Plaster trimmed to slide in worktop, now uneven gap - advice please?

[uptoyou]

Hi all,

Close to finishing off a kitchen remodel, and had some walnut worktops fitted (butted up to some quartz worktops).

To get the worktop nice up against a very uneven wall, the carpenter has taken out about 30mm to slide the 27mm worktop just under the wall.

The problem is, there is now a very uneven gap between the bottom of the wall and the worktop of between 1mm & 5mm, with some larger bits of plaster having flaked off during the cutting.

I've used filler to go down as far as I can without touching the surface of the wood, but it will be very difficult to neaten this edge (see picture below).

Q. Once I get to between 1mm & 2mm all the way round, and has been painted the wall colour, can i use a thin bead of brown caulk to hid the gap between the wood and the wall, or will this crack with worktop shrinkage...etc...?

What other options do I have to neaten this up?

Thanks in advance!

 

[footprints]

Tile splashback (very practical in a kitchen where splashes of food will mark the paint) or a timber upstand to match the worktop.

 

[uptoyou]

Hi, thanks. I have a splashback over the hob, and tiles over the oven worktop, so looking to have this wall plain.
Also (see pic), I stopped the quartz upstand short based on not wanting a wooden upstand - I have been onto the quartz people and it looks like they can knock up a small piece to fill the gap, but wondering if there is an alternative to this?
Would a walnut coloured acrylic bead not be a good idea to use between wall and worktop?

 

[SFK]

Is worktop real walnut?

On real wood worktop I used a real wood, hardwood or oak bead from Wickes:
https://www.wickes.co.uk/Products/Decorating+Interiors/Mouldings/Quadrant-Mouldings/c/1000595
worked well as I could flex it to follow the not perfectly flat wall.
Attached to wood worktop using pin nails.
sfk

 

[uptoyou]

Hi, it is real walnut yes. Just down to kitchen design, I'm not sure a wooden bead would work with the aesthetics (not sure a wooden upstand will either but it is going that way at the moment!).

 

[SFK]

Yes you are correct, a small wood round bead following on from that square white upstand might look wrong.
Dark resin upstand or dark glass upstand to match height of white one?

 

[foxhole]

Looks a strange mix.

 

[uptoyou]

Looks a strange mix.

I thought it would be too when it was suggested, but having knocked the wall between the kitchen and dining room down, have quartz running through such a large space I though could be overkill. There are other areas of walnut moving into the more 'dining' area of the kitchen, and am very happy with the result.

 

[uptoyou]

Yes you are correct, a small wood round bead following on from that square white upstand might look wrong.
Dark resin upstand or dark glass upstand to match height of white one?

I have an off cut of walnut which looks like is just tall enough to carry on round, and the stone people said they should be able to knock me up a 110mm length of quartz for it to butt up to too!

 

[SFK]

Yes I feel that looks better.
But note that it is likely your wall will not be completely flat so you may/will still have a joint to fill, now in a different place.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

In which case silicone (and silicone fingers) is your friend

 

[uptoyou]

Bit annoying, had I known this beforehand, that extra quartz would have only cost a tenner, we'll see what the quote comes back at!

 

[johnny2007]

A decorator will make that gap disappear.
Each for their own.

 

[opps]

I've used filler to go down as far as I can without touching the surface of the wood, but it will be very difficult to neaten this edge (see picture below).

When faced with filling down to surfaces that might move, I put a layer of linng paper under (ie in the gap). Then fill down to the lining paper. Sand the filler and then cut through the paper. Once decorated I seal with an MS polymer (or silicone) and let that deal with the dynamic movement.

Acrylic caulk can become very rigid and may (or may not) pull the filler out as the worktop expands.

I would recommend up stands. Sorry, less hassle when it comes down to cleaning the worktops. Do you want have dirty marks where the worktop meets the wall (assuming that the walls are eggshell/etc).

 

[opps]

A decorator will make that gap disappear.
Each for their own.

I consider myself to be a good decorator. To get a decent finish will be very,very time consuming.

Not maligning the OP, but... when most people fill down to the work top you end up with a slight curve at the bottom. I often need to use v sharp chisels and a linear sander to get it flat without damaging the worktop. A 3m length that hasn't been filled yet. I would guesstimate 8 hours all in- that is a silly amount of time given that up stands will take 2 to 3 hours (including sealants and cutting in).