Corian or similar solid worktop material

[Deleted member 36384]

We are on our second Corian kitchen top and I fitted one in the galley of the yacht when refitted, in white; kitchen ones have been light colour / white as well. If you are fitting a sink, don't fit the corian sinks. We did on one kitchen and the corian was always stained with tea pot discards. It cleaned off okay. On boat and current kitchen fitted stainless sinks. Boat galley top was fitted with offcuts by kitchen fitter after templating, so low cost, just labour plus small cost for the material. Worth looking for offcuts as colours become obsolete as new fashion is pushed, hence old colours can be good. As others state, white is very easy to clean, we use mainly a fine paste to keep clean. Last big stain on the white was a Sharpie (green) permanent marker, polished out okay but with a bit of effort compared to normal marks. If making splash backs, our fitter used curved inside chamfers on the splash back, glued it on the top and then polished it out, you can not see the join, similar on the mitered corners. This is where the solid colours are better as some of the speckled effects can show the joins (first kitchen) but only if you look hard enough. It can be very heavy, so if weight is an issue, use thinner thicknesses but under the edge glue on a strip to give the illusion of a very thick top when the glue line is polished out.

 

[superheat6k]

This stuff is the Mutt's nuts ...

http://www.sheridan-uk.com/worktops/apollo-magna-worktops/

They can also supply it as just the 6mm laminate layer without the chipboard base. Be careful working with it in cold weather as it can become a bit brittle.

The length to do my galley with sufficient offcut for the fwd heads was ~ £160 in 2017. The tap is from Ikea £14.

Galley

Fwd Heads

 

[Mikedefieslife]

In the UK, there's lots of info - see the Duropal link I posted in post 3. Duropal is available throughout Europe and the rest of the world, see the parent company's website - https://www.pfleiderer.com/row/PM/P...nd-HPL-Compact/Duropal-HPL-Compact-black-core

Compacmel Plus is basically MDF, and not ideal for worktops.

Yes i went to their UK website that you linked to. You can't buy it from them, only order samples.

 

[alahol2]

I've thought about going the Corian (or equiv) route to refit the galley. A few questions...

What thickness is required for it to support itself?

Sink and coolbox have drop in covers, I presume I would have to buy enough to make the two hatches separately ie I could't use the cutouts to make the hatches?

My sink (stainless) is 'underslung', can you screw into the underside of Corian? Otherwise is there another way to fit a sink but still have the drop in cover?

Any thoughts on the lift out handles for sink and coolbox covers? The current ones are countersunk lift up rings.

 

[superheat6k]

I've thought about going the Corian (or equiv) route to refit the galley. A few questions...

What thickness is required for it to support itself?

Sink and coolbox have drop in covers, I presume I would have to buy enough to make the two hatches separately ie I could't use the cutouts to make the hatches?

My sink (stainless) is 'underslung', can you screw into the underside of Corian? Otherwise is there another way to fit a sink but still have the drop in cover?

Any thoughts on the lift out handles for sink and coolbox covers? The current ones are countersunk lift up rings.

I used 6mm laminate, as per earlier post. I inset a caravan sink and carefully gauged the hole to sit halfway across the lip around its periphery, so the drop in cover would sit in the other half. I used the cut out from the hob to make the sink cover. The hole serves two purposes - a lift out finger hole, plus it sits direct under the tap so any drips go into the sink below.

For a heavier coolbox lid then two finger holes would be needed (see photos earlier post). I have more available if you want to study the details. The material I used was workable with normal wood working tools. As long as you use a separate cutting board for chopping things it is very resilient.

 

[alahol2]

I inset a caravan sink and carefully gauged the hole to sit halfway across the lip around its periphery, ...

Thanks that all made sense. A final question, how is the sink fixed under the worktop? Glue, screws?

 

[Graham_Wright]

I used 6mm laminate, as per earlier post. I inset a caravan sink and carefully gauged the hole to sit halfway across the lip around its periphery, so the drop in cover would sit in the other half. I used the cut out from the hob to make the sink cover. The hole serves two purposes - a lift out finger hole, plus it sits direct under the tap so any drips go into the sink below.

For a heavier coolbox lid then two finger holes would be needed (see photos earlier post). I have more available if you want to study the details. The material I used was workable with normal wood working tools. As long as you use a separate cutting board for chopping things it is very resilient.

Seeking to avoid finger holes, I have introduced a lever mechanism which nudges the insert up sufficiently to grip it by the edges for liftng out.

 

[superheat6k]

Thanks that all made sense. A final question, how is the sink fixed under the worktop? Glue, screws?

No - the underside is pretty much the original worktop plus fill ins where needed from any odd bits of ply, etc. I then cut the minor hole to accommodate the sink inner dimensions and then routed the edge to accommodate the lip recessed level with the undersurface.

I then made a dummy worktop template with MDF with filler where cockups occurred to get fair edges around the outside and for the sink and hob cut outs, although the hob is less accurate. The template took as long or longer to make than the final work top.

I then cut the laminate off the boat to exactly match the accurate template.

I mentioned the stuff is brittle when cold. Mine cracked at the narrow point where the sink cut out is closest to the edge. As I did not want to buy another top I have lived with it and used Captain Tolley's to seal the crack, which can only be found with a finger nail. If doing this again I would suggest ambients above 10oC would stop the issue of cold weather cracking.

I bedded the laminate down on lots of thick beads of mastic on top of the under surface. Also remove any hard spots protruding from the undersurface. Be aware that once on the only way it is coming off is with a chop saw.

 

[pvb]

Yes i went to their UK website that you linked to. You can't buy it from them, only order samples.

Correct, which is why they list their dealers.

 

[alahol2]

No - the underside is pretty much the original worktop plus fill ins where needed from any odd bits of ply, etc. ...

Thanks Superheat for such a comprehensive how-to. I think I can now start to make a plan. Big problem is that because you also did the heads you've potentially doubled my work.