Thinking of doing wood counters, questions…

Billm0066

Bill
User
I’m purchasing a lake house that has laminate counters. Normally I just throw granite down but I wanted something more unique. 95% of my wood working is cutting boards so I’m leaning towards doing wood counters but have questions. There’s isn’t a lot of counter space. they will only be used on weekends so no heavy use.

I’m leaning towards zebra wood or walnut. I have a ton of zebra wood already and do have some 8/4 walnut but would have to buy more. The zebra wood is 4/4 and 5/4.

If I do zebrawood I’m thinking of going with facegrain and use 3/4 ply for a backer to get some more thickness. Then doing a 45 along the edges and wrap it with zebrawood on the edge to give a thick appearance. It would be 1/4” roundover. I would domino the zebrawood together and attach to plywood with glue. Would that hold up? Or rip into 1.5” strips and make a big cutting board. I need to check my boards to see how grain looks but I think face grain will look better since it will be more continuous.

if it’s walnut I would just use 6/4 or 8/4. Face grain or edge grain. Face grain always has me worried about cupping and it’s the least durable.

Finish would be waterlox on the entire thing. Some good photos below of different species.

.
 

Oka

Casey
Corporate Member
A couple of suggestions
Zebra wood is almost twice as hard as Walnut. I would look at matching the wood hardness as well, or you probably would need to pre treat the walnut to harden it. Reason being, you want the wood deflecting the same to impacts.
The other thing is figuring what hard finish you want to use. Some kind of epoxy I would think or arm r seal. Then make a tiny mock up of the wood and finish it to see if it is going to work prior to making the counters.
I am thinking of doing something similar and these were the 1 st thoughts that came to mind.
 

Phil S

Phil Soper
Staff member
Corporate Member
I am currently remodeling and wood is also my choice for the countertops. This will be my third home with wood, the first two I used maple flooring on a 3/4 ply substrate with a 2 x 2 maple nose milled to fit.
I always use Waterlox Original - about 6 coats and then every couple of years a light sand and wipe on, one more coat renews it.
In my current remodel I am using cherry - specifically 8/4 quarter sawn curly cherry from northern PA. The main island is 52" x 150" Here are some process photos

IMG_6231.jpg
IMG_6240.jpg
 

mlzettl

Matt
Corporate Member
I second Phil's recommendation on Waterlox Original. It is hard, durable, and is easy to repair. I would not be in favor of laminating whatever wood you choose to plywood simply because of the fact that wood moves, plywood does not. Waterlox provides a finish that shows off the would more "naturally" than epoxy, polyurethane, etc., which in my opinion tend to look like plastic on top of the wood. Additionally, scratches and other problems are more difficulty to repair with those types of finishes. Finish both sides of the wood just as one would do with a dining table top, etc. Of course, these are just my opinions, but are based on personal experience with all of the products that I have mentioned, as well as with wood kitchen countertops.
 

Oka

Casey
Corporate Member
What about in a bathroom as the vanity counter? would you still use waterlox ?
 

Billm0066

Bill
User
A couple of suggestions
Zebra wood is almost twice as hard as Walnut. I would look at matching the wood hardness as well, or you probably would need to pre treat the walnut to harden it. Reason being, you want the wood deflecting the same to impacts.
The other thing is figuring what hard finish you want to use. Some kind of epoxy I would think or arm r seal. Then make a tiny mock up of the wood and finish it to see if it is going to work prior to making the counters.
I am thinking of doing something similar and these were the 1 st thoughts that came to mind.

One or the other not mixing.
 

