Mastbergen creates new opportunity for countertop updates

• Mastbergen cabinets

Mitch Mastbergen, owner and operator of Mastbergen Custom Countertops, displays some of the many countertop colors and patterns he can install. (Kari Lucin/Daily Globe)

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WORTHINGTON —Replacing countertops is one way to quickly update an old-fashioned-looking kitchen, and now homeowners in the Worthington area have a new place to check out countertop patterns and styles: Mastbergen Custom Countertops, which opened in September next to Colonial Cabinets.

“I always liked building things. I started liking it more and more and the opportunity came up to turn it into a business, and I jumped at it,” said Mitch Mastbergen, who owns and operates the business. Mastbergen Custom Countertops began because no one in the area was making countertops, and Colonial Cabinets needed them to go along with its new cabinetry. Mastbergen saw his opportunity and got to work.

Most of his clients are people wanting to modernize their kitchens with new countertops, getting rid of old-fashioned colors and patterns.

Mastbergen offers Formica-type countertops as well as solid surface countertops, which are a thicker, man-made material. He keeps many of the neutral colors and more popular patterns in stock, but can also order a wide variety of material, from bright solid colors popular at businesses to the rock-like patterns popular in home kitchens.

He also offers undermount sinks, which are sinks custom-built into countertops, flush with the countertop’s surface. The sinks are popular, and he installs about two undermount sinks a week.

“They’re a little more modern, clean-looking, easier to keep clean and (there’s) less maintenance,” Mastbergen explained.

Currently, Mastbergen Custom Countertops is a solo venture, but Mastbergen hopes to hire an employee or two in the future so that he can continue to expand his business.

“It’s been good, really good, and really busy” Mastbergen said of the past two months in business.

He plans to go to lumber yards and cabinet-makers around the area and create countertop displays showing what he can do, but the business has been doing so well Mastbergen hasn’t yet had time to go beyond his display at UBC and his own showroom at the Colonial Cabinets location.

Mastbergen gives free estimates, visiting people’s houses and measuring the requested countertops to come up with a likely price.

Most of his customers are just looking for a kitchen update, but there are also a few other reasons to replace old countertops. One person’s kitchen suffered smoke damage after a grease fire. Other people may find that water has somehow gotten into the countertops and damaged them, requiring replacement.

About three-fourths of the countertops Mastbergen sells resemble rock; either marble or granite. They have the same look as real marble or granite but cost much less. Replacing the countertops in an average kitchen will cost around $1,000 or $1,200, whereas marble will cost more like $5,000 or $6,000.

It takes about two to three weeks for Mastbergen to replace the countertops in a kitchen.

Anyone interested in replacing their countertops may call Mastbergen Custom Countertops at 360-4340 or stop by his building at Colonial Cabinets between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Tags: news, business, mastbergen, countertops, kitchen