Counter top tid bit

[Al Smith]

A little thing I discovered through an error I commited .I always thought the usage of particle board was just a cheap way to make counter tops which were covered in laminite like Formica .

It turns out the rate of expansion and contraction of partical board is exactly the same as Formica .Unfornuately the rate of good plywood exceeds that by a great amount and causes buckling and cracks in the counter top .

It seems with the 4 by 8 feet kitchen island I was so proud of because of my ignorance I get to refurbish the top long before its time .Live and learn they say .The good thing is I'd much rather be out a couple hundred for Formica as opposed to several thou for granite .

The stuff is coming from Texas so I'll get the "lick my calf over " in a few weeks .

 

[MasterBlaster]

Sonsofbeeches!!!

 

[Che]

sorry Al. I'll pass that tidbit along.

 

[SoonerFan]

Wow, I always thought particle board was crap too.

Live and learn.

 

[pigwot]

Huh, I redid my parents' kitchen four years back and it had been made originally (1967) with cheap exterior grade plywood set into a rabbeted edge in brick mold as the build-up for the edges.

It held up fine. I glued in some blocks of wood and radiused the previously sharp corners, and just re-covered it with standard Wilsonart laminate . that was four years ago and it still looks great with the exception of one small area that had a bubble of air I just couldn't seem to roll out when I re-covered it (middle of a 52" x 112" peninsula).

I just put a little 25" x 25 1/2" countertop together for daughter and son-in-law to add a dishwasher at the end of a run of counter. I had some extra 7-ply, decent quality plywood handy so I used that. Hope it doesn't tear itself apart.

Back when working with a friend at his cabinet shop we almost always used MDF for countertops and cabinets that were covered with laminate, and I thought that was because he was watching expenses.

 

[Al Smith]

From what I could gleen from the net there doesn't seem to be much of a problem if the area is like 18" wide .When you get to like 4 by 8 feet size that's a lot of area which could move at approx 10 times the rate of the laminite .They noted that under certain conditions even good plywood could possiblely move up to 3/8" over a 4 feet wide area . In my case though I'm pretty certain that a wood burning stove didn't help with humidity conditions .

The contact cement will allow for some distortion but once the surface tension is broken it goes which ever direction it wants to .

 

[Cobleskill]

I was gonna say the wood stove is probably the culprit. Makes it bone dry.

 

[Al Smith]

Oh no doubt it was a leading factor .However none of the existing tops ever moved ,cracking nothing but they were relaminated with new Formica over the existing which is on partical board .

 

[sotc]

I llove my granite

 

[pigwot]

I have granite, too. Redid our kitchen in 1998 and used English red Cedar for the cabinets and Rosewood granite, and oak floors:

The refrigerator is pulled out in this pic 'cause it has developed a leak...and only 13 years old...

 

[stig]

Yes, sure is nice for rolling out dough and placing hot things on.

Nice kitchen Pigwot. What is English Red Cedar?

 

[pigwot]

It's just Thuja plicata, but it came from Western Britain, and for some reason looks closer to cherry, but doesn't darken over time like cherry.

 

[stig]

Interesting.
Growing an American tree in England, then exporting the timber from said tree to America.
What'll they think of next?

 

[Dave Shepard]

My neighbors brother in law comes to visit from England and takes home tractor parts, that were made in England.

 

[Al Smith]

Every so often some Brits advertise for Vincent/HRD parts in the states to resurrect British made motorcycles .Exporting lumber comes as no surprise .

 

[woodworkingboy]

Hard to figure why plywood would expand and contract with the wood laminates going in opposing directions, and I thought the substrate is a neutral filler. I know it can warp, however. There is lumber core plywood, a more expensive alternative that has no filler, only more wood laminates glue together, or an outer thin face glues over thick wood blocks in the middle. I always use that if I want to lay a veneer down, and it can be edge glue together better than plywood. Better machining properties as well. I wouldn't say the dust is any less damaging for your health, it is pretty nasty as well.