We did granite tile in our first kitchen remodel in 2000ish. Dh did a decent job, but not perfect and there was some lipage, which made plates wobble on that part of the counter top. You also have to account for an extra inch somehow (we built the backsplash out an inch about eight inches up, tiled the front and finished the top with a piece of wood trim and used the ledge to store spices). And you have to figure out how to finish the front edge (special pieces to that may up your costs)--we did wood trim stained blue to coordinate with the blue pearl granite tiles because it was cheap.

We did ikea butcher block in our second kitchen remodel (different house). I prefer the butcher block, though it did seem to be wearing a lot around the sink.

Soapstone can be diy, if that interests you. And circuspeanut on here did awesome copper countertops diy.

Our quartz guys would have sold us fabricated slabs (to fit our house) for DIY install for a discount of almost $600 - about 20% of the total cost. We considered it, but decided not to DIY that part. Something to investigate, though it would still be much more expensive than the options you mentioned.

Ikea's butcher block would be my vote. We have had it on our island for years, and love it. Or a laminate counter. I wouldn't install tile as a counter, though I realize plenty of kitchens have tile counters so it's probably fine. Have you considered concrete? That seems to be a popular DIY option.

AFAIK, the metallic laminates are NOT suitable for counter tops.

Zinc is another DIY friendly counter material.

Soapstone tile with minimal grout line using black epoxy. I learned how from Ikeafans. I read that it's been closed down but I do have photographs from my own installation.

Here's a great thread on DIY soapstone. I freaking loved that thread and I will forever remember this awesome picture.

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr217/laxsupermom/kitchen%20remodel/stonedust.jpg

Check out the fabulous work in the many photos in this thread.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2510595/diy-soapstone-people-show-your-counters?n=101

In all fairness, neither soapstone nor pro-installed laminate will be $4/sf but it's worth paying a little more to not have to clean grout. If you can DIY sheet laminate over your existing counter that'd probably be the least expensive option, followed by IKEA laminate, followed by IKEA bb.

Totally true, soapstone, etc won't be $4 a square foot. I think even IKEA butcher block is about $11 a square foot at best (assuming your dimensions work well with their lengths so you don't have a lot of waste).

But I can't imagine the carrara tile job is $4 per square foot all in either. I'm assuming that's the price per tile. So you need to add in the cost of the substrate, grout, trim pieces (potentially $$$), possibly buying or renting a tile saw. . . .

Large format porcelain tile. Very few grout lines. http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2699769/our-almost-finished-kitchen-w-tile-countertops

I'd go with laminate. It's not that hard to DIY if you're so inclined.

I DIY'ed my soapstone, but the material alone was $42 sq ft, plus transport, and gauged (to a consistent thickness) but not honed. Had to spend a week honing the surface. Diamond sanding discs at $40 each.
Laminate is very DIY-able. So is tile on plywood base with wood banding. You can probably rent a wetsaw, or scrounge a used one from Craigslist and resell it again when you're finished.
Casey

This is my 40th year of building kitchens. I remember
the day when a complete kitchen redo cost $5,000. Today, that’s the cost of the range in many of the kitchens we
build.

But, back to topic….

When it came time to redo the kitchen for the Boss (about
every 15 years), she agreed to a a large format glazed
tile countertop.

I will never have anything else in my kitchen in the future.

It is attractive, durable (you cannot cut it and can put hot
pans on it without any problem) and easy to keep clean. It never needs
sealing, cleans up with a damp sponge, and still looks brand new.

The grout problem that used to plague tile tops is gone with
the advent of the new urethane grouts that don't stain. Still, I would
use the thinnest grout line possible. We used a 1/16" line to good
effect.

Getting bull nose tiles for the front edge is usually not a
problem. But don't attach them with thinset or regular tile mastic, it
won't hold. We used Power Grab and it works well. Not a single lose
tile in over 5 years.

Material cost for tile, mastic, cementitious backer board
(we used 1/2" board on a 3/4" exterior-grade plywood substrate), and
Power Grab, about $4.75 per S/F. Of course, if you get a tile setter to
do it for your, figure on $8.50+ per S/F labor.

I learned from that experience to build up the countertop to fit the width
of the bull nose pieces -- saves a lot of tile cutting. If the bull nose is 1-3/4", the build
the countertop thickness to 1-3/4". The bull nose can run below the countertop a little, but not more than 1/4".

For more information on tricks to build a kitchen on a tight budget, take a
look at our article Kitchen Remodeling
on the Cheap: Simple, Practical, Proven Ideas for Creating Your Dream Kitchen
on a Budget. You might also like our
survey of the various countertop materials available, New &
Traditional Countertop Choices which talks about relative costs.

Good Luck with the project.

Concrete (there are DIY kits available), copper sheet (search the forum here), old school slate boards.

With a tile countertop are you stuck with a top mount sink? I can't see how you could do the edges for an under mount.

We did a top mount. If there's a way to do undermount, I didn't/don't know of it.

There are a lot of great suggestions here. My contribution is to not use butcher block anywhere near the sink, or anywhere water can accumulate, like under a dish drying rack. Exposure to water will blacken the butcherblock over time and possibly cause the glue joints to fail. Also remember that you want a surface where you can put a hot pan down without damage.

For budget, I would do laminate. They have come a long way with designs that mimic stone designs. These would be pricier than a single color, but you might want to check on them. I have had laminate in my current kitchen for over 15 yrs and it still looks almost like new.

I confess to liking laminate.

And I had a butcherblock counter for many years and liked it. I did get some water damage near the sink, but we were really, really, really, really sloppy. And we didn't do any oiling of the wood, etc., which could have made a real difference. (I did -not- use the countertop as a cutting surface; I always used a cutting board.)

@ vaquilter

With a tile countertop, you can use a tile-in sink, designed for use with tile countertops.

Here's the one I have,

You can also undermount just about any sink that can be undermounted.