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A friend gave us a 4’x8′ piece of slate he salvaged from a college renovation, used to be a portion of a science classroom’s chalkboard. It’s about 3/8″, and as far as we can tell it’s sound and strong. We were thinking about using it for a section of kitchen countertop. 2 questions: if we lay this over a well-braced, new, 3/4″ plywood cabinet top, is 3/8″ thick enough to make a decent, durable surface? There will be one cut-out for a 36″ gas cooktop. If the slate is usable, how do we go about polishing it up? Not a mirror finish, just one that will resist staining and can be wiped up and kept clean.
I’ve dithered for a year just over countertop materials – let alone colors or edgings. I’m down to the last dregs of house-building funds. If I don’t get something picked out and put in pretty darn quick I’ll be stapling down 4 mil black plastic for countertops, so I’m really, really wanting for this to work for at least a part of my kitchen.
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A friend gave us a 4'x8' piece of slate he salvaged from a college renovation, used to be a portion of a science classroom's chalkboard. It's about 3/8", and as far as we can tell it's sound and strong. We were thinking about using it for a section of kitchen countertop. 2 questions: if we lay this over a well-braced, new, 3/4" plywood cabinet top, is 3/8" thick enough to make a decent, durable surface? There will be one cut-out for a 36" gas cooktop. If the slate is usable, how do we go about polishing it up? Not a mirror finish, just one that will resist staining and can be wiped up and kept clean.
I've dithered for a year just over countertop materials - let alone colors or edgings. I'm down to the last dregs of house-building funds. If I don't get something picked out and put in pretty darn quick I'll be stapling down 4 mil black plastic for countertops, so I'm really, really wanting for this to work for at least a part of my kitchen.