JonS
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Hi,
Just realized that there’s warp of about 10 mm per 6ft length of my worktops (sag in the middle). I’ve already cut the mitre for a 90 degree joint.
Is the following a viable solution ?..
Get base units completely level, politically correct etc. Lay worktops on units (support if necessary) so as to be able to ‘silicone’ and tighten joint perfectly, but don’t screw
down. Let cure for 24 hrs. Adjust slopes to taste  then, pump in some expanding foam filler between tops of units and worktops, and when dry, screw tops to units.
Or anything better?
Jon
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timfoley
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Sounds as if the tops were stored incorrectly. Worktops should be
laid flat to keep their shape.
I’d be inclined to change the worktops if they are so out of level. It is acceptable to have a 1 – 2mm difference in the same length but 10mm over 1.8m is unacceptable.
If you do wish to attempt a recovery operation then your suggestion sounds viable but without the expanding foam. If you intend tiling above the slope would be noticable and
unsightly.
Can you clarify the type of worktop ie, wood, laminate, also the manufacturer?
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JonS
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Ok, I’ve exagerated the bend a bit. Re-measuring, it’s about 2.5mm over 4 ft. which works out as 3.75mm over 6 ft. Still not good, eh?
Sorry, I should have said it’s the usual laminated chipboard (Wickes).
This is for my elderly mother, and she’s not that fussed about cosmetics. But how do I deal with the gap between worktop and top of units, if not foam? I want that filled somehow.
Jon
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timfoley
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Then you could try making the joint with silicone and leave
overnight as you suggested.
Fix strong angle brackets to the rear of the units below the affected areas and 20mm below the top of the gables to ensure that when you fix to the worktop it will pull it down to
close the gap.
Although it’s a problem you should not have experienced if the tops had been stored correctly this method should solve it.
Let us know how you go on Jon.
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JonS
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This is how it turned out…
I did try straightening the worktops by laying them between two pieces of wood with a weight in the middle sufficient to make them straight. I didn’t want to risk over bending
’cause I thought the laminate my spring off or.. something. Anyway, it didn’t seem to make much difference to the bowing. The bow was probably about 7mm over 6ft as my final
estimate!
The brackets that came with the units were too flimsy so I used three heavy brackets with thicker, longer screws on each end of the units. Trouble was, the top of the front, top,
horizontal member on these Wickes units wasn’t flush with the tops of the gables (about 3mm lower), and that allowed the worktop to still bow down in the middle. I only realized this
when I came to make the joint. The female joint slanted upwards as it approached the wall for about the last 6 “. The result is that at about 6″ away from the wall, the top of the
female joint goes from being perfectly flat (i.e. in line with the male) to rising about 1mm above the male joint at the wall. Still, it looks better than a strip, and you can’t so
much as see it as feel it. An observation, though, is that with this black/grey marble effect laminate, it’s impossible to get an ‘invisible joint’ anyway because the pattern is so
obviously interrupted – the display one in Wickes
looks the same in that regard.
Fwiw, my conclusion is that if the units hadn’t allowed the worktop to sink down between the gables, the brackets would have pulled the worktop straight.
Jon
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timfoley
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One way of compensating for the lack
of support in the centre of the unit would have been to install a centre leg in line with the existing legs. This in turn would have empowered you to raise the worktop through the
centre post.
As for the attempt to create a barely visible joint, it is interesting that you raise the point regarding patterns and it’s certainly worth pointing out that some tops offer you much
greater chance of success than others by their style and colour.
Laminate woodgrain tops being the most obviously unsuccessful by the opposite grain directions at a joint, never ceased to frustrate me.
Anyway Jon, thanks for sharing the outcome.
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