An Honest & Unbiased Stonecoat Countertops Review

January 17, 2022

This post may include affiliate links, which means that if you end up buying something, I will earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Have you seen the video ads for Stonecoat Countertops and wondered if this really could be the solution for your home? In this Stonecoat Countertops review, I’m going to go over all of the pros, cons, other customer reviews, and things to know (there are a lot of them).

Stonecoat countertops logo

If you’re looking for a step-by-step guide on how to use Stone Coat Epoxy Countertops, I got you!

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Digital wall prints for decor in Black Door Shop on Etsy
Printable wall art in Black Door Shop

Cost of Stonecoat Epoxy Countertops

Stonecoat countertops product kit

I used Stonecoat epoxy in a friend’s kitchen, and he purchased the White Exotic Marble Epoxy kit, which includes:

  • 1 gallon of resin
  • 1 gallon of hardener
  • Epoxy undercoat (basically the same as paint)
  • White metallic pigment powder
  • Silver metallic pigment powder
  • White liquid epoxy dye
  • Black liquid epoxy dye
  • Silver Rustoleum spray paint
  • White Rustoleum spray paint
  • Chop brush
  • Square notch trowel

The total for this package depends on how much you’re using, but ours was $218.

My friend, Chan, also bought the Ultimate Top Coat, which costs about $57.

However, keep in mind that you need a LOT of additional supplies to get this done. There are many you can purchase directly through Stonecoat, like the bonding primer or polishing kit. Many of the other supplies can be bought at a hardware store.

You will absolutely need the following supplies:

In the end, if you have to purchase every supply for this project, the cost is easily going to surpass $500.

Pros of Stonecoat Countertops

1. Epoxy Quality

You’ll realize *very quickly* when reading this article or my guide to using Stonecoat Epoxy that I am not very familiar or knowledgeable about epoxy in general. This was my first time using it at all.

In many of Stonecoat Countertop’s videos, they talk about the quality of the epoxy. For my project, the end result DID look absolutely beautiful. We used a white color, and white can be prone to yellowing. This epoxy has UV blockers that prevent yellowing, so like, allllll the thumbs up for that.

Without the topcoat, the epoxy looks super shiny and glossy, which is AWESOME. The associate I spoke to said that she has done many surfaces with epoxy and they hold up extremely well without the topcoat. However, I can’t give a personal recommendation for that.

The ultimate topcoat gives it a matte finish, which depends on your preference. It is also extremely durable–like won’t even get scratched if you TRY to scratch it.

2. Customer Service

When I was reading through Stonecoat Countertops reviews, the notes on customer service seemed to be hit or miss. However, my experience was a solid 9.5 out of 10.

Stonecoat countertops review, customer service and project support

They are only available during business hours, so I can’t comment on their response time after leaving a message or sending an email.

But I called customer service two different times, and I didn’t have to wait on hold either time.

I spoke to the same customer service rep both times, and she was extremely helpful. She listened to my (many) questions and gave me tips from her own experiences. The fact that she had used the epoxy multiple times and gave me her perspective was impressive and helpful to me.

I also didn’t have to give a lot of reason for wanting a new set of resin–she went ahead and sent me two new gallons for free.

The negative is that in the five minutes I was on the phone with the customer service rep, she gave me multiple EXTREMELY IMPORTANT tips to use epoxy successfully. I had done hours of research on this… why weren’t these tips easier to find?!

…It’s fine, I’m fine. More on that below.

Cons of Stone Countertops

1. Cost of Stonecoat Countertops

Stonecoat is advertised as a super affordable alternative to countertops. And I mean, yes, if you compare this to buying a marble countertop, it is definitely only a fraction of the price.

BUT this is also definitely not the only way to upgrade your countertops on a budget.

In fact, I recently bought a new custom-made laminate countertop for my kitchen and it was $130. It was not extremely large, BUT that’s still less than half the price of a few gallons of epoxy.

When I painted my countertops like granite, the total cost was around $50. Admittedly, that is absolutely not as durable as epoxy–but there are options if the cost of epoxy is too much.

I’ve also read that Stonecoat is more expensive than other similar epoxies. It is a little bit difficult to calculate, but you can easily measure your countertop surface and look for a few alternatives.

2. Confusing Instructions

Want to spend hours stressing over this epoxy and making a detailed list that STILL fails you? WELL THEN STONECOAT IS FOR YOU.

…It’s fine! Deep breaths. I’m fine.

Anyway. The biggest problem with Stonecoat countertops is absolutely the lack of clear instructions.

Now, if you’re immediate thought is, “But Kaylee! What about the 8,000 Youtube videos that everyone raves about?” –keep listening.

I watched well over 3 hours of videos on how to apply this epoxy WHILE taking detailed notes. I spent even more hours making a Google doc of notes (it’s currently 8 pages long) and reading the how-to steps for the white epoxy kit on the website.

