My kitchen countertop lamination broke because of exposure to heat. I am moving to different location and wants to repair it before handover? Any suggestions on whom and where to contact regarding this ?

39 comments

  3. If it was just a little hole you would be able to fix it with hard wax in the matching color but I think this hole ist too big.

  6. I have worked in a kitchen/carpeting firm for a bit as a student, and as far as I know it is not possible to repair that, you’ll have to replace the whole top.

    Luckily, that is not as expensive as it sounds, you can get such a top, depending on seize and quality, for a few hundred bucks. I have replaced kitchen tops for as little as 80€, it was a rather small one, though. Your local kitchen sales guys („Küchenstudio“) will be able to replace that and tell you how much that costs. Make sure to go to a cheaper one, as prices can vary depending on the studio in question.

    But check with your landlord first, often they have a cheap firm at hand and will want to order the top themselves. You might not have to pay the full price, depending on your contract.

  7. I have experience working with wood and bench tops and I have built a few pieces of furniture before. You will not make that invisible, the countertop will need to be replaced.

    Reason is I can see it is already expanding, so the wood underneath is already either wet or started to rot. As pointed out, it will be hard to fix that without a new countertop and that is not trivial to replace, either.

    The landlord might expect the kitchen to be replaced, I would replace just the countertop, but the most important question here – did the apartment come with a kitchen and is the kitchen set in the contract? It is often the case in Germany, kitchen is not included in apartment.

    If you have the tools and experience, a new counter is usually around €200 for a 4 meter length on the cheaper side, but it needs to be seated, cut and if there is a stove top or hob or sink, that all needs to be cut and placed, too.

    Check the contract first, then see if you can find a friend of a friend who has built a kitchen before and see if they can help replace the bench. I expect the landlord will be looking at a new kitchen and this cost depends on the size and complication of the kitchen (corners being square, appliances that need to fit, if there are any window frames that need to be navigated etc…). If the bench is in an L shape, then it needs to be done with specialist tools and techniques to hide the join.

  10. This happened to me 2y ago. You can’t fix it.

    They replaced it from my Kaution, costed me around €1000, most of which was labor, not materials.

  11. Do you have haupflichversichrung?

    They may cover it, if you do check with the agent to ask how best to submit a claim, the verbiage you use will matter

  18. Will liability insurance cover it? I have a temporary apartment in Berlin and I realized there are these small dents caused by the chair on the wooden boards.
    Is this stuff taken care of by thr liability insurance? I have one.

  19. If Was my case first I would check if the wood is rotten, if that the case, cut the affected part.

    Then With a few skills and techniques I would put a replacement wood in that part, then a little sanding and filler to have a consistent surface.

    Finally I will use Vinyl wrap of the same tone of the Kitchen.

    No one will notice the difference.

  21. Cut the area out in a circle 🔵 just past where it lifting up maybe 3 mm deep. Could use a door hole cutter. Then use wood filler or car body putty to fill it in. Then sand it 1st with medium grit sand paper then fine. Then you have to match the paint EXACTLY. Maybe call an artist friend for that.

  22. Since you are in Germany, you do it yourself (remove all countertops , find new ones in the Baumarkt, have the baumarkt cut them to size and reinstall)

    – or you pay a Küchenbauer in your area to do it.

    Estimated cost : DIY ~300€ (150€ for 4100mm of the the cheapest Arbeitsplatte+ Cutouts, silicone and Wandabschlussleisten)

    If you get a contractor 500-1500€

  23. Maybe tell your landlord about it? Say you’re sorry and you’re willing to pay for the damage. They might know the right people to contact, especially if it’s their kitchen…

  25. Tell your landlord that it was an honest mistake, offer a compensation for the damage and move on. Damage like this can happen all the time and i doubt that the landlord wants you to spend dozens of Euroes for a new countertop…. that is, unless they’re an asshole

  26. If the kitchen was already in the flat, it’s the landlord’s task to maintain it. It’s obviously not installed in the right way, that’s why you got the hole. So if it’s not your own kitchen, you don’t have to repair it.

  29. I have installed and replaced many counter tops here in Canada. There is no fixing that. You’re going to need to replace the entire top. Just explain to your landlord what happened. Don’t try and just move out without saying anything.

  31. ‘”Landlord” for a Vermieter is the funniest thing I read today. I will call mine “‘my Lord” next time, let´s see if he is gonna like it, haha.

  32. I had a case like this and just put a sticker on it.

    Damage wasn’t as big though and kitchen much older.

    Can you not talk to your landlord about this?

  35. Repair – no

    Cover up- yes…but you have to be a bit of an artist for this. I’ve learned a ton of tricks over the years traveling and living in rentals. So you can try mixing acrylic paint (just regular art acrylics) to match the color exactly (might have to make it half a shade lighter) then using matte epoxy to fill in the hole. It will not look great because the edges of the laminate are raised, so… You can also do acrylic paint and matte gloss just to make the damage less visible. You would have to seal the edges with painters tape.

    Something easier and potentially better – You can buy a fancy place mat or a cutting board (kik online has a large solid wood cutting board for like 8 euros. I mean it looks like it was meant to be a part of the counter. it’s like 48 by 48 cm or some shit)

    You can get peel and stick shelf liners (they have those at action for sure) and just cover up the entire countertop to match. But I would go with a place mat or a cutting board in your case, because Idk how good you are with these types of projects. It might end up looking worse.

  36. I used to sell these. Unfortunately I don’t know any way to fix this. You need to replace it. If you can’t do it alone, maybe a carpenter can help you.

  37. Possibly with a Vinyl Repair Kit: https://www.obi.de/magazin/kueche/kuechenreinigung-und-pflege/kuechenarbeitsplatte-reparieren I also remember that my dad once repaired a countertop with some kind of patch from the Baumarkt where he brought it in the first place.

    But as it would still be visible just contact your landlord, maybe with mentoring this repair option. It is his property so he has to decide. If you have a Haftpflicht it should cover the costs. If you don’t have a Haftpflicht, that’s what the Kaution is for… also get a Haftpflicht.

  38. I would post an ad on eBay Kleinanzeigen to look for someone to replace the countertop if you don’t have the skills to do it yourself. You will surely find someone for a few hundred Euros who will do the whole job, measure it, buy a replacement, make the necessary cutouts and install it.

  39. My advice is just to report it to facility management and let them take care of it.

    If you are going to fix it yourself, most likely you will have to pay twice, because management won’t be happy with the result and will demand replacing the plate anyway.

    Saying this from my personal past experience. I had a crack in the bathtub that I ordered to get repaired, the landlord afterall was pissed by my initiative and decided to replace the whole tub anyway.

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