Hi,

I'm remodeling a kitchen after tenants moved out. This time I'm using the built to order good quality cabinets instead of cheapo from Home Depot. I would like to get a countertop that's more durable than Formica. Granite or marble is too expensive and might not be suitable for the rental market that I'm at. Menards has "CustomCraft Countertops® Solid Surface 30" x 144" Sheet" that is 100% acrylic for about $450 to $900 depending on the color. Acrylic is way more durable than Formica and a lot cheaper than granite/marble. I'm considering working with my handyman (who only installs Formica his whole life) to install this Acrylic countertop ourselves. My plan to convert all Formica to Acrylic whenever tenants move out. So, it would save a lot of money for my handyman to learn to do it.

What do you guys think? Is it too difficult to DIY by the handyman? Is it a good countertop to use for rentals if my priority is durability? Any advice/opinions are welcome. Thank you.

I had to look that product up. Had never heard of it.

It's only 1/2" thick, and the photos look like it is installed directly on the cabinets - no plywood support w/ trimmed edges under it. Is it really that strong?

I did do a 3/4" top once, for a "modern, European look", with plywood & laminate.

It looks nice. I wonder how durable it is. ALL countertops say scratch-resistant, but I wonder how it really holds up. I've never seen it.

The price isn't so bad, especially considering the labor involved to build countertops with formica sheets ( I build my own, for custom lengths & shapes).

I wonder if the acrylic is the same all the way through so it can be cut - like to round off a corner, or make it shorter - and still look the same.

When I ran a cabinet shop we dabbled in solid surfacing. Here is my take on it. Be forewarned that I messed with these close to 30 years ago, so things have most likely changed.

Seams need their own compound, color matched.

The stuff will crack and chip so handle it accordingly.

Heat was not a good thing. Small amounts were fine, but a boiling pot placed on the surface was a problem.

The color is throughout, thus the term solid surface. Scratched can be sanded out with the right care. Routers can be used for edges and cutting out for sinks.

We always glued an edge on the front to make it look more like a countertop. This also helped a little maybe with stability.

I believe we glued them down in high traffic areas. Caulked the perimeter as well.

You do not have to season them like granite.

We might have put these in two or three residences. The rest we did was for commercial settings. Higher end offices and fast food joints at a college. Last one I assisted with was for a convenience store. Someone else bought all the materials. I just assisted with the install.

I've found that it definitely shows marks whenever a tenant puts a hot pan on it or decides to use it as a cutting board. Once this happens you basically have three choices; live with it, route out the damaged area & insert a tile or something similar or replace the whole section of countertop.

So in my Koreatown and Boyle Heights low end units, I experimented from 1980 thru 2000 with different counter tops. I tried:

Pre made Formica count tops with rolled edges. You buy them by the foot. They I purchased Formica sheets and used contact cement over the rough top. Even less money. They I tired using cement board, over a vapor a barrier-then installed ceramic tile with either a 1/8" grout line or a 1/4" grout line with sanded grout.

Then I purchased sheet of man made materials 1' x 1'. Using a very thing grout line.

Finally I bit the bullet and purchased all of the smooth finishing tools to police and form stone type counter tops myself.

I found a supplier who sole man made granite by the foot. Two feet wide and it came by 5' to 15' in length.

For $100 I could by a 5' x 2 foot piece with 1 damaged edge for $100. a 8' long piece came in at $180.

So I had a challenge. My partner would redo a unit's kitchen using a big box store and I would by cabinets from Builder Surplus and buy sheet or man made granite.

My partner's kitchen with real granite top and back splash came in at $32,000 from Lowe's.

We had bright white Corian acrylic countertop in our own home. I absolutely loved it. Stains wiped up with a bit of bleach yes even red Koolaid and orange curry sauce - no other care was required. It was awesome. I forget how it happened but we once managed to break a chunk out of it somehow. A Certified Installer came out (this was years later) honored the lifetime warranty (so shocking to have a company stand by their product - that never happens) fixed the chunk - perfect.

I will disagree with you on durability. Formica is much more bullet proof than acrylic. Acrylic is a form of plastic. As a result it does not do well in the kitchen environment with sharp knives and hot pans. It scratches fairly easily and shows scorch marks and discolor from heat.

A full disclosure though, not all formica is the same. There are different grades and the big box stores sell the cheapest grade which is thinner thus easier to cut and chip than the higher grade formica, not to mention those glue on ends fall off. Go to a commercial countertop manufacturer (almost every mid-major city has at least one) and you will find the good stuff. I use one that has a travertine look with a rough surface just like travertine. They build them to my dimensions and pressure seal the ends on so they don't fall off. I've got ones that were put in over 25 years ago that still look great.

