Almost 6 years ago we applied a faux concrete finish to our existing laminate counters. We intended on it being a pretty short term (think 1-2 years) solution, but here we are 6 years later and we still have them! See my original post for how we achieved the concrete look over our laminate counters.
How have they held up?
Considering we never intended to have them this long, I would say they’ve held up relatively well.
They held up great to the first 3ish years and the last few years they have started showing their age. We have done zero upkeep on them. We should have sealed them again, probably a few times over the years, but we kept thinking we’d be getting new counters sooner so we never did.
The areas that get the most traffic and see the most food prep (we always use a cutting board) are showing the most wear, which makes sense. In addition to the area behind the sink that clearly has some water damage from water spray while doing dishes.
The peninsula is now Leo’s favorite hang out spot and since he’s been a mobile toddler this area of the counter has had a lot of use and it shows.
Would we do it again?
Absolutely. We love the way the counters look. The process is messy and dusty, but the overall effort and cost was well worth it to us. In fact, we are considering redoing our faux concrete counters!
Our full gut kitchen renovation, or kitchen phase 2.0 as we like to call it, has taken the back burner over other projects. We have a nice, functional kitchen and there have been other areas of the house that needed attention. We may do a kitchen renovation 1.5 to spruce up a few areas (the counters, the floors, and a slight tweak to the layout) to buy us a few more years until we can really dive in and devote the time and money to fully renovating the kitchen. We are considering a few different temporary counter top options before we fully replace them and redoing the concrete is among the top of the list.
The main reason we need to reseal the counters is food safety, not necessarily because they are stained and scratched. The sealer we used is considered food grade safe and since it has eroded away some we feel best resealing them completely. BUT if we are going to reseal them at this point, we want to sand them down a bit and apply a new layer of the concrete to hide some of the scratches and stains.
Had we kept them up and re-sealed them over the years this wouldn’t be an issue, so learn from our mistake!
AJ
April 23, 2024Perhaps a counterintuitive question, but how did you achieve the non-uniform look, which resembles real concrete? (uneven tints of gray, spots, etc.) Most photos of Ardex products tend to show very bland solid color applications.)
Was it the sanding and/or concentrations of use over time?
Thank you!
Allie
April 24, 2024That’s a great question! I think it’s mostly how it has worn over time. The spots that have darkened are the areas that have used the most and where things bled through the sealer/where the sealer wore off.
Although from the beginning I do think ours looked pretty similar to concrete, which may have had to do with how we applied and sanded it, but I’m not completely sure.