MY daughter installed butcher block several years ago, and is very happy with them. They were extremely well priced at IKEA.
Now she’s looking to replace bathroom counters. IKEA had some very nice options.

Good point about local installer. If anyone has experience with that versus Home Depot, I'd love to hear about it.

I have butcher block in my northern home and it's BAD.It's even more upkeep than all others IMO to keep it from staining. Unless you polyurethane it really thoroughly (we didn't), it might be constantly stained.

Previous granite counter of mine became permanently stained by water ring from a hot lid. I'm not interested in resealing counters every year to prevent this.

If you have to replace them, you might as well go with quartz or granite, it’s not gonna be that much more money and it’s much more durable

Call me a snob, but if you are remodeling your house, the kitchen is the area you want to do nice, not go cheap. When friends come over to talk, when you have friends over for dinner, we tend to navigate in the kitchen mainly at our big island slab, so a nice looking quartz or granite slab would look the best. Cabinets are another product you don’t want to go cheap.
We passed on buying a few houses here because they had laminate counters.

Most people do not reseal their granite counters annually. A hot lid would have probably melted a laminate countertop. I wouldn't place a hot pot or lid on any type of countertop. I also wouldn't cut anything on a countertop.

Not going to say anything about choice of materials, just the vendor. NEVER use either of the “big box” stores for installation services. They sub out to the lowest bidder…you get what you pay for. I had rental properties and was VERY cost conscious. Better to go to a REAL counter company. It may SEEM more expensive, but in the long run you’ll be happier.

Oh OK, I didn't realize you were changing the layout

No, I always put my lid on the counter and there's never been an issue on laminate. Certainly wouldn't do a hot pot on any counter though!

I like your reply to countertop snob. I bought an older house all done in pink and blue. I had to make a lot of improvements and could not afford higher end at the time. I have quite a bit of counter space in my kitchen and unfortunately, need to replace some of the laminate due to my carelessness. Lowe's still carries it but does not have an installer. I also would be intereste in finding one.

Went to visit Solid Stone in Leesburg today, and the 2 to 3 week timeframe is very appealing. I also like the corian designs and the great undermount sink that comes with their installation. Might go that route. Over twice the cost of laminate, but maybe worthwhile. I still have a couple weeks until I receive my cabinets, so any other input is welcomed!

I've owned three homes with Corian kitchen counters and really like it. In two of the homes, I chose it and had it installed, including in my current.

In addition to it being a solid and seamless surface, I really like the integrated sink. No seams there either and you just wipe water or crumbs from the counter right into the sink - no lip in the way. Nice!

One thing to be aware of is that pouring boiling or very hot water into the sink can cause little hairline cracks. So, when you make pasta, etc. you'll want to manage how you drain the pasta. Talk to the store about the best way. Also, some people are rough on counters and it can get small scratches but, they can be buffed out. I've never has to do that because I use lots of cutting boards.

For me, it was worth the extra money.

My wife and I have bought and sold a lot of houses in our time, and we always looked for the ones in the worst condition when buying, as the price would be heavily negotiable.
Nothing more satisfying than turning a dump into a palace, and reaping the profit.
As for walking away from a place with a laminate countertop?????? :shrug:

Careful, some people might call you a snob.

We might have a BINGO! :)

In my continuing saga of countertops I have known — and I have had them all — I now must tell you about my current northern house countertop.

When we bought this one, to northern downsize, a few years ago, I thought about changing the Corian countertop in the kitchen. But the more I thought about it, the sillier the idea felt…….

The house is a custom build, just over 20 years old, with high quality work, inside and out. (The people who built it knew what they were doing.)

Anyway, the kitchen was done with a plain, light cream color Corian with a very nice undermount, oversized, stainless double-sink. The backsplash was done in neutral shades. Neither choice screamed for its own attention, like some countertops and backsplashes can do.

I am so glad that I decided to just let those original choices be. The people who chose them stayed so neutral in colors and design that I am still happy with what was there to begin with.

The only thing we changed in the kitchen was to replace the original faucet with a gooseneck.

