First off, you would want to have a cordless–or power–screwgun and a hammer; a prybar, and a razor knife.
I would start by cutting through the caulk on the backsplashes. Make sure you cut all the way through, digging the razor knife blade to the hilt behind the backsplash. Then, since they are usually glued on to the wall, pry the backsplashes away, trying to place the prybar in front of a stud to prevent denting the walls behind.
Once those ae removed, what you will want to do is grab your screwgun, with a # 2 Phillips bit attached; perhaps a three- or four- inch extension will suffice–this is normally what countertops, especcialy laminate, were attached with in the 80’s and 90’s, before the widespread use of the quadrex bit. Now, in the front and the back of each cabinet, you will probobly have to remove everything from underneath: drawers, shelves, boxes, cans, appliances and everything else in the cabinets, unscrew every screw you can find, and pry up the top.
In my18-plus yrs of cabinetbuilding and installing, I have never glued down a top, but it has been done; you will know right away, If it doesn’t budge, you will be able to tell where you still have screws attached underneath, and also by prying up on the top.
Always be safe and wear the plastic glasses, and watch out for edges of laminate; they are very sharp.
Additionally, for disposal, you can break up the top for removal into household waste containers, just remove all the screws and cut or break the substrate and laminate into small enough pieces to fit into large lawn and leaf bags, but i warn you again, laminate is very sharp. If you choose to use a skillsaw to cut up your top, never ever use gloves while operating the saw; a better choice is perhaps a sawzall, or reciprocating model with a bimetal blade, or "demoblade", with the teeth of the the blade positioned away from you and someone nearby for possible assistance. You should be able to neatly dispose of the top in one or two bags of household garbage. Scrape away any residue from top of your existing cabinets: glue, dirt, etc., to ensure a proper seal and level set of your new top, checking now for, and repairing, top rails of cabinets ,that might have been damaged in the top removal–this will be alot easier now than after the new top is positioned and set. I hope this gives a more precise understanding of what is involved here; usually, this should take an hour or less, depending on the size of the top.
Hope this helps!