It would seem like I was going to be extremely prepared, right?!

WRONG.

Because Stonecoat has such a huge amount of content online, I think they make it seem like you have all the information and all the tips. However, they skip many of the most important details.

4. NOT So DIY-Friendly–MAJOR Exaggerations in Instructions

Stonecoat Countertops has basically made a brand out of the idea that using epoxy on your countertops is a super simple, fail-proof way to upgrade your countertops for an affordable price.

This is completely false.

(Do I sound like Dwight Shrute? I kind feel like Dwight.)

These are actual, word-for-word statements spoken in the videos:

“This is an easy technique.”
“This is a no-stress epoxy.”
“This is a forgiving process.”
“We’ve done the hard work for you.”
“Long open time in our epoxy. It’s designed so you don’t have to be in a rush. You don’t have to worry about getting everything done super fast. You can take your time and not be stressed.”

In reality:

  • It’s EXTREMELY easy to screw up (extremely extremely extremely)
  • They leave out very important details
  • It takes time and effort and IS TIRING

Whether you work with epoxy or not, you need to know that EPOXY IS EXTREMELY FINICKY. Read my complete fail (that happened in less than 4 minutes) in the next section.

If you’ve used epoxy for 20 years (like the guy who does all the Stonecoat Counters videos has) then OF COURSE this will be easy to work with. You know what to do, what not to do, you know how to work with the epoxy, how much time you have, etc, etc.

But if you’ve never worked with epoxy, this will NOT be the case.

I don’t think this is intentional on their part. I think they record their tutorial videos without actually planning what information is included in the videos. They just record videos of the countertop guy doing it, and whatever happens, happens.

But that results in videos that appear thorough that are actually missing A LOT of details–and make it likely to screw up.

How Stonecoat Countertops Epoxy Failed Me

After spending hours of my time watching videos and scouring the Stonecoat website for tips (and trying to convince myself I was ready), I went ahead and started using epoxy on the counters.

I did exactly, EXACTLY what this tutorial video said to do, and exactly what it showed Countertop Guy doing (that is his official name now).

In fact, somewhere in the depths of the Stonecoat website, I had read to heat the epoxy up to a certain temperature (I’m telling you I took NOTES), so I did that too.

I poured some of the epoxy out on three pieces of the backsplash, worked on them for a few minutes, and then picked the bucket up to make an adjustment.

Aaaaand the entire two gallons of epoxy had hardened.

Stonecoat countertops epoxy fail

Like. a. rock.

Can you even imagine the immediate panic that went through my body?

You should. Imagine it.

I also went back to my notes and went back to the videos to try to figure out what in the CRAP just happened.

The bucket was literally hot to the touch–like the epoxy was burning itself.

Then, I had to leave my friend’s house completely covered in tape and paper. He couldn’t get into his kitchen cabinets or use his oven. As an enneagram 3, this was my own personal nightmare.

Before the Stonecoat customer service people were open, I posted in a Facebook group asking about it. Within a matter of minutes, multiple people shared that you can’t leave 2 gallons of epoxy sitting in a bucket, because it will overheat.

I immediately was flabbergasted that this EXTREMELY IMPORTANT PIECE OF INFORMATION was not in ANY of the epoxy videos I watched OR the step-by-step instructions!

Because in four minutes, I wasted over $200 of epoxy.

A few weeks later, when I had cooled off a little bit, I went back to the website and Youtube to see if I had just completely missed it or not.

Girl, I DUG for this information. DUG. DEEP.

I eventually found it in ONE sentence on ONE page of their website. It happens to be the instructions page which is literally not referenced anywhere.

Overall Review of Stonecoat Epoxy Countertops

  • Quality of Stonecoat Epoxy: 5/5 stars
  • Ease of Stonecoat Epoxy: 1.5/5 stars
  • Clarity of Stonecoat Epoxy: NEGATIVE ONE HUNDRED OUT OF 5 STARS

Stonecoat epoxy can work well, but it’s a risk. Everything is unnecessarily confusing–but I truly hope that everyone reading this article has much better luck than I did.

If you’ve never worked with epoxy, make sure you read my guide to apply Stonecoat Countertops epoxy–or avoid it completely.

What To Know Before Using Stonecoat Epoxy Countertops

Because of Kaylee’s Great Epoxy Fail of 2021, I’ve now worked with epoxy two times. There’s still a lot for me to learn about it, but here are the tips I WISH I would have known before I started using it:

1. EPOXY HARDENS SO FAST

Apparently, epoxy can generate heat, which is actually fascinating. If you mix a large amount of epoxy together, you have to pour it all out quickly, or it will harden almost immediately.

2. Epoxy Takes Up Space

The epoxy adds a surprising amount of surface area to your space. If you are also using the epoxy on your backsplashes (like we did), you will have to cut your backsplash to fit back in. If not, you don’t have to worry about this.

