I'm in the process of doing a faux granite finish to my countertop, and am wondering, can I mix some of my artist's oil paints (for the pigment) into the Melamine. Otherwise, I need quite a few different colors, brown, black, white, tan, and rather than buy so many gallons of melamine paint, I could color my own with the white melamine I've already bought. They're both oil based so I'm thinking it might work... any suggestions?
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Wow Wendy! Great job! I never thought of doing this. You have inspired me to possibly do this to my kitchen countertops! Great way to save money instead of replacing them.
I am glad your landlords make you do the changes ! I still haven't started with my projects...I can't make up my mind !
Thanks - the landlords were great.
How did your project come out?
Great job Wendy ! You say it was a rental, you were lucky to have been able to do it...some landlords don't approve of any changes. But after looking at the before and after pics...I am sure they are very happy with the results !
Sadly, I had to leave that countertop behind. It was in my last West End rental. I did buy my own place, but it was hard to leave that project behind.
Did you try mixing the melamine with the artist oil paint? I might use the primer, and then go with regular oil paint to mix...
Thanks so much for your input Wendy. And thanks for including your pictures. Great job!!!!
Do you think I can use my artists oil paints to tint the melamine paint? I have a can of white, and I'm going to dab some tan, a little black, and some raw umber... I think it may work because they're both oil based paint.
PS. I used to live in the West End... on Haro. Now I'm in the Okanagan. Two different worlds, but both great in their individual ways.
Cheers.
I did this exact project!!! Attached are some photos of the process. Here is a step by step of what I did:
1. Cleaned with TSP.
2. Lightly sanded
3. Primed with [URL]http://www.zinsser.com/product_detail.asp?ProductID=10[/URL]
4. Base coat of black, oil-based paint & let dry
5. Mixed the same back paint with white oil based paint to a dark grey & dappled with a sea sponge. Let dry.
6. Dappled with pure white. Let dry.
7. You could continue along this method, building the granite pattern, but I got impatient. Alternative to paint, let dry, paint again: In some plastic containers, mix a variety of greys and have fun dabbing around with a sea sponge until you get the granite effect you want. Be careful to dab & not smear at this point. I also incorporated a cream colour with a bit of iridescence at this point.
8. Let dry for 24 hours.
9. Apply at least 3 coats of non-yellowing varathane. I used [URL=http://www.benjaminmoore.com/bmpsweb/portals/bmps.portal?_nfpb=true&_windowLabel=contentrenderer_1_3&contentrenderer_1_3_actionOverride=%2Fbm%2Fcms%2FContentRenderer%2FrenderContent&contentrenderer_1_3currentNodeUUID=%2FBEA+Repository%2F34004&contentrenderer_1_3NodeUUID=%2FBEA+Repository%2F30004&_pageLabel=fh_findproducts]BM Benwood Finishes® Stays Clear® Acrylic Polyurethane Low Lustre [/URL] , but it comes in high gloss as well.
After it's dry, the surface is very durable. Water did cause the varathane to cloud, but the clouding clears after the water evaporates.
Attached are the promised pictures (forgive the mess in the before picture!).