I am expanding my experience with post form countertops. Now I have to install one between two wall, and across a run of cabinets, about 9 feet worth. Trying to save a few buck I will pick up a 10 section at HD. I read about making a luan prywood pattern and scribing that to the wall first and transferring that to the countertop. Is this the best way to accomplish what I am trying to do. Are there any other tricks out there? thanks
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You are going about it the right way. You can also build a frame out of scraps that will perform the same function.
You may find that it is not possible to fit the countertop between the walls with a tight fit. Be prepared to patch the walls in this case. Good luck
You can make a perfect template with 1/4"laun.
Rip the laun 24" and scribe one end first.Then put the other half in top of the first piece and scribe the other wall. Screw the pieces together and ..you done.
Now,How you can cut the mica..Upside-down and a good straight edge for your circular saw.And for the backsplash a small T-square straight edge or free handed with a circular saw.Always cut from the back.
EZ Dino
Cut close and belt sand to the line
Back cut everything drastically up to the laminate. If the walls are too goofy to slide in to within a caulk joint, be ready to add side splash's.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
why not build the base and then glue the laminate after the base is installed. laminate easier to handle.
He's got a post form ready made countertop, hence the late fitting.Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
The template is a good idea. Cut top upside down and you will not chip the formica. Cut the top a bit wide and then use template on the laminate side.Usually a belt sander is the way to scribe to the line. Before you install the top check to see if the walls are square with the long side.Because the top is postformed, probably with a backsplash you have to go straight in. Make a spreader out of a 2x4, tape a piece of formica or aluminum flashing on each end wall. Make the spreader about 3/8" longer than the measurement. Install spreader above the base cabinets with room to slide top underneath.Hope this helps.
mike
What you need to do depends on the finish detail at the ends that meet the walls.
If you will hide the junction with an end backsplash, you only need to be close. And, if your back inside corners fade in as usual, because of the way most corner joints are mudded, you can always bash out some rock with your hammer, to get it to fit.
Otherwise, it's template time, and that's a whole new subject.
You'll find it helpful to undercut at least one of the ends so that you lift the counter in and out. Check the opening for pantgraphing and flair (pantographing is where the sides walls aren't at 90º to the back wall, flair is the difference in the size of the opening between the front and the back), check all three walls for bow and waves.
I suggest you register your template (or your co-ordinate measurements) to the front line of the cabinets rather than the back wall: you can modify this as necessity dictates, but start with the cabinets or the job will never look right (varying over-hang).
RE: template, IMHO there's no reasonable short-cut when you're putting a solid object of any size between 2 fixed planes; you can't put it into place to try it until it's small enough, and if it's too small, you can't add on; it has to be really close on the first try. You can decide if there's a dollar savings (i.e. labour vs materials) between using an entire template, or doing end-pieces with a couple of 1-by stretchers between them.
.
Phill Giles
The Unionville Woodwright
Unionville, Ontario
Edited 1/20/2005 12:13 pm ET by Phill Giles
I wish I had pics...but I've done what you're trying to do with...
...concrete countertops.
With concrete, it HAD to be right on the first attempt.
The guys that pointed you in the template direction were right on, as was calvin with the back-bevel.
I make templates for these types of countertops out of 4' wide by 1/4" thick rips of scrap.
Lay the left piece in place, scribe it to fit against the left wall and scribe the 4" width to the back wall. Do the same for the right wall. Then lay the back piece in and scribe it to the back wall. All three sides should be touching all three wallls perfectly.
Now lay the front piece so it overhangs the counters the amount you need it to. These four pieces should make up the pefect perimeter of your desired countertop.
I use a hot glue gun and hot glue these four pieces together. Then hot glue several more pieces to span front to back, etc, to strngthen the template and to prevent racking.
Now before you move it, start writing. FRONT, LEFT WALL, RIGHT WALL, BACK, TOP, etc. I use a sharpie.
Use the template to lay out your countertop. If you invert the template, make sure you invert your countertop with transferring the outline.