3. Air Bubbles are Guaranteed

Getting a torch or heat gun is absolutely non-negotiable for this.

I know that some other epoxy kits like this one are designed to NOT have air bubbles–Stonecoat is not one of them. If you don’t use a heat gun on the counters after pouring, the air bubbles will ruin it.

On the plus side, it’s really fun to watch them pop.

4. Coloring Can Be a Challenge

This is another way that Stonecoat’s instructions majorly over-simplify the process. But when you mix your epoxy, it’s going to have different colors. That’s the point. However, it can be difficult to mix and match colors.

Since we had a major fail, a few of the pieces were done long before the others. The result was that the countertops and a few of the backsplash pieces don’t match.

They’re both beautiful, but they were clearly done separately.

Keep this learning curve in mind–if you aren’t an artistic person and don’t want to mess with colors and veining, this process will easily frustrate you. OR if you’re a perfectionist.

Stonecoat countertops review, result after using epoxy

5. Use a Level to Check Your Countertops

Do this BEFORE you mix or pour the epoxy.

After we removed the tape around the edges of the counters, we noticed that the epoxy was sliding heavily off the back right corner, and wasn’t covering the front ledges.

In fact, if you watch my timelapse video, you can see the epoxy sliding in that direction–so obviously, the counter wasn’t level to begin with. It also slightly changed the actual epoxy design, which is a big bummer after you spend a bunch of time adjusting colors with the chop brush and heat gun.

You can prevent this from happening by leaving the tape on longer in certain areas. That way, the epoxy can set more–but you have to know in advance which areas need the extra time.

6. Epoxy is SO Messy

I mean, that’s really it. Just UNBELIEVABLY messy.

I expected it to be really messy, and then it was 10x messier.

You should absolutely do all the prep work recommended in the videos, and you’ll also need a paper area to sit things on during the mixing and pouring state. Go EXTRA on your prep and don’t look back.

Also, get a whole dang pack of gloves. You’ll go through them like wildfire.

Messy process of using stonecoat epoxy

More Stonecoat Countertops Reviews from Customers

Stonecoat has a 4.8 out of 5 rating on Google reviews, so MOST people have good luck with it.

Here are some positive reviews for Stonecoat Epoxy:

“Fast shipping! Excellent resin! So clear!”

“Awesome stuff!!! Cures enough to allow you to work with it.”

“Great product. Ships fast. Creative people that continue to innovate useful products for their customers.”

“Great product, great customer service, fast delivery and a bunch of great people. This is our fourth order from them. The countertops have all turned out outstanding. We love the ones we did in our home and our customers are blown away by how great their kitchens look. I love Stone Coat products and their team.”

Here are some negative reviews for Stonecoat epoxy:

“After watching hours of how-to videos, writing down all of the steps, and then triple checking to make sure I did everything correctly, I mixed the epoxy. WITHIN 2 MINUTES OF ADDING THE RUSTOLEUM SPRAY PAINT (included in the kit) MY EPOXY BUBBLED AND HARDENED. I called the company and asked what I was doing wrong. They told me that sometimes the spray paint causes a reaction with the epoxy. I wasted a half-gallon of epoxy because of this. When I asked if I could get a credit for a half-gallon, they said no. Unfortunately, I was already invested in the product and had to finish my countertop. I am disinclined to purchase their product again – mainly because of the lack of customer service.”

(I could almost have written that one, but I didn’t!)

“I’ve used lots of other products and don’t see any difference in quality or results. In fact, the packaging is identical to all the other guys (except for the label) my guess is your getting the same product but paying twice the cost for this stuff.”

“Definitely not happy with this product. As a small business owner, we use epoxy to seal custom pieces we create. After following the directions to a T, we are STILL getting lots of micro bubbles in the finished product. I really wanted this to work since we use a lot of epoxy regularly but after a few ruined pieces, it is not worth it for us.”

“Watched videos on YouTube , called for help on helpline, done EXACTLY as instructed. The product is fish-eyed every time.”

“I’ve called, emailed. To no avail. I won’t be buying anymore from Stone Coat. (Though it’s sad to say, because I have purchased many, many times over this past year.) I have a resin art business and this is the worst customer service I have ever come across. Zero communication.”

The Verdict on Stonecoat Epoxy Countertops

Overall, Stonecoat Countertops has the potential to be a great solution. However, you absolutely can’t expect to get all the necessary information from them.

If you’re looking for other solutions for your countertops, I have ideas! Read How to Paint Countertops Like Granite.

Other kitchen makeover posts:
How to Do a Kitchen Makeover for under $400
An Unbiased Review of General Finishes Milk Paint
How to Update your Backsplash in 2 Hours

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Hi! I’m Kaylee–a mom of 2, business owner, DIY addict, and so much more. You’ll find some fun DIY tutorials, totally honest reviews, and lots of tips for making your home fit YOU. Welcome to Mama and More!

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