Thank you everyone for your reply

Richard[MI], good idea. Menards sells it. I would have to find a contractor to install it and observe like you said.

DJ[VA], yep that's the one. How scratch resistant it is? I guess we could ask for a sample piece and try to scratch it :-) I'm pretty sure it can be cut. It's a one giant plastic panel.

plenty[MO], what an excellent idea! Yep, I'll get a few small pieces and so "stress test".

zero[IN], ah... if it cannot handle a boiling hot pot, it's no good. I gotta do the stress test to see how it holds up.

Robert Ontario[ON], what an interesting idea. Will do more research about concrete countertop. Thanks.

Steve[MA], so it's not heat/scratch resistant. That wouldn't work.

Jason[VA], if the damage is only at one spot and you sand it, wouldn't it create a shallow dent on the surface?

Robert J[CA], man made granite? Interesting. I've never heard of it but will do further digging.

wmh[NC], Corian acrylic. That's the well known brand. I wonder if the brand that Menards well (CustomCraft) would be as good.

Oregon Woodsmoke [ID], granite tile countertop? What an interesting idea! I just did some googling and love what I saw! I'll dig further :-)

Thank you everyone for your reply

Richard[MI], good idea. Menards sells it. I would have to find a contractor to install it and observe like you said.

DJ[VA], yep that's the one. How scratch resistant it is? I guess we could ask for a sample piece and try to scratch it :-) I'm pretty sure it can be cut. It's a one giant plastic panel.

plenty[MO], what an excellent idea! Yep, I'll get a few small pieces and so "stress test".

zero[IN], ah... if it cannot handle a boiling hot pot, it's no good. I gotta do the stress test to see how it holds up.

Robert Ontario[ON], what an interesting idea. Will do more research about concrete countertop. Thanks.

Steve[MA], so it's not heat/scratch resistant. That wouldn't work.

Jason[VA], if the damage is only at one spot and you sand it, wouldn't it create a shallow dent on the surface?

Robert J[CA], man made granite? Interesting. I've never heard of it but will do further digging.

wmh[NC], Corian acrylic. That's the well known brand. I wonder if the brand that Menards well (CustomCraft) would be as good.

Oregon Woodsmoke [ID], granite tile countertop? What an interesting idea! I just did some googling and love what I saw! I'll dig further :-)

One thing to keep in mind about durability in a rental: tastes and styles change even if the products don't fail. We have swapped out the Formica tops in our studios not because they were damaged but because they were very out of date and brought down the appeal of the whole unit.

I think Brad has mentioned Golden Oak cabinets and emerald green countertops, once a designer's dream, now dating the kitchen to the 1980's without even trying.

Realize that Formica is a name brand that gets used all the time like Kleenex and Q-Tip.

There are other brands out there. Some just as good, some maybe a little better than the regular stuff. When I was in it they used post form grade for the rounded edge tops. It was thinner but easier to bend. We didn't have a post form machine, but I did see one of the first home made versions. Interesting that it used fire hoses to get the curves just right.

Anyhow I know that they have made great advancements in laminate over the years. We always tried to avoid single colors as it showed flaws in the laminate a lot easier. The 3d textured stuff is thicker so might hold up better. My opinion is that all the high spots will wear differently because they get rubbed the most.

Thanks everyone for your reply

WMH[NC], funny you mentioned golden oak and emerald green countertops. That's exactly what I have in this unit :-) Yep, I'm going neutral now.

zero[IN], yep Menards have good prices and selections but the quality of their products are questionable.

I would tell you to do granite. I have many and they are the only countertops that look like they will last as long as good cabinets. I only don't use them if I am replacing a countertop on older cabinets. All new cabinets get granite. The only difference being higher end places get nicer varieties.

There are many grades of granite and there are places that sell them ready to install depending on your configuration. Many are really inexpensive and easy to install outside of being heavy.

JS [CA]

I am renovating a rental with nice new white cabinets. thinking about putting in granite countertops. I have never thought about prefab granite tops, that price is reasonable. Do you just pay the installer to cut the sink and customize the prefab counter tops if not exactly fitting?

How do you maintain the granite afterwards. what color do you typically get that is lest wear and tear for a rental?

I am also thinking about over mount sink, so the granite edges won't chip.