For example, if I was going to install the finished countertop by sliding the left side in first, I'd back bevel the left side of the top just a bit. I'd back bevel the back side of the countertop a bit more. And as calcin recommended, back bevel the heck out of the right side.
I lift the right side way high and slide the left side against the wall and work the top back against the back wall. Then as I lower the right side down, I work it back as well.
If this works with friggin concrete tops, it can work with wood.
Before inserting the top. you can use a thin slip sheet of some sort against the back and side walls to keep the top from marring the wall. I've taped the sides of the top as well, as tape slides against drywall or plaster better than concrete.
Hope that's not too confusing...
hpw much does a concrete counter top weigh
A 2" thick (which is more or less typical) concrete countertop at 25" depth will weigh about 50 pounds per lineal foot.
Gene got it right.
2" thick standard mix weighs in at about 25#/sqft.
2" thick lightweight mix is 18#/sqft.
You are on the right page with templating, but all these guys nissed the first important thing on the list here. That is to frame the walls square to each other and crown all the studs out.
Otherwise, you can end up witha 9' counter top that has to squeeze past a, 8'11-5/8" space to get in. that is a major headache.
OK, I know, you have a space already sheetrocked and painted, but you do want to check it out. If the entry space is shorter than the instal space, then you need a plan B. Mine would be to have flanking side back splash piueces ready so the counter can be cut 1-1/2" shorter or so - which is 3/4" on each end.
That way the cut and insert is easy and the two end piecs can be back fit to them with a saw, plane or belt sander. I don't remember if anyone else mentioned it, but a belt sander is the best way to do final fitting and back beveling. Phil mentioned the idea of back bevel work, which eases the friction of the final fit/install, but I can't figure how he would lift one end in a tight sqeeze like this when there is a backsplash as part of it, unless he plans to squish a hole into the SR inside corner.
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Ah, the "dovetail" countertop installation.
Even when, as framed, the studs are all either dead straight, or crowned common, and the endwalls precisely square and parallel, it is time to have a conversation with Monseuir Mud-N-Tape, so he boosts the insides out as much as the beads.
I say M. because sometimes the crew are all Quebecois, and we have to use a little more hand gestures than usually.
I really hate the untrimmed or unsplashed or un-otherwise-detailed wall-counter joint. Even done with great precision, it demands a masked-then-tooled silicone bead in complimentary color, IMHO. Joints move. And at the junction of counter and wall, an open one, even just a small crack, is an eyesore.
If there are side plashes, I put them on, in place, after I have the counter scribed to the back wall. But you do have to decide if you're cutting your counter at 90º and only scribing the side-splaskes, or if you need to open or close that mitre a little..
Phill Giles
The Unionville Woodwright
Unionville, Ontario
Thanks for the feedback everybody. The strecher idea sounds interesting. As stated, with a backsplash there will be no tiping right to left, got to go in level. So its's template time, and get it right the first time. Thanks
The stretcher idea works wonders. Don't discount the flashing, though. It protects the walls, and makes sliding a lot easier. And if you can't pull it out after the top is in, cut it with a knife.
AndyAndy Engel
Senior editor, Fine Woodworking magazine
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Got a mo beddah clearah pikchah with the preformed backsplash being on this thing.
Really not much you can do except scrib it the best you can, scribe and back-bevel both sides and the back, and hope for the best when sliding it in.
Definitely use a slip sheet between the backsplash and the sidewalls so the splash doesn't shred the walls.
You may have to cut the whole top just a tad narrower than the opening, slide it in, then float out the walls with a nicely feathered skimcoat of mud to close the gap between the top and the sedewalls.
And hope you never have to replace the thing...
A last alternative option I'd throw out is to return the top that you have. Put down a 3well-fitted 3/4" top of underlayment-grade ply on top of the cabinets...then scribe a piece of laminate to fit snugly against all three walls. Break out the contact cement and cement the formica top to the ply. Should you want, adding back and sidewall splashes would make it even easier...more room to play.
Never heard of the stretcher idea...gotta put that idea in the hip pocket.