custom kitchen worktops

[hollandrob81]

hello everyone! im hoping someone can help with an idea i have had. im not sure if ive seen it somewhere, or if ive made it up lol.

we live in a rented house at the moment and have to make sure all our changes to the house are reversible. and we were thinking of making the kitchen a little bit different.

what my plan is, is to lay some funky comic book wallpaper on the worktops and then cover them with some kind of clear perspex or similar. giving the effect of comic strip worktops which are wipeable etc.

i was wondering if anyone can suggest any ways of doing this? at the moment the only materials i have got is the wallpaper lol. i have a built in hob in the worktop, so the perspex strip will have to be cut to accommodate this, but thats no problem as i have a black belt in jigsaw wielding!

what im really unsure of is firstly what type of perspex to get, as it will need to be fairly hard wearing and heat resistant enough to put a saucepan on it off the hob. and also how could i fix the wallpaper and perspex down without damaging the original worktop underneath so when we move we can just whip it off and it will be as it was originally.

any ideas anyone?? many thanks in advance!

 

[Burnerman]

I think you have a problem with that one because acrylic (perspex) and polycarbonate are thermoplastic plastics and therefore deform (and scorch) with heat.....if there is such a thing, a thermoset plastic is needed.
If such a product exists, its likely to be very expensive!
John

 

[hollandrob81]

you have a fair point sir. thining about it, i wonder if toughened or laminated glass would be a better option..... and possibly the weight of it would help to keep it down. i deal with couple of companies that cut glass panels for machinery cabs, might be worth asking them for a price unless anyone can think of a reason against it?

 

[Burnerman]

It could certainly be worth doing some research there.....however you'll need to stress the involvement of heat concerning your project - toughened glass wouldn't resist that, and impact on the edge must be avoided.
I'm sure there's special glass manufactured for laboratory use which would be suitable for you, but the price could be high!
John

 

[Growler247]

Rather than going to the expense of covering the whole work top why not get several large glass work top savers and cover them from underneath with your cartoon using a waterproof varnish?

 

[loply]

If you lay a perspex sheet over a worktop and heat the edge where it overhangs the front of the worktop with a paint stripping gun, I bet my bottom dollar after a few seconds of heating the perspex will soften and droop down to copy the exact curve of the worktop front edge.

If you have to do any mitres or edge strips it may be difficult to make it look good.

Trouble is, perspex scratches easily and as noted heat from cookers etc may cause problems, but only if it gets that hot

 

[phatboy]

perspex would very quickly start to look opaque from cleaning, and scratching......