We are heading to Valkyr this evening to spend the night.. We are going to try some special laminate paint on one of the laminated counter tops to see what we think of a color change from the original brown laminate to an ivory color. We were looking at replacing the laminate with a lighter laminate but this paint looks pretty good on the demo we saw at home depot and only cost $20 for enough that we should be able to do all the laminate surfaces in the boat with it. We figure that since we planned on replacing the laminate anyway that there is no downside to spending $20 dollars to test out just painting it with this new product. We will let everyone know how it turns out. Scott Ok we got the salon table painted the other day when we stayed on the boat. I’m not sure I would want to do this again while staying on the boat. This is some nasty stuff and you should probably/definitely use a respirator when painting it. However it looks really good. I haven’t been back to the boat yet to see it after it is fully dry but Zsanic says it is doing awesome. She spent the night on the boat last night and got to use it. Sailor the cat ignoring us 
Standard wood pattern factory laminate.. ho hum…
We got an off white color. Truly the original laminate is still in good shape. It’s just so dark.. Going down in the boat is like entering a cave. Changing the salon table, galley surface, head sink cabinet surface and starboard shelves surface to a off white is the first step we have planned for lightening up the whole boat. here the tape is still on. I would recommend top quality masking tape and also when you go to pull it off, cut the edges between the tape and paint with a razor blade to give the neatest line. I didn’t and though it looks awesome, it could have looked even better when your real close up.
Looking good here. One of the secrets to doing this is that you paint a layer on and then walk away. don’t keep going over and over it trying to make it even. Do get any differences in thickness out of the paint but if you can see some of the laminate under the first coat don’t sweat it. You will come back and do another coat in an hour or two. I had to do three coats to totally cover the brown wood pattern in the laminate and get it to a solid off white. Home depot sells this in a quart can and it says that it will cover 25 linear ft of counter top. That works out to 50 square ft. However I think that in actual usage over a dark surface you will be lucky to get 25 sq ft of coverage. Still I think we will get the salon table and all the galley surface done with the one can.. not bad for $20.
I will post the galley when we get to it. Maybe in another week or two. Sailor says don’t bother, he likes it the way it is and that new paint smell sucks!!! Rustoleum countertop coating is a chemical, moisture an scratch resistant finish that renews and restores laminate countertops, cabinets and furniture. This coating contains antimicrobial protection that will protect the painted surface by inhibiting the growth of mold and mildew and other odor or stain causing microbes. it adheres to laminate as well as vinyl, wood and metal. great for laminate surface such as countertops and cabinets in, kitchens, bathrooms, home offices, work rooms, recreation rooms Prep. clean surface and let dry. tape around area you wish to paint. no primer is needed for laminate surfaces. hmmm.. maybe i brain deaded on instructions when doing it. It does say to scuff or lightly sand slick surfaces before using. I read a usage section that said not to use steel wool or sandpaper on it.. I think that is addressing the finished/painted surface not the laminate your going to paint. So we didn’t scuff or sand the laminate before hand. Just cleaned it. oh well we will see how it stands up in usage. Home depot tints it for you in one of 16 different colors.
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Well we did some more painting of the laminate counter tops in the boat this past weekend. Everything is now painted except the galley counter tops. It is looking really nice. However I have to say that the salon table that we did a few months ago has one or two chips in the paint where someone hit it with something. So I’m not sure yet how durable this stuff is. I put on a couple pretty thick coats when I did the table. Zsanic has done the rest of the areas with about 4 thin coats. We are going to see if doing it that way allows it to cure harder. If the chipping becomes a chronic problem then in a few years we will most likely re-laminate the counter tops.
Here are some pictures of what we have done so far. Some pictures still have the tape in place. When it is all finished I will write up a article that has the whole process in it with before during and after pictures.
Head counter top. We pulled the sink out, it will be re-installed. The fawcet partially broken so we took it out and have a new one that will be installed. It is actually hooked up to the plumbing now under the countertop so that we could keep the water on.
salon counter top on starboard
Port Vberth counter top. You can also see into cabinet where we painted the inside of it. The cabinet was painted with white brightsides paint.
vberth starboard looking forward
vberth starboard looking aft
vberth starboard lower counter top. Again you can see where we painted in the cupboard.
Both painting the bilge areas and the counter tops had very strong volatile out gassing from the paint. We wore a respirator and had a fan in the forward hatch pulling air out of the boat when doing the bilges and cupboards with brightsides. For the counter tops since the area being painted was so much smaller we found that just the fan in the hatch pulling air out was adequate. A standard cheap box fan fit perfectly in the forward hatch and pulled so much air through that even when painting the bilges that a person standing in the door of the vberth couldn’t smell the fumes even when not wearing a respirator.
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