what's the type of countertop you always see in semi-industrial kitchens like in churches or at the YMCA, places built for heavy use in maybe the 60s, it comes in all colors and it's indestructible, it's not the same as normal vinyl. tables sometimes too. is it formica? - ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

spindlypete.bsky.social • 6 days ago

what's the type of countertop you always see in semi-industrial kitchens like in churches or at the YMCA, places built for heavy use in maybe the 60s, it comes in all colors and it's indestructible, it's not the same as normal vinyl. tables sometimes too. is it formica?

Comments

douglasurner.bsky.social•5 days ago

There is this really nice (IMHO) stuff from Paneltech in Hoquiam, WA called PaperStone. It's made from recycled paper & has held up really well in our bathroom. I'm going to use it for new kitchen counters this summer. They also make nice plywood panels with PaperStone skins that they call CoverPly.

lauowolf.bsky.social•6 days ago

That's formica
But tile is great too
Just saying

wobblycpa.bsky.social•6 days ago

That sounds right.

spindlypete.bsky.social•6 days ago

ah yeah it's formica. with the steel edge around it. does anybody have that in their house still? i remember it being absolutely bulletproof stuff the times i've used it and i'd sure like bulletproof countertops

douglasurner.bsky.social•5 days ago

Formica, like most stuff, comes in different grades. The biggest difference is the thickness of the material (and the layer of color). Older stuff was probably thicker...

cmf406.bsky.social•6 days ago

My house is 1903, kitchen probably from the 40s? I have a linoleum counter with the metal edge, which took oil paint really well a few years ago when I repainted.
Formica is great! It's bulletproof ... my contractor partner says you can still buy it, but it needs a specialty glue.

douglasurner.bsky.social•5 days ago

The glue is just "industrial grade" contact cement. Anyplace that sells Formica will carry it. It's a bit of a trick to put it down right where you want it the first time (because you only get one try) but not a huge deal because usually you put down an oversized piece & then trim. Seams however...

cmf406.bsky.social•5 days ago

Yeah, this was one of those across-the-living-room-while-he's-watching-sports convos.
I was mostly just curious if it existed still.

maryhartmanx2.bsky.social•6 days ago

my sister has 50-year old Formica in her kitchen and it seems pretty bulletproof - maybe just don’t put a hot pan down on it?

spindlypete.bsky.social•6 days ago

i don't really like granite or quartz. that seems TOO sturdy. like it's going to somehow damage my knives even tho i use a cutting board obviously. and too cold and slippery

spindlypete.bsky.social•6 days ago

and i DON'T want them bullnosed! UGLY UGLY UGLY

spindlypete.bsky.social•6 days ago

the ones i have now are and they look like they're from a ramada inn. i want flat fronts with steel trim

yarder.bsky.social•6 days ago

There's a niche market in Portland, OR for glass countertops. Definitely fun being LED lighting is a thing, or go for a marveling effect with recycled colors and swirls. I found them because I wanted food safe but not butcher block or stainless steel and be able to take heat but not porous stone.

commonscrawl.bsky.social•6 days ago

I don't think you'd want formaldehyde traces in your food prep area, which is what formica gives off. If you go with a stone countertop, or a metal countertop, you can just put a wet towel under your cutting boards so they don't slip around.

clebsaints.bsky.social•6 days ago

Formica ain't exactly bulletproof, tho'; let water get past the veneer (from an under-sink leak, for example) + the pressboard underneath it will swell and delaminate.

jacmacandsneeze.bsky.social•6 days ago

yeah I was living in a place with corian and I would take formica 1000x over that miserable shit (nightmare in california hard water), formica has so many fun colors and is easy as hell

spavel.bsky.social•6 days ago

Quartz chips! Can't recommend.

spindlypete.bsky.social•6 days ago

oh that's nonsense. plus wouldn't it weight like 9000 lbs, i'm worried my house would fall down the hill. this house was built in 1939 when things were lighter generally

spavel.bsky.social•6 days ago

Things are pretty heavy these days, it's true

spindlypete.bsky.social•6 days ago

i'd say things are lighter now than they were in the late 90s or early 2000s but still far heavier than the 30s. source: i made it up

rmattson.bsky.social•6 days ago

Leathered granite seems really nice. It feels better to the touch to me, not as slippery and glossy.

