good prices on countertops

Anyone know of a cheap source for quartz countertops in Pittsburgh PA?

Quartz? How about Copper? (actually... mostly zinc):

http://makeprojects.com/Project/Install-a-Penny-Countertop/85/1

HD usually has decent prices on Quartz.

fastEddie wrote: http://makeprojects.com/Project/Install-a-Penny-Countertop/85/1

That's almost dizzying...

fastEddie wrote: http://makeprojects.com/Project/Install-a-Penny-Countertop/85/1

LOVE IT.

More ideas like this! More ideas like this!!!!

holy crap i want to do that. that is so cool.

That's happening when I have a house.

I just figured it out to be about 274 pennies per square foot.

curtis73 wrote: I just figured it out to be about 274 pennies per square foot.

far cheaper than granite or tile!

of course, how much for the sealant?

$50-60 a gallon.

I love that penny countertop idea! I think I'd mix it up a bit, maybe bottle caps, random change, other small and interesting objects.

Well, to be honest that's not a penny countertop. It's an acrylic countertop that just happens to have a bunch of pennies under it. It could just as well have bottlecaps or old playboys under there. It looks neat, but it's not necessarily heat/scratch resistant enough to be appropriate for a kitchen.

If you have a small area to cover or can live with a non-matching kitchen surface you can't beat remnants for pricing. I'm getting solid surface or stone (haven't picked a slab yet) for $40 a square foot fabricated. Another good tactic is strategic application of IKEA butcher block. It's really cheap (like cheaper than laminate per foot), easy to self-fabricate, looks good, and can be integrated with smaller pieces of remnant solid surface in ways that might even appear to be intentional :).

Josh wrote: Well, to be honest that's not a penny countertop. It's an acrylic countertop that just happens to have a bunch of pennies under it. It could just as well have bottlecaps or old playboys under there. It looks neat, but it's not necessarily heat/scratch resistant enough to be appropriate for a kitchen. If you have a small area to cover or can live with a non-matching kitchen surface you can't beat remnants for pricing. I'm getting solid surface or stone (haven't picked a slab yet) for $40 a square foot fabricated. Another good tactic is strategic application of IKEA butcher block. It's really cheap (like cheaper than laminate per foot), easy to self-fabricate, looks good, and can be integrated with smaller pieces of remnant solid surface in ways that might even appear to be intentional :).

Thought about the ikea route and I do LOVE to scour the As-Is section. I was also kinda hoping to find some cheap tile to do a poor-man's granite. I keep my hopes up but pickins is slim on CL.

It's hit or miss at times, but this place is fantastic to waste some time finding all sorts of things that you didn't know you need.

http://www.constructionjunction.org/

I've seen tile there from time to time and might be some other interesting things that could be used.

I considered using tile over a schluter kerdi-board using the schluter metal profiles to finish the edge. An unglazed through-body porcelain would make a nice wearable surface. 24x24 or 12x24 tiles would minimize seams and simplify the setting of the tiles. I'd want to use a rectified edge tile so you can butt the tiles together without or with very minimal grout joints. The finished product can look very nice with the schluter profiles, total cost somewhere in the range of 15-25 a foot depending on size. IOW, about the cost of stock laminate for a much better result.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNcyEfdztJk&feature=relmfu

I like this tile, it's got kind of a concrete look and is available in 12x24 and 24x24 for a decent price: http://www.ecomoso.com/interceramic-barcelona-ii-porcelain/

You could try Marmoleum over sheet plywood also. I like marmoleum as a work surface (not very heat or cut resistant, but I'd take it over laminate, and it looks and feels so much better. You're pretty much stuck with applying some sort of wood edge though, and I'm not a huge fan of that look. You can make it work in the right setting though. You may have seen this if you ever go to whole foods, often their checkout stations are done with marmoleum tops.

Josh wrote: I considered using tile over a schluter kerdi-board using the schluter metal profiles to finish the edge. An unglazed through-body porcelain would make a nice wearable surface. 24x24 or 12x24 tiles would minimize seams and simplify the setting of the tiles. I'd want to use a rectified edge tile so you can butt the tiles together without or with very minimal grout joints. The finished product can look very nice with the schluter profiles, total cost somewhere in the range of 15-25 a foot depending on size. IOW, about the cost of stock laminate for a much better result.

