A Southern Belle with Northern Roots/Junkflirt

 Update on Bottom


 We have just finished painting our countertops with Rust-oleum countertop paint. I have mixed reviews of this product and will try to be as honest as possible. The cost of the paint is $20.00 for the 29 oz can. We used two, the instructions say one can will cover 25 linear feet.


 We had laminate counter about 11 or 12 years old, with a few nicks and chips but over all good condition, I had just grown tired of the hunter green.

Before

before

 We have  a long counter with a flat top stove and then a large breakfast bar that wraps around, two cans did cover this amount, exactly.

 The product says no primer is needed and you only need to sand if you have a glossy finish. We washed well and wiped down with alcohol, let dry completely and taped off edges and sink etc.




 This product goes on very thin so you will need a minimum 3 coats.
 Some photos are a little dark but I left them unedited so you could see exactly what I see. Please click directly on photos to enlarge if you need to.

 This is the look of the finished surface....when all goes well.



 That being said...when all does not go well you may and or will encounter these problems.
 
 Negative Side
This paint stinks! I don't mean a little it smells absolutely toxic. We unfortunately did not know this and it is January in North Dakota which meant we could not ventilate well enough. Do this in the Spring or Summer if your anywhere North of the Mason Dixon line!! We did run the vent fan, a regular fan and burn candles.....no kidding the candle flames burned 3 inches high...which meant we were probably high too. It STINKS! I highly recommend you do not use this product if you have small children in the house.

 Next problem....if you mess up this paint is absolutely unforgivable. You can not touch up without it being noticeable. Normally when you go back to touch up paint it will blend with the surrounding area, not so with this paint, it doesn't like you to mess with it when it is wet and if it is dry you will see the touch up area. Now...we had a major problem, the first roller we tried was a smaller, fine foam roller recommended for use, we even asked the paint desk for help picking it out. It did work but dragged leaving a "drag" look, which after the layers went away and was fine...but HUMAN error enter...we switched to a larger foam roller. My husband was quite fed up with the smell the dry time and the drag so this roller did not function as well and in fact for some unknown reason did not like one area of the counter and began to bubble the paint. Small air bubbles formed and we couldn't roll them out because the paint is thin in appearance but thick and sticky, just plain difficult to work with. It would not fix. We left it and continued the process hoping it would "pop" on its own or cover somehow.





 No! after 12 hours of dry time we tried to blend in some with a brush, which only left more marks. This is what the area looks like and in the right light is shows up like a blinking banner saying "look at this crappy paint job!"


 ugh!!!!! need I tell you how irritating this is?




 When the light changes the visibility of the spot goes away but the different texture does not.




 When all goes well it is an acceptable product. It has a 3 day dry time till it cures and I recommend more because when I placed something on it 4 hours short of that dry time...I got a couple divots. yep!

 Now I love the color, this is Canvas . The product comes in two options and one is for light tints and one is for dark, there is a large variety of color to choose from.
I cannot recommend nor not recommend this product. I can only give you a summary of what Not to do and what I would recommend you should do.
1. It smells so bad and I believe should have a much heftier warning on the label. Leave the house for a while if you can and only do when you can ventilate well!
2. Use a small find foam roller and be patient, I recommend 4 thin coats which means this will take longer but do NOT rush it and do NOT go too thick!
3. Go ahead and give your surface a light sanding and clean it well, even though not recommended I think it would improve your results.
4. Resist the urge to touch up,work in large areas and keep any needed touch ups very discreet.
5.Increase your dry time to 4 days.
6. When removing tape, run a razor along edge and remove slowly, only use tape made for painting.
7.If you are a perfectionist....stay away from this product.






 So what are we going to do about this bad spot....We have decided when we are up for another intoxicating day we will sand it minimally, and place anther thin coat over the top of the entire bottom section. Not excited about that but what else can we do. Until that time, I will look at it only in good lighting and I will drown my frustrations in chocolate cake!


Update!
After a couple weeks small nicks and chips began to show all over the counter. I contacted the company and they told me this does not usually happen. I sent them this blog post, they offered to reimburse me for any touch up or redo paint I would buy.
If the only problem area was this trouble spot we had I would maybe  be more forgiving but this is chipping everywhere, I use cutting boards and have been very cautious. I even got a 3D ring from a cup of coffee, it was evidently too hot ....a cup of coffee, are you serious!
I now can in NO WAY recommend this product. There are other products available that people seem to be using that are working so do more research. I recommend something in a multi step kit with some prep work.




The Final Solution-
Here is what we ended up doing for now See HERE





blessings and thanks for visiting