DIY Laminate Countertops at Home! Learn how to build countertops, how to cut, install, and edge laminate, and what tools to use!
Looking for an affordable countertop idea? We’ve tried several different easy countertop makeovers, and this is one of our favourites! Learn all about how to make your own DIY laminate countertops at home and on a budget.
DIY laminate countertops is not the cheapest option out there for new countertops, but it is definitely a lot cheaper than stone! When you’re renovated an entire old house, like we are, you need to make some smart financial decisions here and there. You can often buy slabs of laminate countertop at a local hardware store, and they can me more inexpensive than making your own, but there are a couple of reasons that may not work:
- They often only come in limited colours and patterns
- They often come with rounded edges and 3″ rounded backsplashes at the back, which you may not want if you prefer a cleaner or more modern look
There are some spaces that I would use the pre-made slabs in – such as our carport, where the style doesn’t need to match or flow with any other space, and the cheaper option makes more sense. However, usually the lack of patterns or colours and the rounded edges are what steer us towards making our own slabs instead.
We were building these countertops as part of our laundry room makeover. We were doing the whole project on a budget, and had already installed the new IKEA cabinets.
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How to Make DIY Laminate Countertops
Tools Needed:
If you want to make your own laminate countertops, there are a few things we would recommend:
- Laminate Sheets (you can select colours at specialty stores, such as Windsor Plywood)
- Router
- Flush Trim Router Bit
- Rubber roller
- Contact Cement
- File
- Cut-off Saw
- Circular Saw
- Scoring Knife
- Respirator
Step 1: Prep the laminate countertop base
If you are building countertops from scratch to go on top of the cabinets, you can use any wood material as the underlayment or base of the countertop, but the thicker and more solid the material is, the heavier the countertop will be. Our recommendation would be to use ¾-inch particleboard to build the base for the laminate.
For one of our countertops, we used a combination of pine and MDF. It was definitely more than what was needed, and resulted in a heavy countertop, but it worked. It was what we had on hand in the shop at the time. Attach everything together with wood glue, clamp it and wait for it to dry. Once dry you can use an orbital or belt sander to sand down the surface so that the laminate will go on smooth.
For another laminate countertop we used a pine frame around the edges and some plywood boards,because we were replacing the old countertop in an RV, and that worked well too.
The standard size for countertops is 36 inches high x 25 inches wide (when installed, it should extend 1 to 1½ inches beyond the face of the base cabinets and be high enough to allow drawers and cabinet doors ample room to open).
Be sure to measure your own space because your countertops may vary from these standard dimensions. For example, our laundry room countertop above the washer and dryer, varied in depth, width and height from the standard.
The exposed edges of the countertop should be 1½ inches tall. We built up these exposed edges by layering a 2-3″ wide perimeter along all of the underside edges to build up to 1 1/2″.
If your wall isn’t square with the cupboard, or you have a slight bow in the wall, you may need to scribe along the wall with the countertop in place. This will give you a perfect fit.
Step 2: Rough-cut laminate
Most common hardware stores, like Home Hardware, Lowe’s and Home Depot, will have sheets of laminate available to buy, but again, the choices in the big box stores can be limited. If you go to a more specialized supplier, you will find many more options.
We picked up our sheets from a Canadian store called Windsor Plywood in 12′ and 16′ rolls, that we could cut into the sizes we needed. They have a wide variety of colors there, so it was easy to find something we liked, including the black countertop we did for the laundry room, and the faux cement looking one we did in the RV kitchen.
Next you need to cut your big pieces of laminate down to the size of your countertop, adding 1-2″ of overhang on all sides. Measure and mark all your lines with a straight edge.
There are multiple options for cutting your DIY laminate countertops, including a router, and a scoring knife, but what we found easiest was to use a cordless cut-off saw with a grinding wheel. When cutting the long sheets, or the long edge pieces you can also use a table saw. A carbide-tipped blade with 80 teeth or a carbide-tipped laminate cutting tool will work best.
Step 3: Prep & attach edge pieces
When attaching your laminate, you want to start with the front edge pieces. You’ll use contact cement as the glue to adhere your laminate to your countertop. When using contact cement, make sure you work in a well ventilated area, with a respirator when possible.
Use a brush to apply contact cement to the back side of your edge pieces, and to the edge faces on your countertop, and wait 15 minutes. Make sure that these pieces do not come in contact with one another because as soon as they do, they will adhere strongly and you will not be able to take them apart. You can watch this application process in our DIY Laminate Countertop at Home Video Tutorial.
You’ll know that the contact cement is ready because it will go from a glossy colour when you first apply it to a more dull colour. You can also lightly touch the contact cement, while wearing gloves, to see if it’s ready. If the glue is tacky, but doesn’t leave residue on your gloves, you are ready to adhere them.
To apply the pieces, first line them up carefully, so that you have excess laminate on all sides, and then press the edges into place, starting on one side and moving to the other side. We found that a rubber roller was a really great tool for making sure you have good adhesion everywhere.
Step 4: Router the edges
When the contact cement has dried, it’s time to trim off the extra laminate from all sides of the edges. The best way to do this is with a router and a flush trim bit, so that you are not left with any rough edges.
