Home DIY

I’m looking to DIY a worktop for my utility room.

I need to span about 130cm above a washing machine and tumble dryer and the depth needs to run from 90-70cm to fill the space.

It needs to be relatively easily moveable, so was thinking of a French cleats against the left wall, timber bolted onto the rear wall for support, with the floating edge supported by kitchen island type legs.

What material would be recommended?
I was thinking marine ply and then sealing.
Alternatively an island size laminate worktop to chop down, though there would be quite a bit of wastage.

Marine ply is not worth the BS stamp on it unless you are ordering from somewhere like Robbens that spec the veneer material and are actually building a boat that will be used in saltwater.

If painting get WBP from a reputable supplier, if staining/varnishing then Birch.

Smith’s epoxy sealer will make it waterproof.

I suppose I could also order a solid wood (maybe beech) length of 3m, and then I'll be left with loads of spare wood for projects.

170x96cm is a pretty big chopping board.

Do you have access to restaurant /industrial supply places that do hardwood tops? We have a John Boos top in our kitchen but they're cheap enough to use for utility too, depending on budget.

Looks lovely, though probably outside of budget.
Worktop Express are doing 3000x960x40 premium beech worktop for £275+delivery.

Looks like John Boos would be considerably more!

Ah well, just using them as an example since I'm in Canada and was less for us than your quoted price for a 30" x 96" slab in maple. Not high end by any stretch, but neither are we.

Agreed,
and, I have changed the brushes on a SIP 12 inch cross cut mitre saw.
Repalcement brushes sourced from China,
as such low value/cost items fell foul of SIP's standard delivery charge.
(Toolstation offered it for just over a ton a few years back.
Not great for precision work, even with a better cutting disc,
but fine for gardening work).

Minor rant: why does this* bathroom friendly pendant light come woth TWO METRES of cable?! The IP44 connection block is already annoying to deal with never mind trying to bundle up 1.7m of cord inside the rose :/

*not the one in the photo

Electrician is round tomorrow to connect the hob/oven, so might get him to chop things up and do a much neater job of things than I could.

At least the first of the new lights are in:

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Tips on sorting this shit show… I’m thinking painting the concrete black, regrouting and replacing a couple of tiles. Will try and neaten up end of path pre paint too, just skim some new ready mix on?

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Are hardwood tops more resistant to rot? Probably gonna have to replace my worktop around my sink at some point as it's not in a good way, exacerbated by the fact it's cut to close to the Belfast sink with nothing to stop drops other than some manky silicon.

130cm x 90cm

That's not that big. I'd probably grab a sheet of ply from a DIY place that does cutting and then screw and glue a couple of bits together. Sand the edges and paint with something.

How much action is it going to see?

Errrrr marine ply has nothing to do with the veneer.

Marine ply conforms to the same adhesive specs as WBP (using the same test in QC; a sample is submerged in boiling water for one hour, the sample cannot delaminate) the difference between marine ply and wbp is that marine ply cannot have any voids in the construction.

The standards above are accepted by the timber industry and are laid out in the following documents (if you fancy some bedtime reading): (BS) EN 13986, (BS) EN 636, (BS) EN 314, (BS) EN 635-3.

If you haven't already ordered solid wood furniture boards may be worth a look, great quality and comes in other species too. It will come in thinner thicknesses than worktop which will make it easier to manoeuvre.

It’s not going to be a food prep surface, so was thinking of ply, would need 2 sheets if I was to double up due to the size, so about £90
I had a look in B&Q and Wickes, the ply looked a bit ropy, with lots of voids.

Marine ply is quite a bit more expensive, but seemed more water resistant and better quality. Starts getting to solid wood prices, so leaning towards a 3000x960x40 length of prime beech worktop for £270, and keeping the 50% off cut for other DIY purposes.

I wouldn't ever recommend wood work tops around a sink.

If you must do it:

1. Use a tropical hardwood such as iroko as it is more rot resistant than oak; be warned it's also much harder, heavier and prone to burning when cut with power tools.
   
2. Have a sink that sits ON TOP of the worksurface (realise this is probably too late for you)
   
3. If having a Belfast type sink have a good lip all the way round the sink and cut a drip into the underside.
   
4. Seal all endgrain with a penetrating finish and multiple coats such as Rubio Monocoat (natural)
   

It’s also an odd shape, as the utility room is narrower on one side, so the worktop needs to be 90cm depth on the left edge, 65cm depth on the other edge, with a cutout to the left rear for boiler and UFH pipes.

I suppose I could use cheaper ply as a test and use as a template for a more expensive solution later.

Why didn't you just chop the cable down?

Ply from places like b and q or Wickes is always rubbish for sheetgoods in London builder depot is good but almost all sheet goods are currently at astronomical prices.

Yeah not my choice but not sure how we fix it without at least a small remodel (=£), especially as Wren don't make it easy to buy small bits. *

Actually maybe it could be done but might look awkward. New wood with drip ledge would seem the easiest choice. Doesn't solve the problem of people dripping their wet hands around the taps and not drying it up though.

Visited an Airbnb the other week with what liked like a very new kitchen and the wood tops were already going grey around the taps.

*Actually seems you can order doors on their site now, that opens up some options.

Ours is an integrated unit with drain boards on either side, forming a solid top that avoids excessive contact with the wood countertop. I would never recommend a wood surround for a sink.

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Would it be bad to repair the chips with enamel paint? It's a lovely thing.

I’ve done it in the bowl of the sink, but haven’t bothered with areas that won’t rust (not in our climate anyway). Honestly I kind of like them, and they’re less chips than abrasions, so there’s no edges to catch. I can’t really imagine what caused those in the first place, 1930s porcelain was tough as fuck.
Thanks by the way, we think it’s beautiful too!

Couldn't see what species these are!

Totally depends on how it was installed, wood was cut and endgrain sealed, and how much maintenance has been done to the wood.

I've done several over the years, underslung sink (stainless is a lot easier to seal and manage than ceramic types), attached to underside of a perfectly routed out hole in the worktop. Sanded to almost glass level smoothness on the bottom where it will contact the sink, the top and the endgrain has to be ridiculously smooth. Then treat with whatever your chemical of choice and oil it, keep oiling it for around 6 months every few weeks without fail.

Last year I redid ours (had some deep cuts and a burn from a chemical spill), redid with tongue oil (not great, hard to work with, takes days to dry between coats and doesn't give much protection at all, but the colour is spot on), then smooth it all up again and coat in Osmo clear/ wax oil type protection. Been 6 months since I did that and maybe just about thinking about another coat of Osmo.

Sink wood area has a hard life, we don't have a dishwasher so area is in constant use, its a main sink and a small side sink with wood surface running between the two (in hindsight I might have just left it as one giant hole). It developed a crack in the first month of use (5 years+ ago) due to the oak being very thin here, handling and TBH I think I did stand on this part when doing something with the ceiling, filled and then been fine ever since. We have no staining, no mould anywhere never have, and no deterioration in any way.

Up until last years refresh, so between 6 months old and about 4 -5 years, if I gave it one quick wire wool job and a cotton swab of oil in a year, it would have been a busy year.

Where most folk go wrong is the relationship between the sink itself and the wood, too much gap, no enough gap, drip bead, no drip bead, use of silicon, not use of silicone, but mostly lack of surface finishing and treatment of the exposed end grain, every sink I've seen fitted in other houses this area has been rough and with many small defects which lets water gather there, or get inside the wood easily leading to at the least mould within 6-24 months of use.

This is the most ideal sink I've ever seen, extreme practicality!