Billm0066

Bill
User
I am currently remodeling and wood is also my choice for the countertops. This will be my third home with wood, the first two I used maple flooring on a 3/4 ply substrate with a 2 x 2 maple nose milled to fit.
I always use Waterlox Original - about 6 coats and then every couple of years a light sand and wipe on, one more coat renews it.
In my current remodel I am using cherry - specifically 8/4 quarter sawn curly cherry from northern PA. The main island is 52" x 150" Here are some process photos

View attachment 202707View attachment 202708

looks amazing. How do you typically apply waterlox?

your top is face grain right? Do you domino or biscuit them together?
 

zdorsch

Zach
Corporate Member
I used waterlox on two bathroom countertops over 8/4 cherry and apart from a bathroom cleaner leaving a ring on one I have had zero issues. I’m guessing the cleaner was set down wet and left for several days, but I have no idea since it’s a kids bath that I don’t use on a regular basis. I’m hoping to get away with sanding the area and reapplying waterlox instead of sanding the entire top!
 

marinosr

Richard
Corporate Member
I had no idea Waterlox was so repairable, and good in wet environments. Sounds like I should be looking into it some more. Thx all for the rec.
 

Willemjm

Willem
Corporate Member
I’m purchasing a lake house that has laminate counters. Normally I just throw granite down but I wanted something more unique. 95% of my wood working is cutting boards so I’m leaning towards doing wood counters but have questions. There’s isn’t a lot of counter space. they will only be used on weekends so no heavy use.

I’m leaning towards zebra wood or walnut. I have a ton of zebra wood already and do have some 8/4 walnut but would have to buy more. The zebra wood is 4/4 and 5/4.

If I do zebrawood I’m thinking of going with facegrain and use 3/4 ply for a backer to get some more thickness. Then doing a 45 along the edges and wrap it with zebrawood on the edge to give a thick appearance. It would be 1/4” roundover. I would domino the zebrawood together and attach to plywood with glue. Would that hold up? Or rip into 1.5” strips and make a big cutting board. I need to check my boards to see how grain looks but I think face grain will look better since it will be more continuous.

if it’s walnut I would just use 6/4 or 8/4. Face grain or edge grain. Face grain always has me worried about cupping and it’s the least durable.

Finish would be waterlox on the entire thing. Some good photos below of different species.

.

If you use 3/4” ply under 4/4 Zebra wood face grain remember to allow at least 1.25% wood movement between winter and summer for the hardwood.

So for Zebra wood and a 36” deep counter top, you are looking at the top expanding 3/8” across the grain in summer and shrinking 3/8” in winter, for the Zebra wood, while the ply remains at a firm dimension, causing stress.

You would have to allow for that in your design by using plywood strips, instead of a solid sheet.

If it was me, I would coat with M L Campbell 2k Urethane as a first choice, and their Cab Acrylic as a second choice. That would give you the best combination of scratch resistance, moisture resistance and resistance to food and chemical stains. The Cab Acrylic will stay water white over the years, while the 2K may yellow slightly.

We have just done a 103” x 60” x 1.75” Ambrosia Maple top for a customer as a kitchen island top. We used Cab Acrylic and it really popped the figure. It came out superb.

 
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Phil S

Phil Soper
Staff member
Corporate Member
looks amazing. How do you typically apply waterlox?
pour some on, distribute over entire surface, wait 10 minutes and then wipe off with paper towels

your top is face grain right? Do you domino or biscuit them together?
face is quarter sawn
A few dominoes were used for joint alignment, basically a simple glue joint
 

whitecrane8

New User
Oberon
I am currently remodeling and wood is also my choice for the countertops. This will be my third home with wood, the first two I used maple flooring on a 3/4 ply substrate with a 2 x 2 maple nose milled to fit.
I always use Waterlox Original - about 6 coats and then every couple of years a light sand and wipe on, one more coat renews it.
In my current remodel I am using cherry - specifically 8/4 quarter sawn curly cherry from northern PA. The main island is 52" x 150" Here are some process photos

View attachment 202707View attachment 202708
wow!!!
 

Billm0066

Bill
User
Soooo… did the OP go with wood?
Nope sold the house before I did the kitchen. I hate unfinished projects but we were not using the lake house as much as we liked so I bought a duplex with that money instead and plan to buy a couple more. Oh well..
 

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