Galley Worksurface

ShaunG

ShaunG

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I have decided that i am fed up with the galley in my boat, and in a rush of blood to the head i have now removed most of it including all worksurfaces. Any suggestions on what to use for a new worksurface, i intend to fit the fridge and sink under the worksurface and use infills for a smooth worktop, so far I have found laminate faced ply (reasonably priced) or Corian/Mineralle worksirfaces ( fancy plastic composite, expensive) any other suggestions? trying to keep the costs reasonable as the boat is not worth huge amounts

Thanks

Shaun
 
Formica can be had as a single sheet of laminate but is not cheap at about £70 for an 8x4. It can also be a b to cut if you are not used to handling it.
 
I got a local wood merchant to laminate some Formica onto some ply for the galley. Works well but wasn't cheap. I was careful to use the jigsaw with the laminate upside down. What is the laminate on the ply you have found? Sounds like the right solution for an inexpensive boat!
 
I bought an 8 ft by 2ft sheet of formica from one of the formica distributors - about £35. As others have said it's a bit fiddly to work with as it's so brittle. I laminated the old formica right on top of the old stuff (after a good sand down).
 
We replaced ours recently with a normal laminate faced kitchen worktop - is working just fine. We used part of the offcut to make an upstand/splashback. The previous surface was 2" tiles installed by a previous owner - not very hygenic or easy to keep clean.
 
Why can't you use an ordinary kitchen worktop. Any Kitchen fitter would likely have an offcut of a suitable size and with their equipment theu can very easily cut it to size without damaging it. Why would teh worktop in your galley need to be any more robust/watertight than the one in your kitchen?
 
I did mine earlier this year with non slip commercial kitchen vinyl flooring. It looks fantastic (v.similar to corian) and objects don't slide about very easily when heeling so I no longer have to use non slip matts. But I have purchased a couple of silicone heat resistant non slip trivets to go on it and am paranoid that someone will forget to use a chopping board! But that would be the same with most other surfaces too.

Cost £10 for the flooring offcut on eBay and about £15 for the glue to stick it it. The job took a couple of days for quite a large galley with lots of odd angles - all done in one piece with no seams. I also did the area between the galley worktops and cupboards.
 
I have also ripped out most of our galley, and am considering different worksurface tops - the non skid vinyl flooring sounds very neat! Or maybe I will have to go down the Formica route, although the shape of the counter top is rather complicated, and ideally it would be nice to cut it out in one piece - and I am useless at making templates...
I was considering just applying a layer of mat and epoxy on to the existing plywood counter top, and then filling it and painting it, although it will be difficult to get a good finish.

Has anybody got any photos of their modified / re-built galleys that they would like to post here please? Its always nice to get ideas from others.
 
My boat came with worktop in small (about 1") blue tiles. Looks great, easy to clean and doesn't show up every speck of dirt. Prob quite cheap too.
 
I made a template from lining paper and then carefully cut the vinyl with a stanley knife (or should I say SWMBO did it!). Cutting it isn't the easiest job in the world as the vinyl has small lumps of quartz or similar in it. Needed quite a few blades.

I haven't got any decent pics yet but what I have is here:

web page

th_MVI_3726.jpg
 
Not sure if the DIY outfits are still selling it, but you could obtain a variety of patterned & plain, heat resistant, fire surrounds! in sheets of 4'X3' for around £15.00. We used a granite version about 4mm thick, glued onto 15mm Ply. Looks good! and when I learn how to show things!!!!
 
I went the Formica route except it wasn't Formica and was a lot thinner than the stuff I removed. I also used Evostik's repositionable contact adhesive.

The end result is only slightly better than the 25 year old stuff I removed and will be lucky to last 2 years. The laminate is very brittle and the glue (or my gluing) pretty useless. Breaks have appeared in the narrow sections and some is lifting - this is on the used bits, the cosmetic bits look fine.

On the plus side, toluene gives quite a pleasant high!
 
http://www.formica.co.uk/publish/site/eu/uk/en/home/collection/Compact.html


I used this stuff a few years ago in college toilets and laboratories. I often thought it would be perfect for the galley.

It is not that hard to work (use a grinder, router or a jigsaw and plenty of sandpaper)

Many of the companies selling modular toilet systems would sell off cuts or might let you raid their skip.
 
If you decide to use formica which as previously stated is hard to cut. I have found that the easiest way to get an accuratly cut unchiped edge is as follows. Start by applying masking tape to the top surface and mark as required. Then use a jig saw blade that cuts on the down stroke instead of the up stroke This means that you can see the line you are cutting to, and the chipped edge is on the back. You must be careful to feed the jigsaw forward slowly so that it does not lift up. best of luck.
 
Roaring Girl had all black surfaces in the galley when we bought her. V dedpressing and was a high priority to replace. To start with we used formica, with all the angst about cutting and shaping described.

Half of it is now replaced with small tiles bought on a backing sheet from B&Q or Topps Tiles. We chose white (with grey grout) but we've seen it look good in blue too. Much easier to install and to manage afterwards too. We've used the same stuff in the heads too and we're very happy with it for cleaning, handling, looks and even for some small grip when heeling.

We're replacing the other half this winter. The formica does 'work' but it's not nearly as nice, and price wise (if you won't go down a path you don't like in the first place!) there's not a big difference.

Non-skid flooring sounds a good idea though!
 
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