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I saw an article in a magazine 15 years ago about a woman who was revamping her kitchen on a budget and she couldn't afford new kitchen counters so she got them covered in stainless steel by some kind of auto body place ..and they looked great! I just can't remember what kind of an auto body place it was and if they worked off measurements or if she had to take the countertops to them...
Anyone heard or seen that done before? Did it look good? I was much younger back then so I don't know if it would look as good to me now!
HGTV just had this done on one of their design shows. I think it was on tv yesterday- the fellow who won the design contest to get his own show, sorry I don't know the name. Anyway, he installed stainless on the countertops, although I couldn't say for sure if there was tile underneath.
I once installed stainless on the wall behind the stove. I wonder if stainless would drive me crazy with fingerprints on the countertop, though.
I think his show on HGTV is called, "Color Splash?" Hope this helps you.
I don't think a body shop is what you're looking for. You want a metal fabrication shop. It's simple for a shop with a metal brake to bend stainless in any manner and shape you may wish.
As far as attaching it over tile, I'm not real sure how well that would work. I would think you would be ahead to remove the tile first, but you could drill holes in the tile with a carbide bit and fasten it in that manner. Perhaps you could even use construction adhesive.
I had a steel top installed in an auto shop, and the metal fabricater did as beasutiful job of bending it all of to fit every corner.
Look for a sheet metal shop, or metal fab shop.... Let your fingers do the walking....
Either an auto body shop or metal fab place should be able to handle it. Lot is going to depend on how big it is and how complicated, corners, number of splices, etc. I would not try to bend it. Would probably wind up looking pretty clunky. Might bend some places if it made sense to do so. Could it all be installed as one piece or will it require sections. We have no idea what this puppy actually looks like.
Try to do it the same way as you do some of the formica retrofits. Normally you make up a very exact template with some hardboard and as many pieces as it will take to form exactly the shapes desired. Can have curves or any fancy shapes, the as installed counter becomes the pattern. Could form fancy counter lip, edges, back sections, etc as pattern pieces.
Then it might be able to be fab it up in a shop. Might even be able to do some on site TIG welding if the sections are huge. They can give you just about any type finish desired. Might even be able to MIG weld it which would help in that regard.
The only problem I really see, it would not be cheap. All metals are way up in price, including stainless. Something like this needs a lot of skill, probably quite a few hours.
Might be able to bed it in some type of goop and leave the tile in place. Tearing the tile off might create more probems than it solves. The other question might be how to weld in place if required. It can be done by a proper shimming technique or heat sinks but again you are talking the need for proper skills, equipment and experience. Should be a fun job for the fabricator to attempt. It might turn out to look to much like a commerical kitchen for my taste.
Doing a nice high grade wood trim out might be one idea to improve the look. If you can hide edges, including the front edges can take care of the areas that are difficult make look good.
Whatever I might guess it will one of the most expensive counters in your area.
What you may want to find is a small "precision sheet metal" shop. I saw a house with these stainless counters too (like a commercial kitchen) and I thought it was neat. To me it should be less than $1000 to do, depending on the size of the counters, maybe even under $500 (not including the tiles).
I been designing, building, selling and installing kitchens for 30 years. I never installed nor have I had anyone ask for stainless counter tops and I have put in perhaps over 7000 kitchens, probably way more in my career
Stainless appliances yes, everyone wants them.
The last time I saw stainless counter tops was in the late 1960s. In those days cabinets and counter tops were steel, not stainless and usually baked on enamel. Usually greeen.
I agree with the others who said a metal fabrication shop with a large metal brake is the place to start.
I can promise you it ain't going to be cheap.
If your on a budget then go laminate tops. They are good looking and no counter top is less expensive then laminate.
Depending on the finish you want the prices can get pretty crazy, even add another $20 a square foot. Also remember the fab shop will mark up these type prices even higher with various admin charges.
So decide how thin this stuff could be and you have a starting point once you also know a bunch of the other details like area, shape, how fancy, etc.
I still say design it with a wood trim, just the general field of the counter in metal, no bending, welding etc. Order the sheet goods big enough. Also makes the more thinner goods more practical in the application.
The other chuckle I've learned never go talking about designing / building a Lexus when the customer is only willing to pay for a used Chevy. We also have no target price for such a venture.
Depending on the finish you want the prices can get pretty crazy, even add another $20 a square foot. Also remember the fab shop will mark up these type prices even higher with various admin charges.
So decide how thin this stuff could be and you have a starting point once you also know a bunch of the other details like area, shape, how fancy, etc.
I still say design it with a wood trim, just the general field of the counter in metal, no bending, welding etc. Order the sheet goods big enough. Also makes the more thinner goods more practical in the application.
The other chuckle I've learned never go talking about designing / building a Lexus when the customer is only willing to pay for a used Chevy. We also have no target price for such a venture.
Yikes that is more expensive then granite. And you just listed the price for raw sheet goods. Add on some one coming to your home to make a template and then the fabrication, and installation and you are talking maybe $100 sf.
I think the OP said they saw it on one of those home shows on TV. Those of us in the business hate those shows because they mislead the consumer. I still have people coming to my showroom for a new kitchen and when I ask what their budget is I have heard as low as $400. For a new kitchen????? When I jokingly asked if they wanted the appliances included for that price she said yes.
Stainless steel countertops aren't all that unhead of, but they're usually installed in high end homes or in industrial loft spaces by people who want professional grade kitchens (chefs kitchens in restaurants use stainless steel everything since it's sanitary and easy to clean, but yes they do get scratched up).
I really don't know how it could be done on a budget. You can find companies that do metal countertops from recycled materials (http://www.luxuryhousingtrends.com/archives/2007/03/recycled_alumin.php - broken link), but since green is so trendy these days, they're probably more expensive than granite. :P
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Won't be cheap......
