Kitchen cabinets last for a very long time. You will repaint the walls, and do many home renovations before you consider replacing your kitchen cabinets because they provide such good service, and they cost so much to replace. You can replace just the countertop on your kitchen cabinets and give them a fresh new look that matches the rest of the home décor. To properly measure for your countertops you will need to measure the length of the cabinet. You will need forty five degree angles cut when the cabinet is going to join another cabinet. Almost all kitchen cabinets are 24” wide so preformed countertops will normally be 24” in width.
Kitchen countertops can be purchased in preformed lengths from most home improvement stores. You can measure your cabinets and then go to the home improvement center and buy new replacements. The pre-made countertops also come already cut at forty five degree angles for easy installation, and they have back splashes attached if you want them. These countertops are easy to install for beginner and professional alike.
You can get the measurements for your old sink by looking at the sink from underneath. If you cannot determine the size you may have to remove the sink first. If the mounting flanges around the sink have been exposed to water for a long period of time, they may very well become rusty and be incapable of supporting the weight of your sink. This is the only draw-back to stainless steel sinks, because when the mounting flange is compromised the sink is then useless. When removing the sink makes certain you do not dam age the edges that hold the sink in place. When you cut out for your sin you need to make the corners rounded or your sink will not fit in properly.
You can do custom designed countertops by taking ¾ “plywood and cutting it to fit over your cabinets. Then you can faux paint the plywood to create a marble effect, or any of the other faux paint jobs. You will want to coat the countertop with several layers of polyurethane coating to create a durable surface that can withstand the demands of kitchen duty.
You can choose to put the plywood on your countertops and then take a blow torch and burn the wood grain on it slightly to create a unique looking countertop. You will then coat the countertop with several layers of polyurethane to protect the wood from water, and heat damage. Polyurethane is also self-leveling so it will fill in spots that are slightly uneven.
Whenever you choose to build your own countertops from plywood, you will need to build a backsplash or install a tile backsplash behind the countertop. This is really important behind the sink area of the cabinet.
Countertops are usually help in place by carpenters glue and screws that are put into place from underneath the cabinet. The drawback to using the carpenters glue in conjunction with the screws is that the carpenters glue will eliminate the possibility of you removing the countertop in the future.
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