How To Repair Cracked Laminate Countertop

Cracked your countertop? Before spiraling into a full-blown panic that involves viciously Googling, "How much does it cost to supervene upon a countertop?!?!?" you should know that there is a solution that doesn't involve dropping major dollars on a new slab of marble.

First things first: Earlier you lot effigy out how you're going to fix the cleft, you need to determine what caused it in the first identify.

"Sometimes counters crack due to structural integrity reasons — similar if the cabinets of the house has settled or if, when installed, there were improper or inadequate supports for the counter. If that is the case, and then the root cause has to be fixed first before the repair," Meredith Barclay, a countertops merchant with The Home Depot, told TODAY Home. Just if it's something more superficial, the fix is much simpler.

Solid surface counters are the easiest to set, and the results are usually less noticeable. "There are color matched adhesives that can exist used to fill up the crack and so exist sanded down to make the crack most imperceptible," said Barclay.

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Granite and quartz counters are a little trickier. "They can exist repaired but due to the patterns, the repairs tin exist more than visible," Barclay explained. "A color-matched epoxy is frequently used to fill up the crack and then exist sanded downward or polished. Typically, you would telephone call a professional countertop fabricator to perform the repair for the all-time results."

Experts from Angie'southward listing predict that these types of services should cost between $200 and 600.

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Laminate counters are the most difficult to repair, merely are "the to the lowest degree likely to crevice" because of their wood substrate, according to Barclay. If they do, you can fill up the seams or gouges with putty and pigment it to lucifer the rest of the slab.

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Here's what you can do to prevent these types of pesky cracks in the future.

"Eliminate your countertop's exposure to farthermost oestrus by avoiding placing hot pans and the like direct on the countertop itself — It's always proficient practice to place a hot pad, trivet or cut board betwixt hot appliances or pans and your countertops," Angie'southward List experts shared with TODAY. "Many hard surfaces tin can fissure under pressure and then you lot want to avoid placing heavy objects nearly unsupported edges of your counters."

And be sure to always put down a cutting board when you're chopping food — don't ever let your knife brand contact with the counter.

"While you lot may not discover the fine scratches this is can cause at first, these scratches tin damage the waterproof sealant on many countertop materials, making them more than vulnerable to further damage," shared the Angie'south Listing team.