Rustoleum Painted Countertops and Floors: Months Later

Remember when I painted my kitchen countertops?

Remember when I experimented with the same paint on my bathroom’s linoleum floors (and gave me a break from the horrible yellowed pattern)?

Want to know which one held up better?

I’ve put both the kitchen countertop and master bathroom floor through pretty rigorous testing (walking on, cutting on, dropping things on, etc), and here is what they both look like after several months of being subjected to Ugg-duck use:

Countertops

Scratch marks:  While I don’t think it’s wise to cut directly onto your countertops (especially if you’ve painted them, which might leave little flakes of paint in your food), I did try out a knife or two on the countertop surface.  Charlie had a respiratory infection which required that I give her half a pill every eight hours (my guess is that they decided on half of a pill instead of just making one pill=one dose simply because they think someone cutting up pills for a dog is hilarious).  Being the lazy person I am at 3 AM cutting such pills, I just used a large knife to snap them in half, straight on top of the counter.  As you can see, the painted surface of the countertop did not survive:

Paper residue:  Sinks get wet.  Sometimes paper is nearby.  Or a plastic grocery bag with ink on it.  Either way, sometimes something gets wet and will sit on your countertop.  And if you’ve painted your countertop, you might find that the ink or wet residue leaves a few blemishes behind.  And these blemishes do not come off of the paint surface easily.  Consider them stuck unless you want to scrape the paint off and reapply.  Given the strong smell of the paint, the fact that I’m replacing the countertops anyway, and my laziness (reason #3 is pretty persuasive), I’m not going to bother.

Floors

Scrach marks:  Maybe it’s because it’s the floor, but the scratch marks were far less noticeable on the bathroom linoleum.  It also handled the onslaught of dropped tools (taping knives, screwdrivers, etc) as I began tearing at the wallpapered walls and old miniblinds.

Paper residue:  Wallpaper removal is a messy, sticky, unpleasant task, and cleanup wasn’t really a priority if a small amount got stuck to the floor.  So that means the wet pieces of paper stuck to the painted surface in the same fashion as what I saw on the countertops.  Perhaps it’s because I was less worried about the surface, but I didn’t notice it as much.  Cleanup was just as difficult to get the little dried flecks of paper off of the floor as the countertops, but I guess I just didn’t care.  What wasn’t difficult to get up?  The blops (I use “blops” instead of blobs because that’s pretty much the sound it makes hitting the floor) of joint compound that was indiscriminately thrown about the room in an attempt to get a smooth finish on the wall.

My thoughts

I like the way the paint bonded better to the floor than the surface on the countertop., but that doesn’t necessarily mean that either option is really any better than a temporary fix for an eyesore that you eventually plan to replace.  I think that a lot of it has to do with the texture of the materials that they were sticking to; the countertops were a smoother, harder surface than the soft linoleum, which may have influenced the ability for the paint to fully stick without scraping off so easily from the floors (both were thoroughly cleaned with the same cleaning agents and the same roller/brush combo use to paint, so I don’t think it was an application issue).

As for the paper, I simply don’t think this product stands a chance against glue/paper residue when it comes to long-term use.  I mean, I absentmindedly sort bills, tear off can labels (ex: Campbell’s soup cans have recipes on the back, which I try to look at before throwing them out), and in general, just toss things onto the countertop without much concern.  The paint is meant to stick to even the most difficult of surfaces (laminate, melamine, etc), so it’s understandable that something like a can label doesn’t stand a chance for easy removal; once it’s stuck, it’s stuck for good.  Bonding ability is the reason I bought the paint, but is also unfortunately the reason that I wouldn’t recommend it to a friend because it can’t possibly distinguish between desirable surfaces to stick to and undesirable ones.

Granted, this experiment cost me $20, and I was glad that I did it.  But if this were the permanent solution for my counters, I think I’d be disappointed that retouching would be necessary, and so often for a high traffic area like the kitchen counter.  I still think this product is a good one if you are looking for a temporary change and just can’t stand to see those 80s floors anymore, but think twice about a one stop solution here.  Rustoleum sells a more expensive kit for painting countertops that I chose not to try, but is probably a more viable permanent solution if replacing really isn’t an option.

And of course, these opinions are based solely on my own counters and floors, so they may not even have the same results as other people might experience.  If you’ve used this paint yourself, feel free to weigh in.  What did you like about the results?  Did it hold up better for you than it did for me?  Did you notice a paper issue like I did?

** I was not compensated in any way for using this product.  I just like trying out new things and saving my readers the uncertainty of trying out an unknown product.  Word of mouth is the sincerest form of advertisement, and you will get nothing but 100% honesty from products that I try.**