Laminate/Wood worktop advice please

[Nando]

Hi ,
Can anyone advise please on what is the best or right way to finish where a solid wood worktop & Laminate join - in my case at a corner at rightangle ( if that makes sense ?).
Basically i'm still mulling over ideas for the new kitchen worktops - so no decisions yet but one possibility is down the long sides of the kitchen (the main worktops) would be a dark coloured laminate but at right angles to these i'm thinking of a solid wood top incorporating the butler sink . I know that if i were to use the laminate all around ( not with a butler i know ) i should do the normal routed/bolted joints etc to give the best finish but what about some of the kitchen designs you now see which have "drop in " wooden tops . End to end ie; butted together is one thing but in my case the kitchen is basically a "U" shape =
2 x long sides linked together by the short end (where the window & sink is situated ).
If this sink section was solid wood & the tops down the sides were laminate how best to "joint them" where they meet in the corner - or would i have to use the dreaded metal/plastic strips which i'm trying to avoid ?
A thought just occurred - perhaps i would have to use a small offcut of the laminate to form the right angle joint to the long length of laminate and then that would give me a flate end of laminate to butt against the wooden section ...does that make sense ?
hope i've described this ok - any advice appreciated .

[marc1106]

didnt read all the post!!!!! but wood top to laminate @90 degrees is usually done buy routing the female in the laminte then the male to the wood offer them up get the size of the radius on the laminate then route that to the timber then bisciut joint glue and bolt them together!

[marc1106]

ps dont forget to leave a 5mm gap between the wooden top and any walls it is up against!

[Nando]

didnt read all the post!!!!! but wood top to laminate @90 degrees is usually done buy routing the female in the laminte then the male to the wood offer them up get the size of the radius on the laminate then route that to the timber then bisciut joint glue and bolt them together!

Hi Marc -
Thanks for your advice , just so i'm clear on this ... was my last thought correct in that i should create the right angle " corner " joint by using a small piece of the laminate and routing/bolting/glueing this in the normal fashion which would then leave me with a flat "butt" end of laminate with which to route/biscuit/glue the wooden top to ? Which i would then need to repeat in the other corner ?
Also i understand about leaving the 5 mm gap between wood & wall - but how would this affect where the design has a wooden top butting against the side of a ceramic sink ( which sits proud of the worksurface) rather than the traditional way of wood sitting on top of it - would i still have to leave a 5 mm gap here also ?

[marc1106]

nando no disrespect but have you fitted a kitchen before? if not this may be out of your depth territory! but we will perservre
you just need to join them as you would laminate tops using a router and jig to create masons mitres but you need to radius the top edge of the timber to match the laminates before fitting together if you have a radius top laminate!

as for the sink what sink brand and style have you bought and il be able to give you more info!
hope this helps Marc.

[Nando]

Hi Marc ,
no worries mate ...probably just my attempt at trying to describe the job and not coming across right ...i'm familiar with Laminate's etc just not when jointing to solid wood . To be fair i might not even go for this design 'cos it's still in the choosing stage - just trying to get the whole thing straight in my mind whichever way we go . We've seen some pics of butler type sink with wooden tops but with the rest of the tops in a dark stone effect laminate and it just looked good so that's why i was putting the post out here .
I understand and am ok with routing the profile on wood to match the rounded laminate - no problem , that's what i thought you meant ...what i was trying to confirm was the correct jointing procedure when doing drop in wood tops when connecting to a laminate . In my case , if i was going for this design i would only want wood in the sink area of the worksurface which just happens to be at right angle to the laminates - ie where they meet and form a corner joint .

[marc1106]

ok lets see if i can do this
this is 2m long say
-------------------
[ sink ]
[.. ......................]
[ / / ]
[ / / ]
and each side is 2mtr long too! the dots are your wood top 2m long from wall to wall under window wiith sink in!

the forward slashes represents (badly i know ) your laminates butting up to the wood, at these points you just need female cuts on the wood and male cuts on the laminates and bolt biscuit and glue em! HTH marc

[marc1106]

bugger it didnt work!

[Nando]

It's ok i think i follow - but the layout you're describing is where the wood top goes right across the end wall ( with the sink/window) ie from wall to wall . With the ends of the laminate's butting up against the wood (at right angles) to form the corner ... and all the necessary joints as described ... no worries
BUT ... this is where it get's tricky ...is this the only way in which to joint a wood top to laminate when forming the corner . In other words it has to be flat end butted to flat end and jointed etc or in your description flat end butted to flate(square) face of wood top .
What about if you had this layout -
you have a rectangle shape room 4m long side walls and the end (window) wall 2.8m (where the sink is) . Laminate runs down the complete length of both side walls 4m length and butts up against the end wall , the remaining section of the end wall (window) is a space (roughly) 1.6m long ... and this is where the sink is .
Now if this 1.6m was going to be wood ...how would /can you join this when you have 2x rounded profile laminates to butt against at each end ?
Can't or shouldn't be done ...right ?
See ...what i suspect you would need to do is get the laminate round the corner in the "usual" way (ie routed/bolted )forming the 90 degrees with a short piece of laminate so that what you would be left with is a flat end of laminate to butt joint the wood to instead of the rounded profile .
In other words suppose the missus don't want wood from wall to wall where the window is but prefers a short piece only either side of the sink which isin the middle of the end wall (window) ?
Phew ...i hope i described that ok ( ping - thinks !) i wonder if i could do a diagram and post it ...

[marc1106]

aha now im with you! when you joint worktops using a mitre jig the female cut removes the rounded edge of the laminate so the edge take on a "hockey stick apperance" alog the front edge!

then when the male cut is formed on each end of the timber top the male fits into the female, you can cut the timber top to required length using male cuts


basically going on your mesurements the timber top would be 1650mm long because you would have routed 25mm off of the front edge of the laminate tops!

hope that makes sense!

[Nando]

Hi Marc ,
yep that's fine thanks for your advice ...seems pretty straightforward .
One other matter regarding the sink cutout - "IF" we go the butler/belfast sink route and fit the wooden top etc - i'm sure i read where the wooden top is cut & jointed in 3 sections ie: i piece either side of the sink with the narrower piece at the back of the sink where the taps are situated a seperate piece ...rather than 1 length of top with the sink space cut out . For the record which is right ?

[marc1106]

nah belfasts n butlers can be installed UNDER the top so you just remove what you need too, then lay overtop! always better to have in one peice as theres no joints near the sink which prolongs the life of the top!

[Nando]

Yep , that was my thought as well - makes perfect sense .
Thanks for all your advice with this - just gonna look into the different wood types now

[royaloakcarpentry]

have a look at http://www.woodentops.co.uk

Used to use them for timber work surfaces for the hand made kitchens. If you are good at setting and marking out, then you will be able to send them a drawing and have the worktop delivered already done for Belfast sink. They will probably be able to post form the edge to match your laminated tops too.

[Nando]

Hi RoyalOak ,
Thanks for the link - i'll give them a look up .