Laminate counters pros and cons
 

Am considering replacing kitchen and bathroom counters with laminate or high definition laminate - beveled edges or regular

Stainless steel sink in kitchen vs porcelain

We have dark laminate with a pattern with the beveled edges and although we really like it, it has started to fade. Our home is 8 years old. This particular home came with the laminate. If I had my choice and money wasn't a factor I would go with the granite or quartz. I am a fan of the porcelain sinks in the bathroom. Our bathrooms have the cultured marble and show every drop of water so we have to keep wiping them. My friend has the porcelain in her bathrooms and it always looks good. I have a porcelain sink in my kitchen and my last home had stainless. With porcelain you are always scrubbing with soft scrub because pots scrape it and leave marks. With stainless we were always wiping down the sink.

I had HD laminate, installed two years ago with a SS sink.

I had my two bathrooms done as well. with porcelain sinks.

I have a Italian marble type design and it looks fantastic!

One con is that laminates with decorative edges can eventually delaminate at the edge seams if water is allowed to sit on the counter. We encountered that in our last kitchen. It's the cost to pay when the husband does dishes. The only edges that aren't vulnerable are the straight edge and post-form edge. The straight edge isn't as pretty and the post-form laminates are the thinest and cheapest. They're the kind that HD & Lowe's carry with their prebuilt counters.

I would not recommend black granite. I used to volunteer for an organization that had black granite on the reception counter. I can not tell you how many times a day we had to clean fingerprints and smudges off the counter! Drove us crazy!

We had Wilsonart HD laminate installed in our kitchen with beveled edges. Easy to keep clean and have received many compliments on the pattern.

when I priced new countertops recently, I was amazed at the quotes I got for laminate. It was not that much more for the granite I decided on.