get the Counter Coat on. Make sure the Counter Coat is well stirred. Put your rubber gloves on and carefully add some Counter Coat to your plastic paint pan. One quart sized can of Counter Coat covers 25 square feet, so for my vanity one can was more than enough. I had to purchase two quarts though, one vanity is dark the other is light.

Apply your first coat, the odor is strong, so you might want to crack a window. Do not overwork with your paint roller, the product will bubble if you overwork the roller and that defeats the purpose. Go slow and be careful but don’t convince yourself that you’re done in one shot. Wait a day or so and reapply to spots you might have missed. I went back a third time and re-applied to the entire counter. I was working on a dark surface so I purchased Slate colored caulk and at day three applied the caulk, let it dry and then re-applied the Counter Coat. The first application took several days to dry but the second and third dried much faster.

The result, I’m delighted. My bath got a facelift and the cost…drum roll please…for all materials…less than $50 and I must say the vanity looks GREAT.