How to Create a Sandstone Look Finish on a Tile or Formica Countertop

I was sick and tired of that white tile bathroom countertop with its dark green grout. It was outdated and ugly.

I wanted to resurface it without removing any tiles, creating a beautiful sandstone finish right on top of the existing tile. After doing some research on the internet, I found the products and information needed to do just that.

Janice Faulkner from “Faux Effects” gave me easy instructions when I contacted her and asked how to create a hard limestone finish over the top of my existing tile countertop (disgusting is more the word) in my master bathroom.

These are the steps:

I cleaned the countertop well and then cleaned it with pure white vinegar to give it a little extra “tooth”.

I glued the wall, molded, and sank in with blue painter’s tape.

I primed the surface with “Prime Etch” from Faux Effects. I let it dry overnight. A high quality primer would work just as well.

With a gloved hand, I smoothed out “Aqua Stone” from Faux Effects.

Leaving the surface quite “uneven”, I let it sit for a few moments and then used a plastic scraper to smooth the surface. The smoothing action left natural holes and “bumps” that made the surface look like real stone.

I let it dry. The next morning, I noticed that I could still see the grout lines. So I refilled them with Aqua Stone, smoothed them back as before and let them dry.

Once again the grout lines showed, which made me realize that it would have been better if I had filled the grout lines FIRST, letting them dry and then applying a single coat of Aqua Stone over the entire surface.

After refilling them, this time when it dried, the surface was finally flat. (Small price to pay for a great lesson learned). And that’s why WE do the test projects so you don’t have to go through dilemmas like this.

Once the surface was completely dry, I used my handy electric hand sander to smooth the surface. The product was very easy to sand, which I really liked. The natural looking holes and jumps remained on the surface.

After sanding, I vacuumed up the debris, gently cleaned the surface, and then mixed a light-colored neutral brown polish and applied it over the surface with a brush, immediately drying the section with a dry towel.

Wanting additional “depth”, I reapplied the color to only certain areas for more variation. Again, drying as it went.

I allowed the color to dry and then applied two coats of Faux Effects “Aqua Guard” Satin Sealer.

My bathroom counter now looks like REAL Sandstone and I couldn’t be happier with the final results of the project.

The ugly tiles are gone, I didn’t have to take them out, clean up the mess, put in new tiles and grout them, I just applied a product and finished it the way I wanted to give my bathroom the look I was after.

Now that I have done it myself, there is one particular Formica countertop in our house in Idaho that I had planned to completely replace. I will not do it anymore. Instead, I’ll be doing a beautiful stone finish thanks to the wonderful Faux Effects products and Janice Faulkner for her help with this makeover.

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