What is the Best Countertop for the Money?
Choosing countertops can make you lose sleep, because it is one of the most expensive pieces of a kitchen remodel. Perhaps you're reading this in the middle of the night after tossing and turning with visions of countertops running through your head. Trust me, I know the feeling. I was so excited as I visualized my newly remodeled kitchen with... granite countertops? Something less expensive? I wondered if my husband and I could justify spending $40-$50 a square foot or more for granite or quartz or Corian countertops, or go for the supposedly more economical laminate countertops (which really weren't that much cheaper than the granite ones, maybe $30-$40 per square foot) or go the ultra-cheap route and put in our own laminate countertops.
Part of the decision-making process involved our past experience installing laminate countertops. In our previous home we had remodeled the small kitchen, turning an L-shaped kitchen into a U. It required completely replacing the existing countertops and of course adding some where none had been before. Because it was a brick house and we didn't want to spend the money on changing the size of a window, it turned out that part of the new countertop ran right in front of the bottom of an existing window. We dealt with that by removing the sill and allowing the countertop to function in place of it. It was a little odd looking, I'll admit, and we did not think a professional installer would have wanted to install a countertop like that. So we did not consider having a professional installation. We went with the relatively cheap do-it-yourself laminate countertops you can pick up at Home Depot.
But putting in your own countertops was not as easy as we thought it would be. When you're dealing with an old house (this one was a vintage 1940s Cape Cod) you don't always get square walls. And sometimes no matter how you futz with things, you just can't get them to square up. We had a problem with one of the corners, where two 45 degree angles should have met flush. No matter what we did, we couldn't get rid of a gap between them... until we called my grandfather, who was 1000 miles away, and instructions over the phone from him for creating a clamp out of various bolts and stuff, which held the two pieces together from underneath. In the end, the countertops looked all right, with one exception. The DIY laminate countertops are sold alongside these end-kits, strips of laminate that you are supposed to iron on to the cut ends of the laminate pieces to give them a finished look. I think the problem was that we didn't have a router to make nice neat edges after ironing these on. So the ends were a little messed up. However, it was a fairly inexpensive part of our remodel of that kitchen, and the money was well spent in the use of store-bought laminate countertops in that case.
In our current home, the kitchen remodel was a whole different kind of project. We installed a kitchen in part of the house where a family room used to be. It was gutted down to studs and subfloor, and built back out again, including plumbing. It is now, according to everyone, a VERY nice kitchen. It has an island with plenty of room to walk around it, stainless appliances, a corner sink, a lovely tile backsplash... and lowes quartz countertops.
The countertops were as expensive as the semi-custom cabinets (all of this was through Lowes kitchen center). Early on in the decision process we decided that it was not worth it to have the "nice" custom laminate countertops put in, because for the price you pay, you might as well pay another $10 a square foot or so and get the kind of countertops that will last forever. By this I mean granite, quartz or Corian. We wound up choosing quartz countertops. If I could do it again, I would go with Corian, because they are easier to keep clean and you can get a seamlessly installed sink with it, which prevents that little caulk-line of gunk that is impossible to clean out where the sink meets the countertop.
Here is my ultimate recommendation for getting the best countertop for the money: if you are putting in good cabinets, put in the long-lasting stone countertops. There is no sense doing nice cabinets and having laminate countertops. Granite (or other stone) looks amazing and will last forever. Laminate might chip and looks average instead of high-end, even though it is not that much cheaper than granite. But here's something to keep in mind: you can waste a lot of money paying to have a molded or beveled edge on your custom countertops. Save your money! We opted to just go with the straight edge, and the countertops give our kitchen nice clean lines, and neat edges. I really like the effect, and it saved us a lot of money.
However, if you are remodeling a small kitchen in a starter home for instance, and you buy stock cabinets which you are installing yourself, don't waste money putting in expensive granite countertops (unless you get some kind of amazing deal on them... it may be possible to get a slab of granite on sale that is just the right size you need for your DIY kitchen island or something, then you might as well go for it). In the case of the small kitchen where going fancy would be over-kill, don't pay for any kind of custom countertops, laminate or granite. Go with the stock laminate countertops from Home Depot or Lowes and put them in yourself. They will function just fine and look wonderful in your nice little house. Then you will be able to afford the new appliances that will be the icing on the cake when you sell your home. The best countertop for the money is the one that suits your situation, without any fancy extras.
