OT: Countertops in kitchen

From a practical point of view, you will do a lot better posting to alt.home.repair

Quartz has to be sealed periodically otherwise, bacteria grows in the pores.

Corian can be repaired if it's chipped, cracked or scratched.

Both make pretty good surface plates ;-)

"Buerste" wrote in news:qy4Lk.5399$ snipped-for-privacy@nlpi061.nbdc.sbc.com:

What's wrong with 304 Stainless?

On 21 Oct 2008 02:13:15 GMT, the infamous "RAM³" scrawled the following:

All 3 of those items are cold as a witche's tit in a brass bra in the middle of winter.

LJ, who still loves the warmth of cheaparse laminates on termite barf.

-- "Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy." -- Ernest Benn

Have a look at

for a pretty good overview of all of them.

Andrew VK3BFA.

On Tue, 21 Oct 2008 02:45:13 -0700, the infamous Gunner Asch scrawled the following:

You've obviously never seen my countertops. Hardly an inch of laminate is left showing.

Nah, I used to boff her over the back of the couch. Dat's warm and comfy for boafus.

-- "Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy." -- Ernest Benn

On Tue, 21 Oct 2008 03:32:20 -0700 (PDT), the infamous snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com scrawled the following:

Good show, and they didn't even use the radon scare for the granite. I'm surprised they didn't show Jarrah being used for the timber counter. (Eh, Alan?)

-- "Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy." -- Ernest Benn

Consumer Reports recently (last issue or two) did a review of countertop materials. Hie thyself to the library and check 'em out.

If memory serves they didn't specifically recommend one or another, they simply gave characteristics, advantages, and limitations of each. Nicely objective.

[Side note: Why inna namagawd is a CONCRETE countertop so gawdawful expensive?? I really want to know. Anyone who has had such a countertop installed who would like to comment?]

Terry

I thorougly agree with your description, but would not like to use it.

The best solution is solid timber. I have made (so far) 3 sets of kitchen cupboards and counter tops from Jarrah. The tops were laminated from 2 x 1's glued (epoxy), screwed (metal content) and clamped. Surface finish was an epoxy floor finish which lasted 8 years before scratches made refinishing necessary.

Real timber has bactericidal properties and is healthier. Cutting boards should be timber, finished with walnut or olive oil.

Alan

Because it's like Terrazzo, a lot of work but beautiful end results

- you have to put the underliner and tar paper and reinforcing steel mesh down, and trowel it all on by hand in one big piece. Then once it's cured you spend a lot of time with a diamond grinder getting it nice and flat and level. Then you have to seal it.

I've seen the Corian guys repairing countertops with the special glues to match - they take out a soup well and plug the hole, then move the hole over six inches, and you can't see the repairs.

Marble and Granite are nice, but I'd buy an extra slab for future repairs and crate it up and pack it away - and the next remodel would need two... Rip it all out, or have an obvious mismatch. Refer to the Washington Monument with the obvious color change halfway up the obelisk.

Ceramic Tile is boring, but easy to stash extras.

-->--

+

in a word: labor.

i've done my own. materials are pretty cheap unless you use specialty items like semi-precious stone inlays. labor for creating the forms. labor for installing. labor for finishing and polishing. the last is the most labor intensive.

Good info, thanks! It confirms my leaning to Quartz or what they call "engineered stone".

Who would YOU trust, your metalworking buds or a bunch of amateurs?

On Tue, 21 Oct 2008 09:03:29 -0500, the infamous Terry scrawled the following:

To do it right, it takes a lot of care and a lot of time for creating forms, coloring the crete, pouring the crete, vibrating the hell out of the crete to make sure there are NO air bubbles in it, then tearing the forms down and polishing the things, letting them cure and sealing them. Read Cheng's books on the subject at your local library. It's a fascinating process.

Existing counters often have to be reinforced for the extra weight, too. All that adds time and materials to the cost.

I agree with you, it's gawdawful expensive. Pass.

-- "Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy." -- Ernest Benn

Food oils will become rancid and may also become sticky to the touch. Better is the heavy mineral oil sold in drug stores for medical purposes.

I use a heat gun to heat the wood up to maybe 160 degrees F (as judged with the finger), then slather the oil on, and heat some more. The wood will bubble like crazy until most of the air and a lot of water vapor has escaped. Then, let it cool, and the oil is drawn into the wood. Wipe the excess off with a paper towel. Repeat every few years, as needed.

Joe Gwinn

When I was still working I had to design my new laboratory. One of the requirements was a stable table for my laboratory balances. I had to weigh to 1/10,000 of a gramme or 0.1 milligramme tolerance, so no movement was acceptable, even the airconditioning was specially designed for the balance room (size 7' x 7' ). I had a concrete table made, 6' long x 3' deep x 10" thick. It could not be cast in situ as it had to be mounted on vibration dampers. It was lifted into place by crane before the roof was installed. I may have over-designed it slightly but my basis was 90% of the designed load capacity of the dampers was the weight of the table. After installation the table was ground as level as possible and sealed. I could hit the table edge with a rubber mallet with no discernible motion on the balance.. Expensive but worth it.

Larry, Jarrah was not suitable for that job. VBG

Alan

Interesting - pretty much a long ton exactly. By chance or choice?

On Wed, 22 Oct 2008 09:21:59 -0400, the infamous Joseph Gwinn scrawled the following:

Better is walnut oil, a hardening type of oil which does not go rancid.

Sounds like a plan!

-- "Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy." -- Ernest Benn

On Wed, 22 Oct 2008 22:06:10 +0800, the infamous snipped-for-privacy@iinet.net.oz scrawled the following:

Wow, tight tolerances. What were you balancing, or can you say?

Purt' damned steady, wot?

You just didn't find the right log, mate!

-- "Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy." -- Ernest Benn