The Easiest Way To Repair Laminate Countertop Chips

February 16, 2021

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I love the look of my laminate countertops and they've held up well over the last 20 years.

However, when I noticed a few chips, I wanted a quick and easy way to fix the damage, fill those spots without resin or epoxy and make it look brand new again.

Here's the full tutorial for a realistic DIY fix.

Way back in 2002, my husband and I found the home of our dreams hiding right across the street.

We'd been looking for something larger in our tiny beach community for over a year.

However, we lived in a generational kind of neighborhood and inventory was always tight.

Houses were often passed down to family members and when they did go up for sale, it was usually a word of mouth transaction.

It's actually how we ended up here.

A New Kitchen Addition

We'd always admired the house from the outside. But we had no idea what lurked behind the front door.

It was the fireplace that drew us in first. That grand feature took our breath away.

There was an arched doorway, a master bathroom, finished basement and a charming covered porch.

It literally had everything on the list. Including a completely inadequate and outdated kitchen.

And no. I'm not being sarcastic.

You see my husband was well acquainted with my love of decor. He was also well aware of my desire to have a light, bright and {almost} white kitchen.

But being the money guy, he was always silently calculating the cost of things in his head. A move was not going to be cheap. New furniture, a larger yard, the inevitable updating. So he warned me.

"Do not find a house with a brand new kitchen...even if those cabinets are dark cherry or oak...and tell me that you want to renovate it."

And I understood. It was a logical request.

So, when we walked into the closet of a kitchen in this home and it clearly needed to be gutted, I think I actually cheered a bit.

I got to put in a new one, from scratch.

Everything in the room, including the laminate countertops, was designed by this girl. A dream come true.

And almost two decades later, my "new" kitchen looks basically the same.

Oh, we've fixed a few chipped cabinets and changed out the faucet.

And yes, we've had to replace some of the bisque appliances. Not an easy task, but that's another story.

Do some routine maintenance, like swapping out a broken soap dispenser or repairing damaged spots on the wood floor.

But overall the kitchen itself, has held up pretty well.

The Chipped Laminate

Until recently. Recently, when I noticed several chips in the laminate countertop right near the sink.

Yikes. We'd had stains on the laminate that I was able to remove them...but never this kind of damage.

I tried not to fixate on them. I really did.

I tried to look away or cover them with a dish towel. But they were there, always there, looking at me.

And they had to go.

When I brought it up to Mr. Fix It, he said, It's fine. I barely notice it.

Well that was great, but I noticed it.

I could see it from across the room. And it bothered me. A lot.

It looked terrible, dirty, worn and old.

Plus, I was afraid that water was going to make its way into the chipped areas and cause more damage. More dirty looking worn spots.

And that would simply not do.

I think it took me about three tries to get my husband's attention and he finally started brainstorming.

How To Repair Laminate Countertop Chips Without Resin or Epoxy

Now, full disclosure, this is a real DIY we tackled about 4 years ago in my kitchen. It has worked out extremely well for us.

We're not pros and yes, we tried a fix that was outside the box after a lot of thought and research. I share to inspire others who may be interested in a similar, alternative fix.

Here's Why We Skipped The Laminate Repair Kit

At first, we considered one of those epoxy/ paint laminate repair kits, but the reviews were terrible.

The kits were dried up with they bought them.
The materials smelled terrible
They didn't always match the countertop well enough
They resin popped out after a bit
They say DIY but they're really not that easy to use

So that was out.

Then we started thinking about paint. If we used the right one, it would cover the mess and seal the water out.

But what was the right paint?

How we used paint to repair our laminate counter chips:

Testors Enamel Paint
Small Paint Brushes
Q-tips
Toothpick
Razor Blade
Alcohol

My husband said it needed to be an enamel paint to work and so we researched online and found a brand used for model painting. Testors Hobby and Enamel Model Paint.

The reviews were outstanding. People said it covered plastic and metal, sealed out water and lasted for years.

Even better, it was cheap and came in an endless variety of colors.

Definitely worth a shot.

So we bought several shades and waited for it to arrive.

When it finally showed up, I grabbed a two very thin tipped paint brushes -tiny ones designed for precision in tight spots - and got to work.

1. First, we cleaned the area well with alcohol to make sure there wasn't any debris or sticky mess on the countertop that would prevent the paint from adhering well.

2. Next, we held the paint jars up to the counter to see what matched.

One of the colors was super close, but needed just a tad of white added to lighten it up.

We made sure to mix it very well, since it did settle in the bottle a bit.

3. Then we carefully applied the paint to the chipped spots.

We went slow, building up the coats one at a time to fill in the areas where the laminate was missing.

To do that, we let each coat dry thoroughly before adding more paint.

I think it took about 4 coats to fill the spaces well.

We also had q-tips and a toothpick nearby to wipe away any of the excess paint that might've ended up outside of the chipped spots.

4. When the paint was dry, I took a razor blade and gently ran it across the corner seam to dust away any paint that blurred that sharp, dark edge.

The entire process took less than 30 minutes to complete and when we were done, you couldn't even find those nasty chipped spots. Perfect.

How did the paint hold up?

In one word...great.

We figured that we might have to do this again sometime in the future, especially since the house is busy and the chips were located near the sink.

But nope, not yet. Today, almost 4 years later, I went to inspect the area, to maybe take another shot of the repair.

But to be honest, I couldn't find it. It's looks just as good as it did on the day we repaired it.

Like I said, it was the perfect fix.

For the perfect kitchen.

Perfectly imperfect.

Just like I found it all those years ago.

What kind of countertops do you have?

HOW TO REPAIR CHIPPED LAMINATE COUNTERTOP

HERE ARE A FEW MORE SIMPLE FIXES:
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The Easiest Way To Repair Laminate Countertop Chips

February 16, 2021

How To Repair Laminate Countertop Chips Without Resin or Epoxy

Here's Why We Skipped The Laminate Repair Kit

How we used paint to repair our laminate counter chips:

1. First, we cleaned the area well with alcohol to make sure there wasn't any debris or sticky mess on the countertop that would prevent the paint from adhering well.

2. Next, we held the paint jars up to the counter to see what matched.

3. Then we carefully applied the paint to the chipped spots.

4. When the paint was dry, I took a razor blade and gently ran it across the corner seam to dust away any paint that blurred that sharp, dark edge.

How did the paint hold up?

HERE ARE A FEW MORE SIMPLE FIXES:

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Exquisitely Unremarkable

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The Easiest Way To Repair Laminate Countertop Chips

February 16, 2021

How To Repair Laminate Countertop Chips Without Resin or Epoxy

Here's Why We Skipped The Laminate Repair Kit

How we used paint to repair our laminate counter chips:

1. First, we cleaned the area well with alcohol to make sure there wasn't any debris or sticky mess on the countertop that would prevent the paint from adhering well.

2. Next, we held the paint jars up to the counter to see what matched.

3. Then we carefully applied the paint to the chipped spots.

4. When the paint was dry, I took a razor blade and gently ran it across the corner seam to dust away any paint that blurred that sharp, dark edge.

How did the paint hold up?

HERE ARE A FEW MORE SIMPLE FIXES:

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