In January of 2010, we finally got around to replacing our white laminate countertops. They were original from the buildings' 1990 construction making them at least eight years old when we bought the apartment in 1998.
We replaced that 20-year-old laminate with a more colorful, but equally cheap laminate. We made the mistake of ordering a style with a backsplash. The original didn't have one, so the installer just butted it against the bottom of the existing tiles. We also reinstalled the same cheap, aluminum sink at that time.
Let's fast forward to the present. Only fourteen years have passed. However, it was past time for a new faucet and we decided to put in a new sink at the same time. The Home Depot installers arrived at 7:00 am today They were going to replace the old sink and faucet and replumb without a garburator (the term for a garbage disposal in Canada.)
Once the old sink was out, we discovered the old faucet had been dripping into the particleboard. It didn't leak enough to drip into the cupboard below, just enough to rot out the fiberboard of the laminate. We didn't know it was deteriorating. How interestingly gross!
As the contractor said, "This isn't going to work." Now it has, rather unexpectedly, become time to replace 25 sq feet of kitchen counter.. The old sink is history and we have a rather obvious hole where it had been. We rushed to the Home Depot this morning and decided to go with Silestone Quartz. I'd just as soon this be the final time we buy countertop for this apartment.
I hope we can arrange for the installation within a few weeks. It's not going to be easy living without a kitchen sink!