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DIY Wood Countertops

All Posts, Remodeling 101

I’m building counter-tops for the laundry room by gluing up 2x6s.  This is inexpensive material that I can finish into a beautiful wood countertop.

DIY Wood Countertops

Building countertops

I cut the edges off each 2×6 so they all had sharp edges.  I don’t want these rounded –beveled edges on my countertop.

DIY Wood Countertops

This process involves a LOT of glue!

Building countertops
Building countertops

And then a whole bunch of clamps.

Building countertops

I’m glueing up 2 at a time, then glueing up those pairs.  I don’t want to try to keep track of all the boards in one glue up.

DIY Wood Countertops

Check out some of my other countertop ideas:

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Comments

  1. I love that you use a spatula to spread glue and I use that same one to spread frosting 😉 Can’t wait to see how it turns out! 🙂

  3. Have to say it’s looking good there. Can’t wait to see the finished project. It should work as I’ve done very similar tops, my only tip for anyone thinking of trying it is to make sure the wood is well seasoned and well dry. Mine wasn’t as dry as I thought and it shrunk despite copious amounts of glue 🙁 Also when clamped and drying make sure the worktop is laying completely flat – mine wasn’t due to the clamps and it ended up with a very slight but very annoying bow.
    I know you’ll have that all in hand Sandra but just in case one of your less experienced readers wants to give it a go I thought I’d mention it.
    Thanks for sharing this Sandra. I’ll be doing our laundry room soon and although i made table tops the same way it never crossed my mind to do a worktop – duh! So thank you for the inspiration.

    Linda

    • My main concern is not the seams, it is keeping the planks flat. And my wood is neither dry nor seasoned. I’m in trouble. LOL

  4. Sandra just curious – what about pocket holes on the underside? I think maybe that would make the seams too tight and you’d loose the ‘boards’ look which I love but the PH’s are confidently secure as opposed to just glue. Only curious and can’t wait to see the final.

    • Glue alone will definitely be strong enough to meld the pieces together. My main concern is keeping the pieces from bowing while clamped so it’s flat when all is said and done. We’ll see…

  5. Ha! I’m doing the same thing only a much smaller counter and I’m using kiln dried pine boards that are 12″ wide. Happy building!

  6. Hello,
    I love your work.

    A noob question.

    ¿how do you joint pieces of MDF, when you mount the library?

  7. You are so clever! Cannot wait to see how these turn out, but looking great so far!
    Love your blog!

  8. i am going to use your method of clamping next time I am putting together multiple boards, which i have done numerous times. Mine seem to bow/bend along the vertical plane and it looks like you put braces under them to keep them aligned. are the braces for support or are they clamped also? Panel clamps work but I have not mastered the technique yet. Do you ever use panel clamps?

    • The boards underneath just raised the planks off the table so I could get my clamps on. I clamped the boards across the top to keep the planks flat and level. I know I should have created some cauls but I didn’t want to spend time on that.

  9. Yikes, it sounds like you are getting some very educated, talented people following along with your blog. Good for you. I’m so glad you mentioned safety when working around power tools. Last weekend, here in NE, a young girl was riding a “home-made” ATV when somehow her long hair got caught in the motor of the vehicle. The news reports are saying she was wearing a helmet, but sadly, she is dead. How can anyone ever say, “It takes too long to be safe”.?

    • Yikes. I don’t take any chances. It’s SO not worth it. There is nothing glamorous about DIY so why try to pretend that you can look beautiful while you sweat and work? LOL Just be safe and smart and make something awesome. That’s all I care about! 🙂

  10. I don’t know if you have an IKEA close to you, but if this doesn’t work out their numerar butcher block countertop might be a good alternative. We used the lagan to make wraparound desks in our office but that doesn’t seem to be available anymore.

  11. Dang I wish I had a garage!!!! NO sense of humor in apartment buildings… none. 😀 Discreet power tools … oxymoron. Oh and space.
    The first thing that came to mind when I saw you spreading wood glue…. I wonder what would happen if wood stain was added to the glue?
    ~ Christina

    • You can add powdered stain to glue but if you stain a piece with glue on it the glue will not accept the stain at all so you will most likely have irregularities. Best to scrape it after it dries and remove all residue.

  12. Very nice, you don’t have to use any screws? Just glue and clamps? I am getting ready to plank wood to paint on I am thinking since it will hang vertically I will have to use screws.

    • You mean create a wood plank wall? You would definitely not want to use 2×4’s for that as it would be way to heavy and too thick. I use 3/4″ thick material max on plank walls and don’t glue it together. It expands and contracts a lot from season to season. For my countertop, I did not add any screws. The wood glue literally melds the wood together — it becomes one large piece of wood. Wood glue is generally stronger than fasteners.

      • How did you attach the wood top to the cabinets in the kitchen? We’re literally installing ours now and I’m so worried about how to attach it and let it still move!

        • I attach the countertop by driving screws up through -washers and oversized holes in the top cleat in the cabinet. The washers and large holes in the cabinet cleats allow movement in the wood countertop.

  13. Next time go to a better lumber yard. Get kiln dried sort through a pile and you should be able to find a few close to vertical grain boards. Also, try to be a little cleaner with the glue. It is ok on a natural finish but if you ever find yourself wanting to stain it, it can be problematic. Or next time, you can get poplar for about 2 bucks a boardfoot. So about $4.50 for a foot of counter, not bad for pricing. Avoid the hype on finish and to a conversion varnish, shellac, laquer. Unless you are finishing a $2000 piece of wood epoxy is just overpriced and too much work.

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