Part of the decision-making process involved our past experience installing laminate countertops. In our previous home we had remodeled the small kitchen, turning an L-shaped kitchen into a U. It required completely replacing the existing countertops and of course adding some where none had been before. Because it was a brick house and we didn't want to spend the money on changing the size of a window, it turned out that part of the new countertop ran right in front of the bottom of an existing window. We dealt with that by removing the sill and allowing the countertop to function in place of it. It was a little odd looking, I'll admit, and we did not think a professional installer would have wanted to install a countertop like that. So we did not consider having a professional installation. We went with the relatively cheap do-it-yourself laminate countertops you can pick up at Home Depot.
But putting in your own countertops was not as easy as we thought it would be. When you're dealing with an old house (this one was a vintage 1940s Cape Cod) you don't always get square walls. And sometimes no matter how you futz with things, you just can't get them to square up. We had a problem with one of the corners, where two 45 degree angles should have met flush. No matter what we did, we couldn't get rid of a gap between them... until we called my grandfather, who was 1000 miles away, and instructions over the phone from him for creating a clamp out of various bolts and stuff, which held the two pieces together from underneath. In the end, the countertops looked all right, with one exception. The DIY laminate countertops are sold alongside these end-kits, strips of laminate that you are supposed to iron on to the cut ends of the laminate pieces to give them a finished look. I think the problem was that we didn't have a router to make nice neat edges after ironing these on. So the ends were a little messed up. However, it was a fairly inexpensive part of our remodel of that kitchen, and the money was well spent in the use of store-bought laminate countertops in that case.
In our current home, the kitchen remodel was a whole different kind of project. We installed a kitchen in part of the house where a family room used to be. It was gutted down to studs and subfloor, and built back out again, including plumbing. It is now, according to everyone, a VERY nice kitchen. It has an island with plenty of room to walk around it, stainless appliances, a corner sink, a lovely tile backsplash... and lowes quartz countertops.
The countertops were as expensive as the semi-custom cabinets (all of this was through Lowes kitchen center). Early on in the decision process we decided that it was not worth it to have the "nice" custom laminate countertops put in, because for the price you pay, you might as well pay another $10 a square foot or so and get the kind of countertops that will last forever. By this I mean granite, quartz or Corian. We wound up choosing quartz countertops. If I could do it again, I would go with Corian, because they are easier to keep clean and you can get a seamlessly installed sink with it, which prevents that little caulk-line of gunk that is impossible to clean out where the sink meets the countertop.
Here is my ultimate recommendation for getting the best countertop for the money: if you are putting in good cabinets, put in the long-lasting stone countertops. There is no sense doing nice cabinets and having laminate countertops. Granite (or other stone) looks amazing and will last forever. Laminate might chip and looks average instead of high-end, even though it is not that much cheaper than granite. But here's something to keep in mind: you can waste a lot of money paying to have a molded or beveled edge on your custom countertops. Save your money! We opted to just go with the straight edge, and the countertops give our kitchen nice clean lines, and neat edges. I really like the effect, and it saved us a lot of money.
However, if you are remodeling a small kitchen in a starter home for instance, and you buy stock cabinets which you are installing yourself, don't waste money putting in expensive granite countertops (unless you get some kind of amazing deal on them... it may be possible to get a slab of granite on sale that is just the right size you need for your DIY kitchen island or something, then you might as well go for it). In the case of the small kitchen where going fancy would be over-kill, don't pay for any kind of custom countertops, laminate or granite. Go with the stock laminate countertops from Home Depot or Lowes and put them in yourself. They will function just fine and look wonderful in your nice little house. Then you will be able to afford the new appliances that will be the icing on the cake when you sell your home. The best countertop for the money is the one that suits your situation, without any fancy extras.
