I'm in the process of redoing my garage workbench/multipurpose bench. I've currently been using an old kitchen takeoff formica countertops. I feel these are superior to any other type of countertop for a garage. Wood sucks as it absorbs oils liquids etc.

I thought about buying one of the premade countertops that Home Depot or Lowe's has but they have crappy flakeboard underneath them.

Does anyone know of an installer in the Houston area that does old school Formica countertops?

You can go over formica with new formica & it's pretty easy to do yourself BUT new formica is a lot thinner & scratches a lot easier.

We've avoided real stone in our kitchen for years because our old, thick formica has held up amazingly well - like you say, you can spill anything on it with basically no worries of a stain, a small scratch was not as detectable (I think the product was thicker & maybe the color was embedded deeper or something?), etc.

We are in the process of a whole house reno & we are going to have to change the countertops. Time for stone. Sad we are losing it - it was a nice dark charcoal that looks like soapstone - but the new product is so thin & if you scratch it, there's a big light line. We know this because we put it in a rental recently & were unbelievably disappointed.

None of this will matter in your shop, though. You tube it & see if it's something you want to tackle.

I have two 36" wide 12' long work benches. 2x12 tops.

It's a work bench. Mine is oil stained, dirty and has dents and dings all over it. I mean, are you working on it or is this just to impress friends? That wood will be serviceable for decades of abuse. The one I took out was nearly 100 years old.

If it's that bad yank them off and put new boards down. Can you throw a 4" hydraulic cylinder on Formica for work? It's slick no? Anyway, just my opinion.

Ikea has wood table tops ment for things like computer desks that would make a good shop top when sealed.

https://www.ikea.com/us/en/cat/table-tops-11844/

Until you find a referral ....

1st adventure might be new countertop shops that are pulling out old formica tops that might be free to you, to screw down top of what you have.

"The Money Pit" radio advice show continues to bark the praises of this stuff
https://daichcoatings.com/


Of course, none of us yet knows why plastic laminate is THE solution to your needs & wishes ... so alternate options submitted may be a waste of time. Also Houston - no location - so huge, some traveling there from 100miles away rendezvous with someone across HOU earlier than the HOU-ite. That might get you a better ref.

https://*******.com/2p9n2yb9

I've used these guys before for a rent house. They did a good job. You can ask them about exterior grade substrate or something like that for a shop.

https://laminatecountertops.com/

I used compressed hardboard for a 4x8 shop tabletop in my barn- 25 years ago. That stuff is incredibly durable and inexpensive. Bought a 4x8 sheet at McCoys.
I abuse that work table for a lot of repairs and the hardboard still looks good.

I used molding to dress the sides and a little bit of tight bond glue to hold it in place.

If you're set on Formica, it's really easy. I built my wife a small desk-work station in her sewing room and used formica. Set edge sticks on the surface, roll glue on formica, set on edge sticks, pull sticks out one at a time. Once Formica glue has cured, trim edge with a router bit.
Was a simple job.

It's really easy to make your own. Order the formica in rolls from HD and glue it on top of MDF (double the thickness with strips of mdf) with contact cement. I like to edge it with hardwood and route a 1/4" bevel on it.

Roll on concrete over wood