I really like that system, especially the metal bullnose setup. But 15-25/ft isn't a bargain. $15/ft is not even in my ballpark for tile... more like $8/ft and I can do tile myself. Laminate (which I can also do myself) I can do for about $4-5/ft

You could try Marmoleum over sheet plywood also. I like marmoleum as a work surface (not very heat or cut resistant, but I'd take it over laminate, and it looks and feels so much better. You're pretty much stuck with applying some sort of wood edge though, and I'm not a huge fan of that look. You can make it work in the right setting though. You may have seen this if you ever go to whole foods, often their checkout stations are done with marmoleum tops.

I put Marmoleum on my floor at about $5/ft. Nice stuff, but the two-step ladder I was using to finish the wall cabinets lost a rubber foot... now I've ruined several places in the marmoleum. I can't even begin to imagine what a Marmoleum countertop will look like after a year in our house.

I argued for years about softer surfaces in my kitchen. I used to think, "if you drop a piece of our china on tile floors, its busted." Now I'm thinking, "if you drop a piece of our china on marmoleum floors, its dented."

Cheaper to replace a plate than a floor IMO.

HeavyDuty wrote: It's hit or miss at times, but this place is fantastic to waste some time finding all sorts of things that you didn't know you need. http://www.constructionjunction.org/ I've seen tile there from time to time and might be some other interesting things that could be used.

That is like contractor crack. I'm going to be up all night now

curtis73 wrote: I really like that system, especially the metal bullnose setup. But 15-25/ft isn't a bargain. $15/ft is not even in my ballpark for tile... more like $8/ft and I can do tile myself. Laminate (which I can also do myself) I can do for about $4-5/ft

You started out asking about quartz, which is typically around 70-110 a foot, remnants might get you down to $40 fabricated and you can't fabricate it yourself. Forgive me for assuming that half of that might be in your budget range.

If you can successfully fight the urge to stand on broken ladders on your countertops, I'm sure marmoleum would hold up fine. The abuse you mentioned would have destroyed nearly any surface. Marmoleum on a counter would not stay looking new forever, but it would wear longer than laminate and look and feel better for barely more cost. You might also find cheap sheet remnants that would be useless as flooring but large enough to make countertops.

Habitat for Humanity Re-Store?

Clearance tile section at HD? Mine had 12x12 granite tile there not too long ago for $2.29/sqft

I still want to replace my countertops with concrete:

I personally like the idea of concrete plus glass, where you polish the end, so the scraps of glass in the counter are all nice and smooth.

There are some very colorful commercial glass things out there- green, blue, brown, etc. Mix that all together and you have a pretty neat product.

In reply to curtis73:

CJ sends an email blast every week with pics of some of their new items. Awhile ago I saw and picked up a really nice 2 basin stainless commercial sink with faucet and sprayer to replace my basement utility sink - a perfect place to wash a muddy dog (rather than carrying her up to the bathtub).

If you like beer, East End Brewing is also close to CJ - there's no pub, but you can taste and buy growlers there (or at their Strip District location).

I've been meaning to send you a note to welcome you to the Burgh.

Josh wrote: Well, to be honest that's not a penny countertop. It's an acrylic countertop that just happens to have a bunch of pennies under it. It could just as well have bottlecaps or old playboys under there. It looks neat, but it's not necessarily heat/scratch resistant enough to be appropriate for a kitchen.

Is there anything you can do to make it more durable is there?

I showed the wife that last night and explained she put just about anything underneath she wanted and her mind started racing.

klb67 wrote: In reply to curtis73: CJ sends an email blast every week with pics of some of their new items. Awhile ago I saw and picked up a really nice 2 basin stainless commercial sink with faucet and sprayer to replace my basement utility sink - a perfect place to wash a muddy dog (rather than carrying her up to the bathtub). If you like beer, East End Brewing is also close to CJ - there's no pub, but you can taste and buy growlers there (or at their Strip District location). I've been meaning to send you a note to welcome you to the Burgh.

Thanks