beneathhergaze.bsky.social•6 days ago

As someone who is both clumsy and hip-level with most countertops, I truly cannot stress how much you are correct that you do not want granite or quartz, especially as the lads grow taller. Hold firm in your resolve against Big Countertop and their propaganda.

spindlypete.bsky.social•6 days ago

seems like i'd break all my dishes setting them down

beneathhergaze.bsky.social•6 days ago

Yep you'd have to be super careful with thermal shock so would need trivets for literally everything lest all your dishes shatter. Whoever convinced us all collectively that rock counters were the height of luxury and status was an entire assed hole.

beneathhergaze.bsky.social•6 days ago

Also you really can't sanitize them bc anything acidic or caustic will fuck them right up?? Useless objet d'art; I need functional counters.

queenjolene.bsky.social•6 days ago

I’m a big soapstone fan, softer to the touch than granite or quartz, extremely heatproof, develops a lovely patina over time

queenjolene.bsky.social•6 days ago

It’s Formica, it’s pretty great but it is prone to peeling up or chipping away if it catches on something at a corner.

spindlypete.bsky.social•6 days ago

i like how it's impermeable too, i don't trust butcher block or stone of any kind to not absorb oils

juniperriver.bsky.social•6 days ago

I have quartzite and it discolors if you so much as sneeze at it. Landlords swear they had it sealed before we moved in but they're lying liarfaces

queenjolene.bsky.social•6 days ago

butcher block is nice for like a segment but definitely not the whole counter. I have one butcher block area, one copper area, and the rest soapstone.

spindlypete.bsky.social•6 days ago

ooh what do you do with the copper area

potatohands.bsky.social•6 days ago

The older part of our kitchen does! (Photo very weirdly framed to crop out mess.) and our new (2015) kitchen island has pretty inexpensive laminate, which we’ve been happy with.

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spindlypete.bsky.social•6 days ago

that's the exact color i was picturing! i just like the look of it, too, it looks forgiving, and sort of trustworthy

potatohands.bsky.social•6 days ago

I need to be able to slam down a mug without worrying about shattering anything. Stone counters are too hard!

louisathelast.bsky.social•6 days ago

Our dining table is Formica, from the 50s. It’s indestructible. Unfortunately the old formulation did contain asbestos, but that’s only an issue if you’re cutting it. They still make it, now without asbestos, and you can still find the metal edging

spindlypete.bsky.social•6 days ago

i'm not scared of a little asbestos, i just won't hack it to pieces and then huff it

louisathelast.bsky.social•6 days ago

Exactly. We will have to redo our kitchen sometime in the next decade, because our pipes are 70 years old and at the end of their lifespan and we’re gonna have to repipe the whole house at some point. I want Formica countertops and linoleum floors

spindlypete.bsky.social•6 days ago

those ladies in the 50s really were living in the future

louisathelast.bsky.social•6 days ago

They were! I rebuke tile floors (cleaning grout?? No, plus if you drop a glass it explodes everywhere in a million shards), and granite countertops (set down a plate a tiny bit too hard and goodbye, plate). And modern kitchens are too noisy!

jayokay.bsky.social•6 days ago

We have a formica kitchen table, but we don’t have a spot for it in the house so it’s in the basement

spindlypete.bsky.social•6 days ago

well now you know where to hide if there's an explosion or earthquake

jayokay.bsky.social•6 days ago

Had my spot staked out last week when there was supposed to be a tornado

lolifer.bsky.social•6 days ago

i have that still, honestly shocked at how it doesn’t stain or get heat damage or knife marks but where water gets in the cracks it’s starting to puff up so probably need to figure out how to replace it

lolifer.bsky.social•6 days ago

i think granite is the worst countertop but can’t really articulate why

spindlypete.bsky.social•6 days ago

it has un-food-like vibes

michaelg398.bsky.social•6 days ago

As a child of the 60s/70s, I grew up around that stuff. It was futuristic, like The Jetsons.

