A Review of the SpreadStone Mineral Select Countertop Refinishing Kit by Daich Coatings Plus Tips and Advice

My good friends Helen and Adam bought their first house recently, a fixer upper with great bones, and have been doing some amazing stuff to the kitchen on a microscopic budget.

A Review of the SpreadStone Mineral Select Countertop Refinishing Kit by Daich Coatings Plus Tips and Advice

Helen very kindly offered to write an honest review on the product they used to refinish their ugly laminate countertops.

This is not a sponsored post but does it contain affiliate links.

From Helen: I have been meaning to write a review of the SpreadStone Mineral Select Countertop Refinishing Kit by Daich Coatings.

We chose the Onyx Fog color and I’ll start off by telling you: I’m in LOVE with my new countertops.

I mean really, really thrilled with how amazing they look. I could not be more pleased.

A+ in my book.

I want to state that if you have your heart absolutely set on granite or quartz countertops, countertop paint might not be for you.

But if just want a nice updated look on a very small budget, you should really think about painting your laminate.

My husband I purchased our first (and hopefully last) home and the kitchen left much to be desired. The house is a 50's cape and the kitchen came complete with a 50's laminate counter and backsplash.

Why We Chose SpreadStone

Since we spent most of our savings on the down payment, we had little left over for renovations. I did a lot of research of countertop paint during the sale and closing process.

I checked out Rust-oleum’s countertop paint, but the reviews were mixed and it seemed very messy.

I also checked out contact paper for counters, but I was worried about durability. Eventually, I found the SpreadStone Countertop Finishing Kit by Daich and decided that was the right fit for us.

It is a Canadian company and I couldn't find it any stores but they have a website you can order from.

We decided on the Limestone color and when our house sale finally went through, I ordered it right away.

Well, about 20 minutes after I ordered it online, I realized that while I was waiting on our house sale to go through, SpreadStone had come out with a NEW countertop finishing kit, called Mineral Select.

Buyer's Remorse

I immediately had buyer’s remorse and didn’t know what to do. I wanted the Mineral Select in the Onyx Fog color instead of the ORIGINAL countertop kit that I had.

I called customer service and explained what happened.

They were so nice.

Not only did they cancel my order and let me switch to the Mineral Select, they explained that the Mineral Select line was on sale and was currently LESS expensive than the original.

They sent me a refund and switched my order. They sent me a personal e-mail telling me that my order was exchanged and the price difference had been refunded.

Thank you so much, Daich!

The paint does require a long curing period, so I wanted to paint the counters before me moved in and had to use the kitchen.

If you are living in your house when you do your counters, kiss your kitchen goodbye for a few days, and get your favorite takeout menus ready.

We have two cats and a dog, so  I really didn’t want pet hair finding its way into my counters during the curing process.

If you have pets, put gates up for a few days.

The Mineral Select Kit Arrives

I received the Mineral Select kit in the mail and I was so excited.

The customer service representative had warned me that the Mineral Select line had less coverage than the original and I should only expect it to cover 30 square feet of countertop.

My countertop is 29 square feet and I was a little nervous it wouldn’t go far enough, but I just kept telling myself I would be really careful not to drip or spill or waste any of it, and it would be okay.

I had PLENTY, I barely used half. No reason to worry there.

The kit comes with an instructional DVD (you can also find the instructional video online) I watched it a few times and just went for it.

Prep Work Begins

The first step is cleaning, then sanding, then cleaning again. We used an orbit sander.

My husband spent a lot of time rounding out the corners of the laminate with the orbit sander.

The kit does come with sandpaper, if you don’t have an electric sander, it will just take some elbow grease.

I also bought some extra paint trays at the dollar store, so I wouldn’t have to worry about cleaning them between coats.

The next step was to tape off the stove, sink, and walls. I just used regular painter’s tape.

The First Coat

All I had left was to dump and paint. The first coat went on pretty easy. I just did exactly what the video said.

I let it dry for about an hour and did a second coat.

The base coat is a little see-through but it was fine later so don't worry. There was plenty of paint to do 2 coats and it went on just fine. Easy peasy.

After that paint was dry to the touch, I opened stone paint and stirred it really well.

I took a deep breath and started rolling. The counters looked better already!

The Second Coat

After the first coat dried, I did another one the exact same way and then I left our house (not moving in yet was really a big help).

There was plenty of the stone paint to do the two coats and I saved a little for touch-ups.

The Sanding Step

The next step is to sand the shit out of it.

We came back the next day and we used the orbit sander to do the countertops and used the included sandpaper to do the corners, edges, and around the sink.

Wow! I can’t even tell you how nice they looked.  It was amazing.

We spent a lot of time sanding. The texture isn’t super smooth, more like an orange peel, but it looks great.

I rolled up the sandpaper to get between the sink and the backsplash.

Fixing Small Scratches and Chips

While we were sanding, a little of the paint came off one corner while we sanded.

I used the stone paint I had put aside and dabbed a little on with my finger and just avoided hitting that spot with the sander.

We vacuumed and then wiped up the sanding dust with damp cloths and gave that little touch up spot an hour to dry.

I sanded that little spot down with the sand paper and gave the whole counter one final damp cloth wipe to make sure there was no dust on it.

The Sealer Step

Then comes the sealer. I stirred the can slowly and was careful not to shake it. You don’t want bubbles in the top coat.

I rolled on the top coat a little slower than the other ones, but in a similar fashion.

After the recommended drying time I did the last coat. Then, I walked away for a full 24 hours.

When I came back, the counters were beautiful and shiny and perfect!

Wait For It To Cure

The kit says, that you can begin gentle use after 24 hours and a full cure takes a week.

I’m telling you, wait the week. We waited 48 hours and started taking cabinet doors off to paint them.

While that was happening, one of us – I won’t say who (not me) – dropped a screwdriver on our countertop!

Fixing The Divot

It left a divot and I was so upset. I waited a week for the rest of the counters to cure.

I used that little bit of stone paint I had saved to fill in the divot with my finger.

I taped a paper cup over the little spot and let it dry, then I sanded it and used a little paintbrush to put two coats of the sealer on it.

Again, I taped a paper cup to the spot and let it dry for a week this time.

Prepping For Cabinet Painting

While it was drying I painted all the cabinets.

I just taped some plastic around the counters and left that little paper cup sit on the touch up spot.

They Still Look Great

Well, now it’s been over 2 months and the counters still look amazing.

The cabinets are painted, the touch up spot is impossible to find, and a tile backsplash has been installed.

The kitchen is fantastic and we spent very little money on the upgrade! Go us!

BUY YOUR SPREADSTONE MINERAL SELECT COUNTERTOP REFINISHING KIT HERE!

Now, we just have every other room in our house to work on…