Faux Granite
If your ugly Formica counter tops are driving you crazy. Here's how you can easily faux finish them with this "no experience necessary" technique that will give them a gorgeous new look and fool your family and friends in to thinking you replaced them with real granite.
This technique can be used for both Formica and ceramic tile.
There are many styles of granite to choose from and with just a bit of practice on a sample board before beginning, you can achieve basically the same look with just a paint brush and these techniques.
Go to your local builder supply store and pick out samples of the granite you like. This way you can match the colours in the sample you choose.
Granite color examples
Deep Green Granite: Background dark Olive green, light olive green and black as secondary colors.
Gray Granite: Pale Gray background color with dark gray, brown and white as secondary colors.
Light brown granite: Light brown background with secondary colors of dark brown and cream.
This sample was done with an orange background, dark brown, black and gold.
Here's what you will need:
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White Vinegar
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Sandpaper
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Oil Based or Latex Primer such as "BIN" or "KILZ"
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Base coat in Satin finish (water based paint can be used)
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2 to 3 different colours in Satin Finish (water based can be used)
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Sea Sponges (one for each colour)
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Paint Brushes and Roller
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Drop Cloths
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Polyurethane
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Paper Towels
INTRUCTIONS
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Clean the surface well then wipe with pure white vinegar to give it a bit more "tooth". On Formica, a very light sanding helps to make your primer adhere.
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Apply the primer using a roller. Apply 2 coats and allow to dry completely before continuing.
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Paint your base colour over the entire surface and allow to dry. You may want to apply 2 coats of the base colour, this is up to you.
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Use a sea sponge to apply the colours in this manner; dip in the paint, unload on a newspaper or rag (so that it is not dripping) then with rolling and dabbing motions apply the paint to the counter in very random uncalculated dabs. You're better to have less paint than more paint on your sponge.
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Apply dark-, light- and mid-tones in random turns so that each colour is seen equally. The final coat should include a final sweep of dabs of the base colour.
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It’s always better to add than take away, so take the time to layer, layer, layer the colours. You can't get a great look with only a few passes of colour. You should dip back and forth between all the colours at least 6 times each.
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Allow to completely dry before the next step.
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Finally apply 3 or 4 coast of a high gloss polyurethane.
There are many styles of granite to choose from and with just a bit of practice on a sample board before beginning, you can achieve basically the same look with just a sea sponge and these techniques.
You may have to apply a coat of polyurethane every six months or so.
