When Mike Rowe Saw Fake “Mud” Jeans, He Couldn’t Stay Quiet

We'll admit, the kitchen countertop wasn't all that much to look at in the beginning. Though we've certainly seen a lot worse, this one had clearly aged—and had the stains to prove it.

The kitchen countertop was also very loose, and beginning to peel off and lift up along the shorter wall of her kitchen. Definitely not very meal preparation-friendly!

But she was able to lift off one side of her ill-fated kitchen countertop with minimal effort. She could actually get it all the way off using just a butter knife!

However, the other side of the kitchen countertop took quite a bit more work to get off than the first side. She suspected another adhesive must have been used.

Nevertheless, the kitchen countertop on this side did begin to come off. But it was painfully slow, chipping off about just an inch at a time.

So she decided to stop before she got too frustrated with the method that worked for just one side of the kitchen countertop. And she took to the Internet to research alternative ways.

She happened upon a suggestion online that heat would help loosen the glue on the kitchen countertop. So she whipped out the hairdryer until her husband came home and gave her a heat gun to use instead.

She then used a belt sander to smooth out the counter below and get off any remnants of old glue left behind. Next, she rolled on two coats of oil-based primer with a foam roller, sanding between coats. This process took several days.

In retrospect, she now suggests anyone who wants to follow her lead use a tinted primer instead, considering how much white she had to cover. We still think it looks stellar like this, though!

It was finally time for the first layer of paint. So she carefully dabbed on the tan acrylic craft paint from the dollar store, using a natural sea sponge.

She then dabbed on the next layer of copper acrylic paint, courtesy of Walmart. She was worried at this point that things wouldn't work out, but she wasn't done with the paint yet.

She then put on gold acrylic craft paint from the dollar store, which helped the appearance of the kitchen countertop tremendously. There was still work that needed to be done, though.

But first things first, she had to let the paint dry. Luckily, those three layers dried relatively quickly and she was able to breeze through them in one evening.

It was time for her final color—a brown from the dollar store. She felt like this color was really the one that ended up pulling the whole countertop together. And we have to say, we agree!

She wrapped up her project with six coats of clear acrylic varnish. In the first three, she used a foam brush, and then in the final rounds she broke out the foam roller. As she put it, it made all the difference for what would be the final steps.

That's when her husband stepped in to do the final "touches"—the plumbing for what would be their new kitchen sink to complement their fancy new kitchen countertop.

Ah! Now we're talking. The new sink really ties the whole look of the kitchen countertop together. Bravo to this couple for a job well done!