As the wave of sustainability is cresting across the country, and the economy is in the throes of a deep recession, upgrading your kitchen can be a daunting task. Many options abound for kitchen counters from solid surfaces, granite, high-pressure laminates, wood, and concrete. Another alternative to save money would be to reuse or re-purpose materials already in the homeowner’s possession.
Surveying the Existing Conditions
When designing your new kitchen you should first determine if the existing countertops are in good enough condition to be reused by someone else. If they are, consider taking them to a salvage yard. Many salvage yards are doing brisk business these days as homeowners are keeping close tabs on their remodeling budget. Many salvage yards even offer a variety of used pieces of marble, granite or limestone.
If your new kitchen design will incorporate an island, consider a wood countertop made out of an old wood table. You can take off the top and install it on the base cabinets. If you don’t have a table to use, consider purchasing one at a furniture consignment store or from a selling website such as Craig’s List. Not only will you be saving a lot of money, the tabletop will have an attractive patina. You should get solid wood tabletops, not veneer over plywood or particle board.
Recycled Countertops
Not every kitchen can be designed using entirely recycled or repurposed countertops. When you need to buy new material, there are more and more choices coming to market every month. A few of the materials seeing rapid growth are counters made of recycled glass, recycled paper, and reclaimed wood. An old material that is coming back into the countertop vocabulary is copper. Even though the material can be expensive and is softer than stainless steel, the metal can have a large recycled content and some homeowners appreciate the look as the patina develops. It is also anti-microbial against bacteria such as E. coli, Staphylococcus and others and you avoid the use of harsh cleaning chemicals that will be washed down the drain.
Butcher block is seeing resurgence in use by contractors and homeowners since they can be made of recycled wood. They can also be made of sustainable materials such as bamboo. Bamboo comes in various patterns and finishes.
Stainless steel contains a high recycled content and will give your kitchen a modern look. It is hygienic, easy to keep clean and maintain, and stainless steel is also fully recyclable. Make sure you choose a good quality steel. Stainless steel tops can be made locally at sheet metal shops. You can also choose a surface pattern that will disguise scratches. Deep scratches or dents may be nearly impossible to remove, but surface scratches can be blended in by using a commercial-grade abrasive pad of 180-grit pad or higher. The idea is to stroke or move the pad in the same direction as the existing grain. While blending in a scratch, you may create an area that looks different from the rest of the countertop. A light, feathering stroke will tone down changes. Another option is to hand polish the entire countertop for a blended finish.
Other options are sure to hit the market as technologies develop, maybe even countertops made out of used cars. When determining what material to use you should ask yourself the question, “what environmental problem is this solving?”
Green Materials
There are many manufacturers making countertops out of recycled or reclaimed materials. Some of them include wood tops made from pallets, water tanks, even telephone poles; renewable bamboo tops can come in solid slabs in 25 1/2-, 30- and 36-in. widths and lengths of up to 8 feet and made with formaldehyde-free nontoxic glue, the countertops come in flat, vertical and parquet end-grain patterns and various finishes; recycled glass from a variety of sources, but with the bulk coming from curbside recycling programs. They are usually made of up to 85-percent-recycled glass, and slabs measure 60 in. x 108 in. and are over an inch thick; recycled paper and cardboard composed of post-consumer waste bound with petroleum-free resins made from materials such as cashew nutshell liquid, the material is durable, comes in various colors and, unlike stone, and is warm to the touch.
Whether you are concerned for the environment or for your wallet, recycled materials offer a good option to enhance the look of your kitchen remodeling project and give you peace of mind in knowing that you are protecting the planet, or at least your corner of it.
Countertop Resources
Bamboo
Totally Bamboo
Glass
Vetrazzo
Paper
PaperStone
Wood
Windfall Lumber