I like stainless steel sinks a lot, if they are high quality and do not go Pop, Pop. This one is definitely a low gauge. (Seems counter-intuitive that with stainless sinks, the lower the gauge, the heavier, higher the quality.) A good quality stainless sink and a can of Bar Keeper’s Friend have kept me happy with my choice not to start over.

Whatever you do, I wish you well. And thanks for the thread with a little, light discussion and conversation.

Boomer



pssst in a whisper to retiredguy123 — I did not exactly call you a countertop snob, and remember? I did give you dispensation in my follow-up post…..

I know from your posts throughout our years on here that you are not a snob of any kind. Just hafta yank your chain a little, from time to time. :)

Sincerely,
Boomer

I got integrated Corian sink tops for my master bath from Solid Image and was very happy with them. I will say that the Corian does tend to scratch a bit, but it can be buffed out. I had another brand of solid surface called Transolid in my prior house and that did not scratch at all. Seems strange to me as Corian is the original name brand solid surface. You may want to check with Jetta Stone in Summerfield as they make their own solid surface. Good luck!

Corian
 

If you do use Solid Stone, will be very interested to hear your opinion. Our list of projects after purchase is being slowly whittled down, and kitchen countertop replacement is rising toward the next position. Had Corian (kitchen & bath) in previous house up north for 20+ yrs w/no problems so very interested. You might check if they would make you matching cutting boards from the sink excision. My contractor did as a free bonus, and I kept them by the stove to put hot pots on and never had an issue with damage from the pot bottom. Don't know if today's Corian is made by the same process as in 1998, but that stuff was tough, beautiful, and hard to mar. - and if you managed it, buffing out worked.

It is Solid Image in Leesburg. We had them do all our countertops in Corian and couldn't be happier for all the reasons we have posted in the past.
And we did get one cutting board which we use all the time for hot pots.

So, you would tell me I should have a counter to impress my friends (who might or might not come into the house) or one for selling (when I am not planning to) as compared to a counter top I actually like to work on daily? If you are looking for a house, look for location, counter tops are easy to change, location is not.

We had Solid Stone and they did several custom projects for us like the window sill and the little cutout nook in our CYV. They are wonderful to work with and their work is perfect. We put in quartz in the kitchen and solid surface with the integrated sinks in the bathroom.

If you haven't decided upon countertops yet, please send me a private message. We recently gutted and remodeled our entire kitchen. Home Depot's quote was 25% OVER our agreeded upon budget, whereas the contractor we used in nearby Orlando was 15% UNDER our budget for a fully custom kitchen! Using nearby Orlando contractors may reduce your overall cost and wait time becuase they have quartz & granite supply on-hand.

Must be just me, I don’t replace something unless it’s broken/worn out? It just counter. About every resale I’ve notice no matter how much money was spent for upgrading for sale the new owners tore it up and put in what they like.

IMO most upgrading waste of money on resale cause the new owners may not have same taste. I watched my neighbor spent 40K plus upgrading, painting closing in Lani. Guess what the new owners tore all the upgraded out, repainted and spent another 40K plus.

If your neighbor got back what he spent on upgrading for resale and, maybe, even some on top of that in the sale price, then it was probably money well-spent. To the seller, it's irrelevant what the buyer does with the property.

This I can tell you as someone avidly watching TV real estate -- for the people who are moving from out-of-state, and all that that entails, combined with not knowing reputable contractors / handymen in the area -- the idea of buying a home that needs a lot of updating is not appealing. I'm seeing updated listings that are priced correctly go under contract more quickly than much lesser-priced homes that still have blue countertops and plenty of carpeting, etc., for example. Imo, sellers are well-advised to get sharp colors off of walls, pull-out old carpet and replace with something else plus a few other things. It WILL help them sell their home faster.

But, this is besides the point of the OP anyway. She is updating her kitchen for herself and her use while she owns the property.

Better go direct to a good contractor. All Home Depot will do is sub it out to a contractor and mostly wash their hands on the job while collecting 25% or more.