Epoxy Countertops! One of my Covid projects was updating my existing 1970’s bathroom countertops to a more modern glam countertop. Many hours were spent scouring the internet for the perfect solution. I went back and forth on so many option, but in the end I chose to try epoxy and here is why: I could use my existing countertops which meant less of a tear up to the bathroom. Easily 100 videos were watched on how to do these counters. I did it and I LOVE LOVE the results! My epoxy counters make me proud. I will give you the step by step instructions that I used and I will give you the pros and cons.

I used Stone Coat Countertop products Click here to buy yours. Click here to buy the Art Resin that I wish I would have purchased! They offer great epoxy countertops kit.

1- Clear out the room. This means take everything that you can out of the room. Epoxy Countertops are messy to create. This project is messy!

2- Option: Remove your sinks. I did this, but others didn’t. I think for the best result you should remove the sinks.

3- Remove the backsplash IF you want the backsplash to match the counters,

4- Sand the existing counters with 80 grid paper. The prep work is the MOST important step! Sand every inch and especially sand the sides and edges. I would wear a mask if you have older counters. Asbestos is no joke

5- Clean the dust.

6- Paint with an adhesive primer. I used BIN Shellac primer. BIN creates a chemical and physical bond.

7- Wait 24 hours for primer to cure, sand and paint with a topcoat. I used the white undercoat from Stonecat

8- Wait 24 hours for the paint to cure and sand with 120 grit paper

9- Clean up the paint dust

10- Prep the area. Use plastic sheeting and tape it to cover your cabinets. Place plastic on the floor. Use masking tape and tape everything you don’t want to get epoxy on. Also use masking tape around the edges on the sink holes and the counter edges.

TIME TO EPOXY YOUR COUNTERTOP

11- Warm up the epoxy by setting near your heater for 15 minutes or so

12- Measure how much epoxy you will need for the first coat.

13- Pour the hardener and the resin. equal parts.

14- Blend with a paint paddle for 2 minutes

15- To get my look I added diamond dust and white metallic mica powder into the mix. Split the mix in half into another container, That 2nd container I added Pearl mica powder. I poured the first container in stripes and then i poured the space between the stripes with the pearl mix. I dabbed the hole area so it was blended. It looked like a shimmer, pearl top. Poured the mix into cups. Added white spray paint and gray spray paint to one cup and I created veins with that. I then dripped gold spray paint in the veins. Sprayed some areas with alcohol to create more dimension. I chose to go with this color since I ready that Epoxy will yellow over time. Having the gold and cream tones in the counter “should” help camouflage any yellowing.

16- When you are happy with the top go over the top with a heat gun to pop the air bubbles.

17- Remove the masking tape around the counter and run your brush along the edges.

18- About 30 minutes go back in and remove drips on the edges.

19- Wait 24 hours for it to dry. Sand top with 120 grit and wipe down

20- Mix the clear top coat 50 Resin/50 Hardener and mix for 2 minutes.

21- Apply the top coat and dab to blend

22- Watch the counter edges to prevent drips.

23- That’s it! You made your epoxy countertops! If you mess up at all you can just sand again and apply another topcoat or completely start again.

I hope you find this helpful! Regretting not taking video of the process. Make sure to watch some YouTube videos and practicing different techniques on practice boards to get the look you like. I did watch videos, but I didn’t practice. I do have dogs so I had to do a 3rd coat since dog hair got in the epoxy and i had to sand it out and reapply a coat. Click here to check out how I organized under theses cabinets!