Back to working on the house again, fun fun. Last big project inside though, Kitchen. It was pretty nasty before, 30 years old and moldy which is why everything is pretty much stored on the counters in the "before" pictures.
Don't plan on living here for much more than a couple more years so I got some mid range cabinets that seem to be good quality and are not junk. Still want a marketable house. Just over 3k for all of them made to order no install.
Anyways now I'm onto counters and I just couldn't bring myself to spend over 1k on laminate. I don't like laminate and don't think I ever will. I hate not being able to use a knife anywhere, set a hot pan anywhere or prep food anywhere.
So for whatever unknown reason I decided " hey I'll make my own stainless counters". I like stainless and have too many connections in the metal fab industry. The wife didn't like the idea because she just wants a counter and sink back but eventually I got the " Fine whatever" which was good enough for me.
Obviously I'll be using 304 and after talking to a few people it sounds like 16 gauge is the size many opt for to reduce any chance of denting even though a residential kitchen is much less abusive. I decided to spend the extra money to get a 4b finish it's not even going to add up to an extra $100 and I think the added appearance will easily be worth that.
Now my dilemmas I don't quite have sorted out.
I was planning on making my counters out of wood then wrapping that with the stainless. I hate wood but is there any reason simply using two sheets of 3/4 plywood wouldn't work well?.
I will have the sink cutout before shearing and forming the stainless. have a few buddies with CNC plasmas, one with an HD. Been told plasma makes a bit of a mess on this stuff but figured with the sink covering it up it shouldn't be a big deal and will be much cheaper and faster than waiting for someone with a laser to do it.
For the edge I just plan to have a normal square edge with 1" overhang, 1.5" thick counter and .5" wrapping under.
The backsplash I haven't decided on yet. Since I'll have a lot of waste anyways I thought about just using 5x10 sheets and having the backsplash go to the bottoms of the cabinets. This would mean cutting out for the outlets though. Any electricians know if there is anything special I would need to do with them being that close to metal? It would solve my texture/ paint issue since the old cabinets were large that the new ones there are gaps I need to re texture. The few kitchens I have seen online looked nice with the full backsplash. Otherwise I would probably just do a 4 or 5" whatever covers up what used to be there and I would probably make it an inch thick versus being flush on the wall.
My next dilemma is the one I can't seem to get any good answers out of people as they all seem to want me to spend thousands with them. The mitered corner. I will have at least one of these. I had just planned on welding it and burnishing it. With a good enough welder it shouldn't deform I would think and a nice straight burnished line won't look bad but for whatever reason the suppliers I was talking too kind of hee hawwed that idea.
I almost have to do the one miter but could get away without doing the one next to the Stove as I thought about just putting butcher block on both sides of the stove.
I'll attach some pics. Just looking for some ideas if anybody has some. Right now If I went with 16 gauge with a #4b finish I'll still only have $400 in materials.
Don't plan on living here for much more than a couple more years so I got some mid range cabinets that seem to be good quality and are not junk. Still want a marketable house. Just over 3k for all of them made to order no install.
Anyways now I'm onto counters and I just couldn't bring myself to spend over 1k on laminate. I don't like laminate and don't think I ever will. I hate not being able to use a knife anywhere, set a hot pan anywhere or prep food anywhere.
So for whatever unknown reason I decided " hey I'll make my own stainless counters". I like stainless and have too many connections in the metal fab industry. The wife didn't like the idea because she just wants a counter and sink back but eventually I got the " Fine whatever" which was good enough for me.
Obviously I'll be using 304 and after talking to a few people it sounds like 16 gauge is the size many opt for to reduce any chance of denting even though a residential kitchen is much less abusive. I decided to spend the extra money to get a 4b finish it's not even going to add up to an extra $100 and I think the added appearance will easily be worth that.
Now my dilemmas I don't quite have sorted out.
I was planning on making my counters out of wood then wrapping that with the stainless. I hate wood but is there any reason simply using two sheets of 3/4 plywood wouldn't work well?.
I will have the sink cutout before shearing and forming the stainless. have a few buddies with CNC plasmas, one with an HD. Been told plasma makes a bit of a mess on this stuff but figured with the sink covering it up it shouldn't be a big deal and will be much cheaper and faster than waiting for someone with a laser to do it.
For the edge I just plan to have a normal square edge with 1" overhang, 1.5" thick counter and .5" wrapping under.
The backsplash I haven't decided on yet. Since I'll have a lot of waste anyways I thought about just using 5x10 sheets and having the backsplash go to the bottoms of the cabinets. This would mean cutting out for the outlets though. Any electricians know if there is anything special I would need to do with them being that close to metal? It would solve my texture/ paint issue since the old cabinets were large that the new ones there are gaps I need to re texture. The few kitchens I have seen online looked nice with the full backsplash. Otherwise I would probably just do a 4 or 5" whatever covers up what used to be there and I would probably make it an inch thick versus being flush on the wall.
My next dilemma is the one I can't seem to get any good answers out of people as they all seem to want me to spend thousands with them. The mitered corner. I will have at least one of these. I had just planned on welding it and burnishing it. With a good enough welder it shouldn't deform I would think and a nice straight burnished line won't look bad but for whatever reason the suppliers I was talking too kind of hee hawwed that idea.
I almost have to do the one miter but could get away without doing the one next to the Stove as I thought about just putting butcher block on both sides of the stove.
I'll attach some pics. Just looking for some ideas if anybody has some. Right now If I went with 16 gauge with a #4b finish I'll still only have $400 in materials.
