I have very old laminate: would do it again when the whole project approaches its time. Edge options and newer designs and the warmer feel appeal to me. You'd Probably end up with a top mount sink with either tile or laminate so that's not a biggie. I think of tile as a southwest or vintage California/Florida thing. If the kitchen has a straightforward vibe and the tile just gives that bit of texture/interest,then good. If the kitchen has a lot of detail already,then tile might not juxtapose quite right. Describe your kitchen.

"I need durable, low maintenance and affordable countertops in white or black."

that sounds like laminate to me. the white or black? both show the dirt and dust all the time. I have white (old) and it's always 'coated'. wipe it up and within 10 min with no food prep going on and it's still recoated... but I do live in the desert.

I have had both laminate and tile counters and I would choose laminate over tile every time. Trying to keep grout lines clean and not having a smooth work surface really annoyed me.

Kitchen description: I'm in Portland, OR. Kitchen has good southern exposure. Small galley. It's next to the front entry and visible from the living/dining, so I want neutral in the white category (want to check out formica neutral weft) or black/dark category (want to look at wilsonart oiled soapstone tomorrow.) No fun colors here. Cabinets are white slab (Ikea Sektion Veddinge). Appliances are white with very minimal, clean lines. Floors are medium tone wood. I want chrome pulls and knobs; I bought chrome schoolhouse lights on craigslist. Everything is very plain by design, but could tip too modern quite easily.

I'd show a picture, but the only thing in place is the range and the fridge. Cabinets were just assembled and waiting in the living room :-)

oh, I would sample some formica.....it doesn't sound right for tile. Have you ruled out granite?

We'll see what I find in laminate tomorrow. im not interested in granite.

I'd go laminate in a heart beat. I had white tile and grout in one kitchen and that (oops a bad word just popped in my head) grout was my worst nightmare. It seriously turned me into a germaphobe OCD reck!

Haha, rebunky.

its good to read 1st hand experiences. I've never lived with it. Tile sure is cute, but I'm all about low maintenance.

If you decide on tile....what's your timeline? Can you get that installed and ready for the party?

Also, if you're tipping towards modern, I'd stick with the laminate. If you were tipping towards vintage.... :)

Oh, LL. the tile is so vintage, right? Gah!

I'd personally prefer laminate just for the lack of grout lines, but practically, you might want to avoid tile simply because it's not done as a counter much any more. If I am remembering correctly, I have read that a tile counter has to be more level or more fitted or finished a certain way at the sink or in some way treated/installed differently from all the rest of the tiling that is common today in kitchens and bathrooms. And modern tile setters basically do not ever install tile counters and are therefore totally unfamiliar with or extremely out of practice with installing tile counters. Your kitchen would probably be someone's guinea pig, and that doesn't usually end well.

Jillius good point. My personality couldn't handle a flawed install. My eyes are always naturally drawn to imperfections. Our professionally installed backsplash had some problems that bothered me for years until we sold.

I wouldn't totally discount porcelain tile. To minimize grout lines I would use extra large rectified tile such as in these pics, you essentially get the look of Neolith/Dekton with a few grout lines. The reason you want good quality rectified tile: these will be exactly square, and flat, allowing for very narrow grout lines. Also, by using Spectralok epoxy grout, you will eliminate all that scrubbing. No need, just wipe off.

The last pic is from mom2cohen's thread of her porcelain counters:

In the SF Bay Area, there are lots of kitchen/bath stores selling Chinese quartz prefab counters about 9' by 26" in the $225-$300 range, with installation costing about $250/slab + cutouts for sink/stove etc. I don't know if there are such stores in the Portland area, but I'm guessing you could get white quartz counters installed for about the same price as laminate. On GW, there may be a preconceived idea that Chinese quartz is all "cheap and low quality", but if it was, none of these stores would be in business.

For what it's worth, I regret going with laminate. It's a dark green/black mottled pattern by Wilson Art, and it has not held up as well as I had expected.

My mom has tile countertops, and I like them.

Given the choice between the two, I'd go with tile.

you're killing me, mp.

I've been looking at matte "oiled soapstone" by wilson art. Is yours glossy by any chance? I was hoping a matte finish would wear better.

I grew up with a light beige and cream laminate. That stuff is 35 years old and looks very good for it's age. Maybe if one goes laminate, a light color is the safer bet.

Is your mom's tile white with white grout by any chance?

