After getting what I thought was going to be the hard part out of the way in pretty much no time at all, we were ready to move on to the next step: countertops.

We were pretty open minded going into the whole picking and choosing process and didn’t have our hearts set on anything. So we ended up looking at everything from laminate (yes laminate) to Ikea butcher block to granite to Solid Surface. Pretty much anything was better than these.

Or even these

They all had their pros and cons. Even the granite. And we actually loved some of the laminate options we looked at but we figured since we were doing a complete overhaul of the kitchen and saving so much money by going with the Ikea cabinets we could/should do things right on the surface that will see the most use.

So… drum roll please …. we fell for LG Hi Macs – Solid Surface countertops with an integrated white single basin sink. Great! but what is solid surface? Well –

The solid surface material is like a man made granite that is actually just as durable with very little maintenance. It is also pretty easily repairable and scratches and dings can be sanded out.

Here’s a great little chart from slapecustomcountertops.com that should give you an idea of how it stacks up against the competition.

And according to Home Depot it:

• Resists stains, moisture, sunlight and heat.
• Offers a wide assortment of colors, patterns and finishes.
• Repairs easily with light buffing.
• Molds to any shape and is the only material that can include an integrated sink with seamless installation.
• Repels moisture and inhibits growth of mold and bacteria.
• Meets industry standards for fire resistance and GreenGuard® Indoor Air Quality certification.

In addition to that, it is completely seamless. Including the sink.  And we love that. From order to install it took a little over 3 weeks so needless to say we were pretty pumped when the truck showed up yesterday!

The counters shipped in 4 pieces. 2 of those were stand alone pieces (the half bar and to the left of the stove) but 2 of them were going to need to be turned into 1 (the sink counter to the peninsula). The process was actually surprisingly quick. The guys had the majority of the install completed within 45 minutes and then got down to business on blending the seam.

They had this awesome AED looking device that stuck down to either side of the seam. They then added in glue and flipped the switch. Approx 30 minutes later the glue was dry and they got down to sanding which I unfortunately didn’t get any good pictures of. But enjoy these:

And now try to find the seam… Crazy!

They also gave us 2 cutting boards that were re-purposed scrap from the hole cut for the sink. From what we hear, that is pretty standard but what we didn’t know is that if the counter is ever damaged they can use pieces of the cutting board to make a seamless repair. And this is where we are today!

And here’s a new angle for you guys

Chestnut is already getting into trouble with them. Loves himself some ripe cotton I guess.

FYI – that bottle in the left side of the frame is our spray bottle of wrath. Loaded with room temperature water and extremely threatening. You can see the fear his eyes:

Anyway, needless to say, we are happy with our decision. We are making more and more progress every day(ish) and finally can hook up the sink and the dishwasher and begin normal(ish) life again… We’re getting there!

Whatta ya think?

Feel free to catch up if you’ve missed anything at the links below!

The First Plan, The Revised Plan, The Delivery, And So It Begins, Upper Cabinets, Counters, lower cabinets, oven, half wall, the list, drywall, last second changes, drop the base, high and mighty, hidden soffit.