Kitchen Counter: Rust-Oleum Redo

The sneak peek at the kitchen counter redo doesn't even begin to tell the whole story. The paint-based product we used is the Rust-Oleum Countertop Transformations (on this website); there's also one for cabinets. The kit comes with three-fourths of the total materials you need; additional purchases include paint brushes, small paint trays, mini rollers, dropcloth, gloves, and painter's tape. Some of these extra purchases we already had, so it makes sense that they not include it in the cost of the kit. (Anything to keep costs down is a good thing!)

An instructional DVD was included, and the same videos can be found online. We viewed the DVD three times: Once straight-through to see the overall process and to get a sense of the timing; again straight-through to note the finer details; and again, short chapter by chapter, before each stage. We found the DVD to be helpful and clear.

The process took 7 to 8 hours of actual work, and we did it over the course of three days. There's basically 4 main stages.

First, the prep work: clearing off the counter, cleaning, and some sanding of the metal strips on the edges. Using the sanding tool, there's a full round of sanding/de-glossing, vacuuming, and wet wiping. We did this in the evening and it took about an hour. Here's what she looked like after the sanding:

Saturday morning I did some more caulking so we had to wait until lunchtime to get started. So, after taping and sheeting, we dove into the next main phase and applied the base coat and chips, which took 2 or 3 hours.

This second phase was the one that had us most concerned about doing it right. Even though we could do touch-ups afterward, we felt compelled to be careful the first time around. You roll on a thick even coat of a medium-brown paint, doing the backsplash and edges first, then all the flat parts.

And you have to keep it wet, no dilly-dallying! There's a wetting agent that you spray on to keep everything wet. We were quick but could have been quicker, and we probably should've used more of the spray than we did.


You know those little containers that you push along a yard to spread grass seed, where you crank along and the seeds spray out? A similar spreader-sprayer comes in the kit to apply the decorative chips. That part was kind of fun! (But again, you had to keep moving, lest the paint be too dry and no chips would stick.) This was a case of "more is better" and we had piles of chips in the corners. The video encouraged this messy behavior!

It's ridiculously rough at this point:

Tick-tock, tick-tock, let it dry overnight. . . .
Now it's Sunday. Enter stage right. . . .

We'd read comments online that strongly suggested the use of a shop-vac, and it was definitely worth having it for this project---there's an amazing amount of dust and chips and vacuuming. Face masks are essential, too.

The third stage ("Sand and Smooth") was a bit tedious: Vacuum up all the loose chips. Scrape all the rough edges. Vacuum that loose stuff. Sand everything using the blocks. Vacuum again. Vacuum the floor, too, while you're at it. Inspect your work. Sand and vac again.

Compare your work to the sample provided; is it the same smoothness? If not, keep going. When you're done, check all smooth surfaces carefully; is anything amiss? For us, this was a YES. There were "pale" colored areas where the chips didn't stick as much as in other areas (paint too dry?) and some "thin" areas (maybe not enough base coat? not enough chips?). So we did a few touch-ups---dab on the base coat, throw handfuls of chips---and added on another 4 hours of drying time. Then, the whole Sand and Smooth and Vacuum stage for those specific parts. And now that we were pros (and the areas were small) it took no time at all.

So now it's late Sunday afternoon, and we finally reach the last stage: The thick, clear, protective top coat.

This was the easiest stage and took about an hour, including clean-up. You brush and roll it on, check for an even application, and then leave the room. The video makes a point to say "don't let your kids or pets near the counters" since the first 6 hours of drying time are crucial. Then you cut the tape away and it's pretty much done at that point. The first 48 hours are complete hands-off time, and there's a 7 days' wait before resuming full use.

We probably went overboard with staying out of the room that night: we spent time in our basement hangout zone, watched TV, ordered in Chinese food, and even did the dishes downstairs! The last thing we wanted was any dust or particulates landing on the counter. Yeah, I know, probably a bit too careful---or crazy, who knows, you decide.  :-)

In this pic, it's still drying, but nevertheless . . . Ta-Da!