Be careful not to have too much of the knife on your router bit exposed, or you run the risk of scoring your laminate material.
Run your router counter-clockwise around the piece to trim off all of the excess material.
If you have an inside corner, like we do in the photo above for our waterfall edge, the router will leave a bit of a radius. To fix this, take a file and slowly file on an angle to get a nice 90 degree corner.
Step 5: Prep the large top pieces of laminate
When your sides are adhered, you can move onto prepping the large top or side surface pieces for your DIY laminate countertops. Using a short-nap paint roller and/or paint brush, apply contact cement to the back of the laminate sheet and to the top of the countertop where it will attach.
Remember to keep these pieces separate to avoid them sticking anywhere unwanted. Wait 15 minutes and check if laminate is ready to apply.
Step 6: Position and attach top laminate piece
Once the glue from your laminate sheet and the glue from your countertop come in contact, you won’t be able to move or adjust those pieces, so it’s very important to get the positioning correct before anything is laid down.
Below, is an example of one of our first times working with laminate at home. We had a complex design and layout, and we didn’t place anything between our top sheet of laminate and our countertop, so when the piece was misaligned, there was no way to adjust the laminate, and we were forced to break it and scrap the pieces. This was a big mistake that caused us to have to buy a whole new large piece of laminate from our local store.
If the piece you are working with, is small enough, and not complex in design, you may be able to lay the piece down carefully, making sure there is overlap on all sides, and smoothing down the laminate slowly from one side (or the center), to make sure there are no bubbles, etc. left while you lay.
How to lay large sheets of laminate
However, in most cases you will want to put something between your laminate and your countertop while you align everything. One option is to place wooden dowels for this. Place them over your glued countertop, every 6-12 inches, and then place your laminate on top. The dowels prevent the two surfaces from touching while you line up the laminate sheet.
When you are ready, remove the dowels, one at a time, letting the laminate touch down on the surface. Carefully smooth the surface of the laminate with your hand as you go. You can start at one end and move to the other end, or start in the centre and move outwards.
Once the laminate makes contact with the underlayment, you won’t be able to move it. So you need to position it accurately. To help, place ½-inch wood dowels every 6 to 12 inches on the countertop. These will keep the laminate from touching the surface while you position it. Set the laminate on the dowels so the back edge of it is flush with the back of the underlayment, and the front and sides of the laminate overlap the front and side edges of the underlayment.
We did not have any dowels on hand when we laid our large laminate sheets, but we did have some thin plywood, so we placed that underneath, and when we were sure everything was aligned at the back and side, we slowly pulled the plywood out, smoothing the countertop and gently pressing it down as we went.
Step 7: Router the edges of the top piece
Again, you must use a router, with a flush trim bit to trim off the 1-inch overhang of laminate on all sides. Trim counterclockwise around your piece.
If you use the wrong router bit, you may end up scratching your laminate. The photo above is an example of using the wrong router bit. It scratched the laminate noticeably and significantly so the piece had to be redone.
Even with the correct router flush trim bit, you may accidentally scratch the side pieces that you just adhered to the countertop, especially if this is you are inexperienced with working with laminate.
A trick to prevent scratching your laminate edges, is to add painter’s tape and Vaseline to the countertop edges before you trim with the router. Neither of these products will affect your final piece, but they help the router to glide smoothly along the counter without making contact with the edge laminate pieces that you just adhered. The Vaseline also prevents the contact cement from building up on the router bit.
When everything is trimmed, use a plastic laminate file to gently bevel the edges of the laminate. Only pull the file downwards to avoid damaging the laminate. If you have any contact cement on the edges, mineral spirits and a rag can be used to gently remove it.
Step 8: Install Countertop
When your laminate countertops are done, install them as you would with any other countertop. Attach your countertop to the base cabinets or wall with screws, and add silicone to all of the joints between the countertop and wall or backsplash.
Completed DIY Laminate Countertops
We were weary of trying laminate countertops ourselves at first, but the hardware stores just didn’t provide the options we needed to get the high-end look we wanted, so we went for it, and we absolutely loved our new laminate countertops!
Laundry Room Laminate Counters
In our laundry room, it allowed me to get the sleek black countertops I was hoping for. We saved a TON of money by using laminate instead of stone, and a wood countertop definitely wouldn’t have looked right with our walnut countertops.
The results were amazing, and laminate is plenty durable for laundry room washing and folding.
RV Laminate Counters
The other space we made our own laminate countertops for, was the kitchen counters in our RV. I had a very specific look I wanted to achieve, and you obviously can’t add the weight of stone to your RV so laminate was the perfect solution.
The laminate went on beautifully, and we even carried it up the wall (although that caused a few extra headaches! lol), so get that seamless stone look. We’ve been extremely happy with the results and the look of the kitchen countertops.
DIY Laminate Countertops Video Tutorial
If you want to see all of these steps and tools in action, make sure to watch the video below!
In some cases, it just makes sense to buy the laminate counter pre-made. If you’re wondering how to buy, cut or apply a pre-built laminate countertop, we did it here in our carport makeover!
Looking for other ideas? We’ve done a ton of DIY countertops over the years! You’re sure to find something that fits your style and budget! Lots of options for any budget-friendly kitchen makeover!