Lived with both - laminate over tile any day. It drove me crazy chasing down the crumbs that fell b/w the tiles.

I had the normal grout lines you think of when you think of tile.

Tiny grout lines...I don't know. On the one hand, fewer crumbs would fall b/w the tiles. On the other hand, I think it would be harder to clean out the crumbs that do fall into the grout lines.

To look at? Tile

To use every day? Laminate

We wanted soapstone, as it's the only stone I like. But the cost was a deal-breaker for us. We went with Formica Basalt Slate, and it looks approximately like soapstone, and we kept several thousand dollars in the bank. We've always had laminate, and never had any wear issues. I've heard that laminates today aren't as good as they used to be (what is?) so time will tell if they hold up.

I would go laminate... there are SO many options these days. This ain't yo mama's laminate anymore ;)

If granite were not standard in our new home build I would be looking at laminate too, if the cost was too high.. heh

Russ

Whatever floats your boat, but please pay attention to the tile edge details. Under no circumstances should a tile "lip" protrude past the underlayment. This is why you see chips in tile edges all the time or missing tile. I would avoid a tile edge if possible; wood or solid surface work fine.

I've always had tile counters- growing up and in every house we lived in. When we moved into our current house 18 years ago, I couldn't wait to get rid of the white tile and grout! The upkeep was horrendous and I was tired of my obsessive cleaning. We put in laminate, and later changed to granite. I would never do tile again, and am planning on a slab backsplash to be rid of grout once and for all!

I've had both and I prefer tile. I can take pans out of the oven & put them right on the tile. I'm in California so tile counters are common. Our kitchen is 30 + years old & they still look good.

Go to wall to wall stone in Vancouver. They sell by the foot quartz. Really awesome pricing

My aunt had that "cute kitchen" and keeping the grout clean was a PITA!

It's not the crumbs, it's the stains and grease and grime. Sealing is only partly effective.

lazy gardens - You're talking about old school grout. These days there is no reason to use cementitious grout any longer, especially for such small areas such as countertops. Epoxy grout is the way to go. Stays clean. Does not stain. No need to seal. Ever. Also, this grout can be applied flat and even to the surface of the tile, which eliminates grooves where crumbs collect.

I've had laminate for 30 years and it's held up well, but I've never worried about using it as a place to set a hot pan. I can see scratches in the right light if I bend down and put my head at a certain angle, so I don't do that! (Both were medium to light colors.)

we do have epoxy grout in a bathroom and that stuff is bulletproof and cleans as easily as the tile itself, so if I were in love with tile counters, I would not worry about caveats based on the cementitious grout. But they are still little linear depressions...

Personally, I would pick tile over laminate if, IF, I could find a good tile guy to do a large tile (12" to 18", not 24") countertop. There is so much more profit and it is so much easier to put in any other kind of countertop there are very few people who do kitchen countertops anymore. Is this a labor of love that you can do yourself?

I don't trust us to do a good-enough tile job. We've decided to proceed with laminate. I'm ordering tons of large samples; the small chips aren't enough and there were only two stone-look counters at the large showroom yesterday. I think it's going to be a chore to find kitchen displays with laminate. Especially since I'm mostly interested in textile type prints and not faux stone types. The search continues :-)

I love the textile looking laminates. I'd love to see what you choose.

I like laminate also When we did our remodel, we chose laminate which some people wonder why didn't we choose granite. I just liked the easy care of laminate and it comes in so many colors and finishes, I had no trouble finding one I liked. After I ordered a 12" sample, I tried scratching it with abrasives, knives, scouring pads, all kinds of rough treatment and it was tough as nails. I've never used epoxy grout so I cannot say how it performs, but I hate cleaning grout and a kitchen gets a good amount of spills and spatters.

Yesterday, the sales woman at the countertop showroom was very nice, but you can tell that laminate is a very small fraction of their business. When I first arrived for my appointment, the receptionist didn't know for sure where the laminates were and I couldn't find them on my own. I had to wait for the salesperson to show me. The laminates were in the back, past the bathrooms in a little room where they keep the coffee pot.

Laminate is "counter culture" har har.

I had laminate for 19 yrs & never had a problem with it. Ii was tan & light beige with a leaf like pattern. My sister had 4x4 tile & I hated it! It looked great but using a cutting board on it was horrible…uneven & slipped. Go with laminate. I am redoing my kitchen & am putting in corian so will see how i like it. Good luck!

Choosing a countertop? Here is a great guide: Comparing
Countertops