Flooring Tile - sorry another tiling over laminate/fomica ?

Can you give me each step and material/tools for
this. I would rather not ripe the laminate out cause
it is down so good I think it would be really
difficult to ripe up, and everything is level. I
would like to use granite, but thinking ceramic. Which tile would be best for kitchen countertops. Is thinset morter acylic
the same type of product as mastic. I saw a product
at Home depot called acylic pro tile adhesive, is
this a thinset type of material, should I use the
stuff you mix yourself. I also plan on not taking
the sink out and tiling up against the sink then
caulking with marine caulk.

This is what I think the steps are, If not please can
you give me the exact steps:

Other than have a layout of course-

1- I would take out the metal strips at the seams
(what if there are small gaps between the backsplash
and counter)
2- Sand the laminate with a grit range of 120-220.
3- Clean off dust
4- Do I put the morter/adhesive on the counter and
tile or one or the other.
5- Put spacers in as I go along
6- Do you let the morter/adhesive (after tile down)
is dry then you grout (what kind of grout)
7- Do you put a sealer down
8- I would think caulk in the areas like around sink
and if using different material for backsplash

Can you please give me brands to choose from so I
pick the right stuff for the job and the exact steps to do.



Thank you for you time
Susan

P.S. Tileguybob I love ocean grove. I always wanted to live there. I am trying to sell my house to move to toms river or manahawkin area. my sister lives in manahawkin. I miss nj. Yes, I miss nj, you heard me right. Most people are leaving it.

Ok I was trying to remove the metal stripping where it meets the backsplash and in the corners of the backsplash. Well it chipped and the rest is history. By the way it is very fun taking it out. It is kind of like taking wallpaper off but a little dangerous, cut my pinky finger a little. I can handle it. So know I need the steps of what to put on top of the (I guess is plywood, not sure, I'll ask hubby later). I think this was explained on another thread so I will try and find it , but if someone knows where that link is can post it for me or just go throught the steps again.

Another question, if I can leave the sink in and tile around that would be great.

Thank you
Susan

Wow, where to begin, did we have a little caffeine this morning?:)....

First off, STOP, and rethink the project. I know you want to sell your place but, it shouldn't prevent you from doing the job correctly. If you take some time to read a few of the 1000's of threads in this forum you will know that putting in tile is not the same as putting on a coat of paint or slapping up some wallpaper. Tile is all about the preparation of the sub-surfaces.

A formica countertop is held in place with a couple of screws put in from underneath. You do not have to shave off the formica, you simply remove the whole countertop. Use the old countertop as a template to cut a new couter substrate out of 3/4" OSB or Plywood (some may chime in and tell you to double it to a thickness up to 1 1/2"). Screw this to your cabinets. Then cover this with 1/2" cement board set in mortar (the kind you mix) and screw it to the OSB?/plywood. This is a suitable substructure to tile over.

Stay away from anything called mastic unless you are putting VCT on the floor.

How do you plan on finishing the edges? Wood or tile?

Yes you will need to remove the sink, do not try to tile up to it, unless you are real good, it will look awful.