Countertop recommendations

jb616 · February 29, 2024, 01:02:38 PM

I will be starting on an Oak countertop for my house soon and i am looking for recommendations. First of all on my island there will be a 1 foot overhang and i am wondering if i should have some support underneath. I am thinking of routering out a channel underneath and using some form of a steel bar. Another concern is a 14' counter that will need to have a joint as my planks are 8 1/2 foot and 10 1/2 foot. I was thinking of having a butt joint and the center of the sink but didn't know if or how i should support the joint. finally is the finish. i live by myself so durability is not a major concern. I was recommended to use the Rubio monocoat and i want to keep it as close to the natural color as i could. Thanks in advance for any recommendations on any or all of the 3 issues.

jb616 · February 29, 2024, 01:04:11 PM

By the way, all planks were milled at 8/4 and will be planed at 1 3/4".

doc henderson · February 29, 2024, 04:57:36 PM

joint at the sink may be a good idea. finish is tricky. If the wood is dry and stable, not sure you need a brace for the overhand, but the joint will need reinforcement especially if at the sink.

Oth · February 29, 2024, 05:29:28 PM

Maybe not what you're looking for but I'd steer ya away from having wood counters with your sink. Interrupt the wood with a section of stainless steel counter that your sink drips in to. The further you can get the end grain of your countertop away from a source of water the better. If you plan on cutting on the countertop and are a generally clean and organized person just use mineral oil from time to time. If you want to go with finish then use the most robust stuff. 2k poly would be my choice.

Anything over 12" needs support. They do exactly what you're planning for anything over that.

Larry · February 29, 2024, 09:23:44 PM

I'm not sure if the overhang will need support or not. "C" channel for tables is available online and would be cheap insurance. Never can tell, late at night after a few drinks the ladies might start dancing on the bar top. I use it at times but make my own out of heavier gauge material.

Loose tenons would work well at the sink join. Perfect spot for Domino's.

Make sure you try a spot of Rubio to make sure the color will be the natural you want.

Oth has valid concerns worth thinking about. I'm a bit sloppy at the sink and somewhat lazy at upkeep so I would sure consider keeping wood away from water.

scsmith42 · March 01, 2024, 04:25:37 PM

My advice is to make the wood as impervious to moisture as you can. Also, whatever finish you put on the top - I'd put on the bottom. Same number of coats - same thickness on all surfaces.

With wide slabs, I would definitely stay away from mineral oil! It does not inhibit changes in moisture content very well and it goes away over time. People will retreat the top to keep it looking pretty, but can't access the bottom so a delta in resistance to moisture absorption will occur over time.

I had a customer try to hold us responsible for a black walnut island top that we provided the wood for. A local cabinet maker did the glue up, and the customer wanted to finish it themselves. Against my advice (and the cabinet makers advice too), they used mineral oil for the finish. Originally they did both sides but over the course of a year they kept retreating the top and not the bottom.

The next spring they kept the windows opened up in the house and the RH% inside went up significantly. The island ended up cupping up over 1/2" across 5' because of moisture absorption on the bottom. I measured a 3% delta in MC% from the upper side to the bottom side.

Although I am a big fan of conversion varnishes for surfaces exposed to moisture, in your instance if it were mine and I did not have access to a spray booth I would start with several coats of pure tung oil on all sides of the counter top. First coat thinned 50% with d-limonene, second 25% and final 10%.

After giving the tung oil a week to cure, I'd recoat with 3-4 coats of a high quality marine varnish such as Gleam. It's easy to use and very moisture resistant, plus you can repair it yourself as needed.

There are lots of other alternatives as good if not better than this too.

Oth · March 01, 2024, 05:29:30 PM

I've never had an issue with mineral oil provided it's away from water. If someone doesn't have air conditioning or just leaves their windows open when it's humid I'd think twice about any piece of wood 5' wide in their house haha. If you're going to use your counter like a cutting board which many people can't resist you're going to damage any other sort of finish. If it's not going to be a cutting board definitely a 2 part crosslinked finish.

The other question is what type of oak is it? Red oak is open grained, would need a grain filler to finish it properly. Also wouldn't leave red unfinished, all sorts of filth would collect in the grain over time, oiled or not.

buildergenius · April 24, 2024, 05:32:39 AM

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