A bamboo counter top leads to a tropical and Asian touch to your kitchen counter top design. It not only looks exotic, but is a hard wearing, strong and very effective to spills and knocks.
All about the Long Lasting Strength of Bamboo
Bamboo is very strong because it is different than other woods, due to it having every strand perfectly straight. It is the only tree, which grows absolutely straight. It has no knots like you would find in a normal tree. It is a very light material which does not shrink and expand as much as standard wood.
It is possible to make a solid green bamboo counter top with bamboo structural planks or even unfinished bamboo flooring planks. It is an enjoyable job which can create a quality exclusive design for your kitchen.
An Easy Job for Most Handymen
Make the counter at least 2 inches thick. It gives a strong and modern, long wearing look, design and feel, compared to the bamboo planks with nosing edges. These have been used in the past and have not been as durable.
Make the counter top on site and then do the small amount of sanding required. Due to the form of bamboo, these are easily completed tasks with only take a small amount of time. It can the be finished with regular urethane or epoxy resin.
Bamboo is a good choice for durable counter top surfaces, because it is harder than other hardwoods available and has a more distinctive finish.
The thick stable long lasting sheets of bamboo have a style all of there own and are a great alternative to standard design wood counter tops.
Bamboo Counters, which are hard wearing still should not be used as a cutting service as it will mark the outside of strong bands in the make up of the word. Bamboo cutting boards, (or even just your standard chopping boards) Should be put on the countertops, which use special food grade quality glues that wont taint the food.
Different Styles
There are various styles and grades available of the bamboo counter top.
1. The sheets - Most sheets used in this type of construction have a thickness of two inches. They have cross-band laminates and most companies find that this is the best way to glue bamboo.
This method the sheet is kept both flat and true and it reduces the tendency to twist or any changes in the wood.
2. Vertical solid amber bamboo plywood. This method uses a service, which is doubled up on the edges to make it up to 1 1/2 inches thick. For the top you can use a water based acrylic to coat the top.
The vertical solid bamboo plywood is used here because it resembles solid wood and is an environment friendly choice for counter tops.
The grain of the bamboo is important, and it can be standard or parquet. Parquetry is a geometric design of wood pieces used for decorative effect.
The unfinished sheets are spliced together with suitable glue for kitchen surfaces. The final covering would be best done with mineral or walnut oil and the sealing is done with bee's wax in order to maintain the bamboo counter top. Both the flat grain and the vertical grain are available in the smaller sizes, whereas the caramelized parquet end grain is available in larger sizes.
A Bamboo Counter Top can show your originality of design and style that no one else will have. It's a great way to build value into your home as well as being functionally and cool!
When most think of a stone counter top most think of a solid granite counter top but you can make your own stone counter top by using stone tile. By using stone tile you have an almost unlimited color choices and your imagination is the only limit to the design possibilities. You can use almost any type of stone tile from sleet to marble you may choose the mix and match adding an accent piece of a different stone.
Before you began as a good idea to visit not only a kitchen design store but also to a flooring store most of the stores have a display set up so that you can visualize your new kitchen counter tops the stores will also have many pictures of different kitchens these pictures can help you pick a design or to aid you in coming up with your own design.
The basic steps involved in installing a tile counter top are as follows. First you will have to remove the old counter top. The next step is to install 3/4in. plywood on top of the old cabinets this will give us a base. On top of the plywood you will need to install was called cement backer board this is readily available at any home center and is commonly used when installing tile in wet areas such as bathrooms. The cement board will need to be fastened to the plywood using thin set mortar. It is a good idea to cover and tape off the wood surfaces of your cabinets so that you do not get any mortar on them.
You are now ready to begin installing your tile but Before you began take some time and layout the tile exactly the way you want It. Make sure the design and layout is what you want And also check that you do not end up with any weird sections for example when you get to the sink area you do not want to have any small pieces of tile exposed. His also a good idea at this time to physically layout your back splash Again so that you do not end up with any small chunks of tile say at the corners.
There are a few basic tools that you'll need to install your countertop aside from common but hand tools you'll need a notch trowel for spreading the mortar you also need a way to cut the tile this can be done with either a score and snap type tile cutter for what I recommend an inexpensive water cooled tile saw. These can easily be purchased for about $100.00 for can be rented have most tool rental stores.
Both Peter Dd Vizard & Megan Cherry are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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