Glueing advice needed, please.

[trevtheturner]

Hi All,

I am currently refurbishing our utility room and am installing a worktop, just under 3m long, along one wall. Worktops from the sheds only seem to come 600mm wide, with 'breakfast bars' available to order at 900mm wide but only up to 2 m long. I want a top 700mm wide.

Bought a standard 28mm worktop, have trimmed off the post-formed edge, and biscuit-jointed pine along its length to provide the necessary width. I now want to cover it (it will be installed upside down, to provide a better glueing surface?) with oak boards. This comes from my stock, bought at Ledbury auction last January, which I have resawn to 13mm and then thicknessed to 10mm. With care I can join all the boards with biscuits. When the top is covered the front edge will be finished with a 10mm thick oak lipping. Expansion gap around the walls, 10mm, will be filled with silicone sealant, the wall tiles will be set 3mm above the finished height of the top and this gap will be filled with silicone rather than grout.

The question is: what adhesive do I use to fix the oak boards to the worktop?

I normally use PVA for wood, but this needs clamping. Have considered using a polyurethane, e.g. one of the Titebond range, but again this needs clamping. I can't do this because of the width involved, so would weights on top provide sufficient force until the glue is cured. Alternatively my thoughts are turning towards using a contact adhesive of the Evo-Stik type. I can do the assembly, preferably in situ, but could do it on the bench if necessary. Would prefer to do it in situ because of the finished weight.

Any thoughts and suggestions will be welcome.

(Clamping the lipping will not be a problem, but I will probably have to buy some of those nice Bessey edge clamps to do it! :roll: )

Cheers,

Trev.

 

[Bean]

Trev I'm not sure if this helps. I have done this but with sheet materials, ply actually ! and it is still in place working as it should. So I suppose based on that you could use evostick, but i wonder if you may run into problems laying the boards on the worktop :?

Bean

 

[trevtheturner]

Thanks Bean.

Remember Ikea? When I looked into their solid beech worktops I found the same as everywhere else - could supply the length but not the width or the width but not the length. And their delivery charge from my nearest store, Bristol, to Hereford was £80!

Cheers,

Trev.

 

[Midnight]

Trev... I'm not sure that I'm reading this right.... but if I am, I'm not sure that you should be glung the oak to the worktop, at least, not over it's full width. I'd be inclined to glue / biscuit joint it to the top at the outer edge, and let the rest float...

If I'm wide of the mark, forgive me..... having one of my blonde days....

 

[trevtheturner]

Mike,

Thanks for that - something I hadn't thought of and just the sort of guidance and advice I need. Your reasoning being, presumably, that any expansion/contraction as it occurs in the oak will be catered for by the expansion joint around the edges, if I leave it floating except for the front edge. Makes good sense to me and shouldn't subsequently cause any problems in normal use.

Thanks again,

Cheers,

Trev.

 

[tim]

Trev,

I'm in hairyfordshire too! Junckers make a variety of worktops in various woods - mainly quite narrow strips - like the Ikea ones but the tops themselves are available in several widths - I have a couple that are 650 and I know they do ones for peninsulas that are wider maybe 800 but not 3m long. Jewsons stock them but you might get cheaper in TP or Tudors. They are good - I've been using one as a workbench top for 4 years even though its only 28 mm and also as a kitchen worktop - danish oil once a year!

Hope this helps.

T

 

[tx2man]

What Midnight said.

Also, i would think it fairly risky using contact adhesive with
a finished size piece as you've only got one shot at positioning
it.

TX

 

[Steve Maskery]

Trev
Maybe this is a bit late, as you've gone this far, but I would make my own.
Buy a 10ft sheet of MDF or chipboard, certainly the MDF is a stock size, and rout your own post-formed edge. Then cover both your MDF and laminate with contact adhesive. When it has dried properly, cover the MDF with wallpaper except for the very front edge. Put your laminate on, and carefully withdraw the wallpaper as you press down. If you are unsure about the post-formed edge, leave it, and apply it as a solid lipping afterwards.
10mm for expansion on a man-made board is loads, I'd say.
There are companies like Permabond who will do you specials at quite reasonable prices
HTH
Steve

 

[Anonymous]

Trev

To be honest, I wouln't let it float as loose boards on top of a worktop surface. I would evostick the 10mm boards down as if they were a laminate. I have done this before using pine T+G boards without problems in a bathroom which has higher humidity and should induce more movement.
If the top was thick oak planks, then I would agree with Midnight and if it were a floor I would again agree. However, with a worktop and the solid front edge I suspect that board mvement will cause an uneven work surface as gaps appear and boards pucker up

 

[trevtheturner]

Hello everybody.

Been adrift for a while 'cos the old 'puter went up the chute. Now got some new kit so up and running again.

Thanks, fellas, for your advice on this topic. Worktop completed and extremely pleased with result - and LOML is amazed (and didn't notice all the nice new Bessey clamps :twisted: ).

I'm astounded at the number of new topics since I went AWOL mid-November - many happy hours of reading ahead of me to catch up.

Cheers,

Trev.

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi Trev

Glad to have you back.

All the best.
Neil

 

[Bean]

Hi trev I wondered where you had gone, good to have you back.

Bean

 

[Midnight]

Trev the Turner..... Live and Unleashed.. :wink:

good to see ya back bud.... commiserations bout the puter probs...

 

[trevtheturner]

Ta muchly, fellas - it's good to be back, to see the vigorous discussions, the wealth of wit and good humour, and to pick up lots of good tips!

Cheers,

Trev.