Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
There is certainly a difference in kitchen and bath "fashion" between the western and the eastern US. While the east seems to like counter tops without grout (for example formica, corian, granite, quartz, etc.) the west seems to have a predominance of 4 inch grouted tiles covering their counters. And as many of us know first hand, grout is hard to keep clean and tile counter tops are a bit of a pain to manage.
So, my question is, what does it cost to remove a tiled counter top and to replace it with a solid surface, NOT counting the cost of the new counter material? Does it destroy the cabinets under it? Anyone willing to give a dollar amount it might cost on average (per linear foot for example)?
what does it cost (in labor hours, debris, dust, disposal, aggravation, etc) to remove a tiled counter top
Enough to question whether replacing the cabinets underneath should be done too.
Depending on age that's often warranted at this point and depending on how the kitchen was built
it can often be required as getting the tops out ...can damage whats there.
Quote:
...and to replace it with a solid surface...
It's impractical to try to break down the costs this way (I've tried it)
because the labor of both the demo and the install work is (should be) done by the same crew
that is selling you the new surface material.
At the practical level...measure your existing counter tops and make some scale drawings
(use graph paper). Take a few photographs as well and then show these to a counter top shop.
They're the only ones who can give you a number that will mean anything.
For real, MrRational. I did not mean to separate out the 'and replace it' step, I was just meaning to remove all the old so that a new one could be installed. I've been looking at for sale houses and was just trying to ballpark how much this would cost to (in my opinion) rectify. Sometimes those old cabinets are pretty nice, seeing as they are built in place and pretty solid looking, so it would be a shame to replace all the base cabinets, which would trigger replacing the upper ones too.
There is certainly a difference in kitchen and bath "fashion" between the western and the eastern US. While the east seems to like counter tops without grout (for example formica, corian, granite, quartz, etc.) the west seems to have a predominance of 4 inch grouted tiles covering their counters. And as many of us know first hand, grout is hard to keep clean and tile counter tops are a bit of a pain to manage.
So, my question is, what does it cost to remove a tiled counter top and to replace it with a solid surface, NOT counting the cost of the new counter material? Does it destroy the cabinets under it? Anyone willing to give a dollar amount it might cost on average (per linear foot for example)?
I've had tiled tops taken off of a kitchen island and 3 bathroom counter tops. None of the cabinets were damaged. I went back with solid surface on all. It may depend on what kind of shape the cabinets are in to begin with. It's noisy and dusty. Can't address price as it was lumped in with a bunch of other stuff.
After a few hours. I didn't get help that day but two people would make the job much faster. Sawzall is a must. Depending on your kitchen. This would have been too small of a job to get someone to come out unless I wanted to overpay. I tried to save the cabinet but in the end, I decided to just go with all new cabinets and top.
We spent $3400 to replace our white counters with granite and replace the existing sink. Demo wasn't as bad as you'd expect. Most of the $ was the slab itself. If you go with solid surface, it MAY be cheaper (depending on the Corian you choose). Our house came with 6x6 white tiles with white grout, a real PITA to keep clean. There were also tiles that were cracked and needed replacing. It was just better to redo the entire thing and get what we liked. Be prepared for major dust with the demolition.
We just had our tile counter tops and sink replaced with granite and ss sink. Would have liked new cabinets too but the cost was out of our budget and we felt the existing ones were still ok. Refinishing them and new hardware liven them right up.
We asked them how much they can knock off if we demo'ed it ourselves and the best they could do was only $200 so we just had them do it. From what I observed the sink was the harder part to remove. The rest was just chiseling the old tile and removing the plywood tops.
And yes the biggest cost were the slabs themselves and then the labor second. Either get measurements (pics would be great too) and take it to a counter top place or set up an appointment with them to have them come in to do the measuring and estimate.
For ours we went to a granite place and picked our slabs and had a granite contractor off craigslist pick it up and install it. We both are happy with the results.
You didn't indicate how old your house is. In houses built before the 50s, the tile countertop probably sits on 1 1/2" of concrete with wire mesh, a real bear to remove. Also, a house built before the prevalence of dishwashers may not have enough room to install a standard dishwasher. My house has a countertop that was too low to install a dishwasher, so the new top had to be raised up an inch or so. The countertop is also an inch or so shallower than today's standard, so the dishwasher almost protrudes. Not quite, but it doesn't sit back under the lip of the counter like today's setup, and the countertop can't be made any deeper due to a door. So a demo and replace could be more involved in an older house.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
