we have a a laminate counter that looks like a cheap bowling lane right now. I was thinking of using some phenolic resin tops to replace it. Phenolic Resin is the stuff that many chem lab tables are made of. I was seeing if anyone had used it before and had any insight on installation/care/life

Look into Miracle Method. We had this sprayed over our counter tops and it looks great. It is pretty cheap as well.

sounds like a cool idea - if you want your kitchen to look like a chem lab they scratch pretty easily, if i recall correctly...

the phenol resin tables I have used/have access to are designed to be very scratch resistant. And if they do scratch, a light sanding could take it out. For me it would be a cheap alternative to soapstone. The lab where a friend works is getting rid of a lot of them so I could get them for about less than $10 per sq ft