marymademary.bsky.social•6 days ago

Yes - put it in as temp countertop in 2015, still there. Only complaint is that edges are lifting slightly in a couple of places - especially where exposed to heat or steam (above the dishwasher).

spindlypete.bsky.social•6 days ago

oh yeah gotta watch out for that. i wonder if you could put an extra lip of that steel fromtispiece above the dishwasher to prevent it

marymademary.bsky.social•6 days ago

Yes, I’m sure you could. Ours is a bit complicated because inside if steel edge we have the Formica over a rounded edge. I’m sure flat surfaces would be much more durable. Next time ….😄

ctinalk.bsky.social•6 days ago

My formica counters are original to the house (1970s) and while it looks dated in a stylistic sense, can confirm it feels bulletproof. I regularly cut minor things on it and nary a scratch exists.

spindlypete.bsky.social•6 days ago

i think dated stylistically would kind of go with the rest of my house's vibe tbh

doyourdrafts.bsky.social•6 days ago

My great grandparents' Formica table got donated to the local community playhouse for the props dept. Thing's absolutely still trucking in period set dressings.

spindlypete.bsky.social•6 days ago

yeah we had one at my old work and i genuinely think it would have survived a blast

doyourdrafts.bsky.social•6 days ago

Only way 'duck and cover' would have worked, I agree.

ronkjeffries.bsky.social•6 days ago

Yes Formica

kierk.bsky.social•6 days ago

i think solid surface is the way to go tbh

kierk.bsky.social•6 days ago

unless you’re putting hot stuff right on it all the time it seems to be the most durable

markdow.bsky.social•6 days ago

Yes, Formica, but there are many manufacturers of similar High Pressure Laminates (HPL), such as Arborite, Greenlam, Wilsonart, GW-HPL, Micarta and Trespa, among others. Often the material is called "plastic laminate".

spindlypete.bsky.social•6 days ago

wow i had no idea

powerful.crabf.art•6 days ago

Yeah that’s Formica

jennytulls.bsky.social•6 days ago

Completely off topic but your name is fuckin hilarious 😂

axelfish.bsky.social•6 days ago

Compressed asbestos.

revdrdrphill.bsky.social•6 days ago

compresstos

nerdma.bsky.social•6 days ago

My house was built in 1948, so if nicer counters ever rise to the top of my home repair list, I also like some of these laminates.

buglas.bsky.social•6 days ago

I installed laminate countertops about thirty years ago. I did some tests beforehand - a pan of boiling water directly off the stove burner, scrubbing with steel wool...
After all this time it still looks great with only one spot on the backsplash needing to be re-glued. (The trim is aluminum.)

spindlypete.bsky.social•6 days ago

yknow the cheap laminate countertops we have now they said not to ever put hot stuff on them but i do it literally all the time and they're fine. maybe i just have a higher tolerance for minuscule imperfections i can't even see than most people?

buglas.bsky.social•6 days ago

I never planned to put hot stuff directly on them, but I wanted to see what would happen in case of a moment of distraction. Note that I didn't test with a frying pan. After all the years, no burn marks, no scuffing, no chips. I think I'm happy with them.

hatandsuitcase.bsky.social•6 days ago

My mom put it in her house like three years ago, because she is leaning hard into 60s house. She has a dead kitchen phone and hides the microwave inside a breadbox to complete the illusion.

spindlypete.bsky.social•6 days ago

lol i relate very strongly to that, that's the type of bullshit i'm on as well

thebystander99.bsky.social•6 days ago

Bad news, no steel trim. Good news, there’s no mistaking what era this color’s from

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thebystander99.bsky.social•6 days ago

I still have it! My kitchen hasn’t been updated in many decades

mlk39.bsky.social•5 days ago

we got a plastic countertop from ikea 13 years ago and it has held up amazingly well, barely a scratch on it. And better for knives than stainless steel.

darrensilk3.bsky.social•6 days ago

I was going to say melamine.