Soild wood worktops - method of joining

[M4R5]

My kitchen is U-shaped, with a cooker in the centre of the back wall. I'm about to get some worktops to finish it at long last.

I've spoken to many resellers but none of them seem to understand my concerns about wood expanding across the grain more than along the grain. I'm concerned that joining two worktops at 90 degrees will cause the wood to split as one worktop expands in a direction perpendicular to the direction that the other worktop s expanding in.

I don't want to have a 90 degree join anyway, because the sink is right by the corner and you're not supposed to have joins so close to the sink. Doing the worktop the other way wouldn't be any good as the depth of the L is only 90mm.

My original plan was to have 2 long worktops cut into L shapes and be done with it. But I'm not sure that this will look as good as you'll get endgrain around the cooker.

My new idea is to join the worktops at 45 degrees, which would look great and be far enough away from the sink, but I'm not sure about the structural integrity and what would hold them up. One of the worktops has to hold up a ceramic sink, so it needs to be really strong.

Help would be appreciated. Here's a snap of where I'm up to.

Thanks

View media item 37992

 

[joinerjohn]

I'm assuming from your description that the cooker is a freestanding one.? If so there's not much chance of not having end grain where the worktop ends either side of the cooker.
A 45 ° joint on the corner will be hard to achieve. Usual way to treat corners with solid wood is to biscuit and worktop connectors (corners at 90 ° to each other) I'm not sure what you mean by "My original plan was to have 2 long worktops cut into L shapes and be done with it."
A few more pics would be helpful too. The pic you've put up really only shows one straight run of units.

 

[M4R5]

No, the pic shows the corner. As I said it's only a 90mm L-shape. The other side is pretty much the same and the cooker is a freestanding range cooker. The manufacturer advice leaving a 2.5mm gap between the cooker and worktops so that should be fine.

Thanks

 

[foxhole]

What's the purpose of the 90mm unit? Would seem a pointless complication to the kitchen design?

 

[M4R5]

Have a guess. And, no it's not complicated. Didn't you see the photo?

 

[foxhole]

Yes saw the photo, enlighten me.

 

[M4R5]

Stop trolling. Your questions aren't even relevant.

You're ignored now anyway, so I suppose you can reply all you like. One look at your recent posts is enough to make that judgement on.

DNFTT.

 

[joinerjohn]

Ahh, The 90mm return on the photo is where the cooker is going to stand next to? Am I right? If so, you may be able to purchase extra wide worktops (very expensive) and cut these to the L shape you mentioned earlier.(although this would leave 90 -100mm of end grain still showing to the return) Much preferred would be to have a piece of worktop about 680/690 mm long joined at right angles to the long run you'd see going towards the corner (as in the photo) This would leave end grain where it meets the cooker, but quite usual.

 

[M4R5]

Hi John. That's spot on. The only trouble is that on the other side the sink will be very close to the end of the long worktop if I do a 90 degree join. I've read in a few places that you should leave at least 250mm between the edges and any cutouts.

And then I was concerned about the wood expanding or contracting when joined to something which expands/contracts at a different rate, as with a 90 degree join. I have found a way round this though using a plate that has slots in underneath the join.

Is 45 degrees out of the question? I think it would look best but would need more skill to achieve. And I'm also not sure how to support it. Strategically placed brackets I suppose.

Thanks

 

[joinerjohn]

45 ° (although not out of the question) will have some support at the front and the back of the units. Such a joint should be done using biscuits and worktop connectors and if done properly should almost be self supporting, so I don't think any additional support would be required.

 

[M4R5]

The other thing I could do would be to have a 45 degree angle instead of an internal L-corner. By that I mean the 90mm x 90mm area which you see at the back of the photo (see requiring a cover) could be covered at 45 degrees and the worktop could follow. So instead of seeing the endgrain straight on, it'd be at 45 degrees. This might be easiest of all and could look good.

What do you think John?

Thanks

 

[Paulblackford]

Hi M4R5, I was just reading your posts and it sounds very similar to my problem. What did you end up with? I'm thinking of doing 45 degree joins but have heard that they can split the wood?