New Counters, and it only took us 11 years!
Yep, you heard that right, 11 years after building a shiny new home we decided it was time we actually replaced the Formica counter tops that we chose as "Temporary" because we could not decide on a color for stone ones.
This involved removing that 400lbs cast iron farm sink that drove the builders insane. Fruit Guy helped me heft the bad boy out a couple weeks ago. No hernias for either of us old dudes.
Unfortunately, while we were hefting this bad boy we discovered that it was the only thing keeping the sink cabinet doors in place. Apparently, they'd broken off the front of the cabinet when the installers butchered them to make the cast iron sink fit.
I did a fair amount of googling only to find that the cabinet manufacturer no longer exists as a going concern. I did find a couple pending law suits filed against the former company in an attempt to collect from a bankruptcy. I also tried to find a match for that router bits that made those cabinet door profiles, no luck there either. Too bad, I was hoping for a matching raised panel across the top of the doors.
I was able to find some Maple that's a close match for the cabinet color. I also found a bottle of 11 year old finish the builder gave me that they used as touch up paint for the crap job they did marrying the sink to the cabinets. Let's just say they are better builders and framers than they are cabinet makers. I cleaned off all the tools I got from Dad's Work Shop and managed to get a tight fit from the new wood to the existing cabinet face frame.
Someone had butchered the styles on the face frame but fortunately all three were long by 1/8" so I was able to work them down with a sharp chisel until they were flush. Then sanded them and the top of the rails using a right angle sanding block. Not exactly a joiner but it did a good job of getting me a smooth, square, true edge. I repeated the process on the bottom edge and ends of the panel I intended to attach until it fit tight. Fortunately, there were two trim styles on either side of the cabinet that covered the framing that held up the cast iron sink. I attached them to either side of the face frame to use as styles for the new assembly. Once all this was prepared, I glued and pocket screwed the entire face frame together.
AM was a little disappointed that I could not re-use the dead space on either side of the cabinet as a cookie sheet / spice rack. I partitioned off a portion of the cabinet for cookie sheets with a little bit of scrap pine and luan. Happy Wife!
I have to say, I'm really pleased with the outcome. It looks way better than I dared hope it would. One little hick-up no one noticed until the end. That can of finish the builder left turned out to be good despite being 11 years old. Unfortunately, it was High-Gloss and the rest of the cabinets are Semi-Gloss. So far, I'm the only one that noticed.
Muck
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| We went with the Aurora Quartz Those white specs are mirrors They flash rainbows as you move by. |
This involved removing that 400lbs cast iron farm sink that drove the builders insane. Fruit Guy helped me heft the bad boy out a couple weeks ago. No hernias for either of us old dudes.
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| OK, Technically... This is the before picture. That white blob under the window... |
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| It's enameled / epoxied cast iron. |
Unfortunately, while we were hefting this bad boy we discovered that it was the only thing keeping the sink cabinet doors in place. Apparently, they'd broken off the front of the cabinet when the installers butchered them to make the cast iron sink fit.
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| Here you can see the 2 x 4 framing they added between dishwasher, cabinet, and corner cabinet. only thing keeping 400lbs of cast iron against the wall was copper fittings and two dry wall screws holding them in place. |
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| Doors are not as necessary as a working temporary sink. Builders also hacked the sides of the cabinet for the sink's front apron to fit over. |
I was able to find some Maple that's a close match for the cabinet color. I also found a bottle of 11 year old finish the builder gave me that they used as touch up paint for the crap job they did marrying the sink to the cabinets. Let's just say they are better builders and framers than they are cabinet makers. I cleaned off all the tools I got from Dad's Work Shop and managed to get a tight fit from the new wood to the existing cabinet face frame.
Someone had butchered the styles on the face frame but fortunately all three were long by 1/8" so I was able to work them down with a sharp chisel until they were flush. Then sanded them and the top of the rails using a right angle sanding block. Not exactly a joiner but it did a good job of getting me a smooth, square, true edge. I repeated the process on the bottom edge and ends of the panel I intended to attach until it fit tight. Fortunately, there were two trim styles on either side of the cabinet that covered the framing that held up the cast iron sink. I attached them to either side of the face frame to use as styles for the new assembly. Once all this was prepared, I glued and pocket screwed the entire face frame together.
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| Old face frame dry fit with new panel attached above cabinet doors. |
Hope I never have to get that outThe bad news is that I never noticed that the assembly is 1/8" higher that the rest of the cabinetry. Fit great under the temporary sink and someone hacked the old Formica top to make the trim styles fit. Night before the stone arrived, I pulled up the temporary sink and Formica tops and just about fainted. 1/8" may not seem like much but given the weight of stone and it's rigidity, it's not as forgiving about such defects. Left side of the sink frame was 1/4" higher than the right side to boot and I'd forgotten to replace the ledger board on the back edge. Thank God for chalk strings or I'd never have gotten the 8' span true with a 4' level. I ended up with Dad's old planer shaving 1/8" off the top of the new face frame assembly and ran the left frame section through my table saw until the whole span was true and level.
it's too big to fit through the doors.
I have to say, I'm really pleased with the outcome. It looks way better than I dared hope it would. One little hick-up no one noticed until the end. That can of finish the builder left turned out to be good despite being 11 years old. Unfortunately, it was High-Gloss and the rest of the cabinets are Semi-Gloss. So far, I'm the only one that noticed.
Muck