Wooden worktop & joining

yop

lads + gals.

We decided to get Iroko as our worktop and are installing the kitchen ourselves.
Now the worktop came in lenghts and have to be cut and joined for the island and butted together in one of the corners.

Anyone any experience in installing worktops, any pointers.

Someone said to me to bolt them together??

Thanks

rooferPete

Hi Yop,

Noyeks and similar suppliers carry brackets that will help make joining counter tops easier, the fittings are usually under the counter where they can't be seen.

There are also strips that you can fit where you have to butt joint counter tops, you don't want water gathering at the joint especially in the kitchen.

Make sure to apply a sealer at the ends to be joined to prevent moisture entering the end grain under your finish because it will turn black if it starts to absorb moisture.

.

Desmo

rooferPete wrote:

Hi Yop,

Noyeks and similar suppliers carry brackets that will help make joining counter tops easier, the fittings are usually under the counter where they can't be seen.

There are also strips that you can fit where you have to butt joint counter tops, you don't want water gathering at the joint especially in the kitchen.

Make sure to apply a sealer at the ends to be joined to prevent moisture entering the end grain under your finish because it will turn black if it starts to absorb moisture.

.

Those joining fittings need to be put in "holes" that are cute out of the undersides of the ajoining pieces of worktop I think. You will need to use a router or something to cut those parts out? They are the proper way to do it and look MUCH better than those edge strips. If you are spending a lot of money and time on a nice worktop, the edge strips look tacky. I once put up a hardwood worktop and it had to go round a corner and I simply laid them edge to side. It worked ok and they got so much oil that the end grain was prortected anyway. The whole lot got oiled once every 6months or so. The proper way to join them would have been to use those things Pete mentioned though. That would prevent them moving around and would but them really snugly together. The only other thing I remember was that they weigh a feckin ton.

Des

yop

Thanks guys, yip heavy old worktop!!!

I think a biscuit joiner is something I could be looking for!

Would it be advisable to give it to someone to do or since I have managed to hang all the doors, am starting to put in the kitchen and stairs that I should be fit to manage it?>

Desmo

yop wrote:

Thanks guys, yip heavy old worktop!!!

I think a biscuit joiner is something I could be looking for!

Would it be advisable to give it to someone to do or since I have managed to hang all the doors, am starting to put in the kitchen and stairs that I should be fit to manage it?>

I thought you only had to use those joiners (worktop bolts) but here is a web site that says to use those as well as biscuit joints.

http://www.hardwoodfloorstore.co.uk/worktops/worktop_installation_2.htm

I thought that was overkill. I did it once with NOTHING joining the two parts.
They just sat side by side and it was ok (not great but it was fine). So I thought the worktop bolts would do the job on their own. I am just an amateur so I bow to what it says on that web site mind you.
I just looked again and it says you can reinforce underneath with a plywood or metal plate but that has to have slots for the screws rather than just holes, too allow for movement.

Des