I had a small base cabinet next to my washer that I needed to get a countertop for. Leaving 1/16" gap for the appliance and a 1" overhang on the end resulted in 24 5/8 width. I found a 5' countertop at Mr. Seconds that was reasonable for $44.
I was concerned about cutting the countertop but it turns out that a 36 tooth finishing blade on my circular saw did the job perfectly. I made a cleat as a saw guide to be sure I got a nice straight line.
I stood the countertop on the front edge to cut the backsplash as my first cut, then called over my neighbor for a spare set of hands and made the second cut for the remainder. I cut in a smooth motion to minimize chipping. No masking tape along cut on face of countertop required.
The next step was to put the edge laminate on the exposed edges. Anne did much better than I did at this. I suggest enlisting the wife, especially for the detail work of filing the extra laminate off. Hot iron set on Acrylic did the job for the adhesive.
Observations: when determining the width of the countertop, consider any extra molding on the outside edge of the base cabinet. I had a 1/4" strip near the front that I didn't consider, so my gap next to the washer ended up being more like 5/16".
Also, when putting in screws up into the countertop to affix it to the base cabinet, be sure the screws will not come anywhere near the surface. This seems like a no-brainer, but the cabinet's hardware for holding said screw was a flimsy piece of #2 plastic which flexed and allowed extra reach for the screw I used, which punctured the laminate. I used a clamp overnight and a dab of glue to fix the small puncture.
