Kitchen Counters Can’t Be Wimpy : Countertops: Plastic laminate withstands pounding, scratching and cleaning--and requires only a few simple tools to install.

The material you choose for resurfacing a kitchen counter has got to be really special: It must be able to stand up to impact, heat and frequent cleaning with strong detergents.

It must resist scratching and staining and the finish must be stable enough for food preparation. It’s got to be affordable and good-looking.

Plastic laminate is one of several materials that meet these requirements. It is super-hard and comes in many designs. And it’s fairly easy to install, requiring only a few special tools.

While you might pay about $10 per square foot to have a standard laminate countertop made, you can do it yourself for about $3 per square foot.

Plastic laminate sheets are available in a wide range of solid colors and decorative patterns and in several surface finishes, including gloss, satin and textured. For ease of cleaning, you should avoid textured or deeply embossed patterns. Dark colors are more likely to show scratches.

There are several grades of plastic laminate: standard and vertical. The standard grade, one-sixteenth of an inch thick, is the choice for counter (horizontal) applications because it is more durable. Vertical grade is one-thirty-secondof an inch thick and is used for cabinet sides, doors, furniture and wall treatments.

Stock sheet sizes are as follows: Widths are available in 24, 30, 36, 48 and 60 inches. Lengths run 60, 72, 84, 96, 120 and 144 inches. Actually, the laminates come slightly larger than these stated sizes to permit flush trimming to standard-size, core materials. The standard depth (width) for kitchen countertops is 24 inches overall.

While plastic laminate is quite hard, it is thin and rather brittle. Thus, it does not have practical strength or high impact resistance until it is bonded to solid core material. It can be bonded to solid lumber, plywood, particleboard, or over old laminate. Exterior-grade plywood or particleboard are ideal for new work, but whatever the surface to be covered, it must be whole and solid, clean, flat and dry.

Fill all voids in the core material, no matter how small or shallow. This is particularly important if you use a piloted router bit for trimming, because the pilot will follow any irregularity, causing matching deviations in the laminate edge.

There are two types of contact cement, the adhesive used for bonding the laminate: flammable and non-flammable. The latter is safer but dries more slowly. Lacquer thinner should be used to clean off excess contact cement that builds up on edges.

The basic steps in applying laminate are cutting, applying adhesive, bonding and trimming. Various tools can be used to work with plastic laminate, and there are many options for achieving the same result.

For example, you can cut the laminate with a saw or tin snips, or by scoring and breaking with a plastics scriber. Bonding pressure can be applied with a hammer and wood block, rolling pin or a photo print roller. Trimming can be done with a block plane or file.

Power tools enable you to do the job more quickly and with less effort. Some of the special laminate tools (like a heat gun and special rollers) are not essentials. But they’re relatively inexpensive and you might find them handy.