How to fill in gap between countertop hole cutout and new stove top?

[Fat Prophet]

I am replacing the stove top with a new one. The countertops are granite. The old stove top measures 83 cm x 45 cm. The new stove top measures 78 cm by 45 cm. How can I fill the 5 cm gap? I am considering getting a 5 x 45 cm strip of black granite (or 2 pieces of 2.5 x 45 cm granite) and glue it to the existing cutout (one on each side of half the required width each might have a nicer "balance") to fill the empty space.  There is a granite shop not too far from my house. Any thoughts/advice, especially if you have done this before, would be very much appreciated. 

 

FP

[wgdanson]

A few black granite coloured floor tiles might be easier, and cheaper.

[Anythingleft?]

You could picture frame the entire cooker hob to make it even and equal in a very small width trim, not even necessarily in granite..

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[Fat Prophet]

7 minutes ago, Anythingleft? said:

You could picture frame the entire cooker hob to make it even and equal in a very small width trim, not even necessarily in granite..

Sent from my SM-N950F using Tapatalk
 

The widths of both stove tops are exactly the same, 45 cm. So, unless I cut the existing granite countertop, I can (and only need to) fill space on the sides (length). The picture frame idea is a good one, and I would use a contrasting color, perhaps green granite, but 2.5 cm (1 inch) on each side is the only space that will exist. Thanks.  

[Fat Prophet]

15 minutes ago, wgdanson said:

A few black granite coloured floor tiles might be easier, and cheaper.

It would look like a "patch job" and not, I think, very attractive. And I am not sure how one would attach floor tiles to the granite countertop. I could, I think add a thin (1 cm thick) piece of granite over the existing one, extending about 5 cm beyond the new cook top with a beveled edge. In a contrasting color, it might look quite nice. not sure of the cost, but I think a few thousand baht should cover it. 

[BigT73]

Have you removed the old cooktop out yet? Hopefully the last cutout may not be too big .

[Artisi]

21 minutes ago, Fat Prophet said:

It would look like a "patch job" and not, I think, very attractive. And I am not sure how one would attach floor tiles to the granite countertop. I could, I think add a thin (1 cm thick) piece of granite over the existing one, extending about 5 cm beyond the new cook top with a beveled edge. In a contrasting color, it might look quite nice. not sure of the cost, but I think a few thousand baht should cover it. 

Think your last suggestion nails it, don't try and patch but make it a definite statement, as you said, a frame to suit the new top extending  maybe 5 cm wide all round, good wide bevelled edge and construction epoxied onto the existing top with the new top fitting as you would do normally. Same material if available, if not - a subtle contrasting colour. 

[eyecatcher]

1 hour ago, wgdanson said:

A few black granite coloured floor tiles might be easier, and cheaper.

Its certainly not easier than infilling with granite strips but using two tiles 500x500 side by side and making the picture frame from two cut tiles would enable you to balance all 4 sides so you don't see any obvious infills. 

I f I could find a suitable black granite looking tile I would certainly see what it looked like, but as I say not easy and you need the tools to carefully trim some very fragile tile "c" shapes

[eyecatcher]

1 hour ago, Fat Prophet said:

The widths of both stove tops are exactly the same, 45 cm. So, unless I cut the existing granite countertop, I can (and only need to) fill space on the sides (length). The picture frame idea is a good one, and I would use a contrasting color, perhaps green granite, but 2.5 cm (1 inch) on each side is the only space that will exist. Thanks.  

You cannot use granite as the picture frame......well, you can if you want to see your hob on a 20mm thick sill. Using a cheap floor tile it will be 6mm which can be beaded out with silicone.

 

also remember a hob is sealed onto the work surface with a self adhesive foam/neoprene strip which again is about 6mm and doesn't compress that much.

[Fat Prophet]

53 minutes ago, BigT73 said:

Have you removed the old cooktop out yet? Hopefully the last cutout may not be too big .

I have moved/removed nothing yet. I only measured the 2 stovetops. And you are right, the existing cutout may be much smaller than the stovetop. I will wait to see what the cutout looks like and its dimensions before I do anything.  Thanks.  

[steve187]

cut 4 pieces of black porcelain tile 40mm x the width and depth sizes of the hole - 10mm, mitre the corners and as someone posted make a frame to fit the hob on, if you can not find tiles long enough look at some skirting tiles, or some skirting cement borads, or put one join in the middle of the longer lengths

[Fat Prophet]

24 minutes ago, eyecatcher said:

You cannot use granite as the picture frame......well, you can if you want to see your hob on a 20mm thick sill. Using a cheap floor tile it will be 6mm which can be beaded out with silicone.

 

also remember a hob is sealed onto the work surface with a self adhesive foam/neoprene strip which again is about 6mm and doesn't compress that much.

Sorry, I think that floor tile is a bad idea. The thickness may be better, but the tiles are about 30 cm maximum, so you would need to use several tiles, with several seams where tiles are joined. That is not acceptable (to me). I am not sure what thicknesses of granite slabs are available, but I am guessing that 1 cm think is available. And, that thickness with a beveled edge might look very nice (black granite countertop with a green beveled edge frame (5 cm around the stove top), would I think look very nice. The best option, I think, is a strip of black granite to fill the gap. If done correctly, it should be virtually unnoticeable.    

[BigT73]

16 minutes ago, Fat Prophet said:

I have moved/removed nothing yet. I only measured the 2 stovetops. And you are right, the existing cutout may be much smaller than the stovetop. I will wait to see what the cutout looks like and its dimensions before I do anything.  Thanks.  

No problems, depending on previous cutout size you could use aliminuim flatbar, 1mm some come painted and picture frame it or just use strip one each side.

They sell them in the steel shops you see everwhere

[eyecatcher]

12 minutes ago, Fat Prophet said:

Sorry, I think that floor tile is a bad idea. The thickness may be better, but the tiles are about 30 cm maximum, so you would need to use several tiles, with several seams where tiles are joined. That is not acceptable (to me). I am not sure what thicknesses of granite slabs are available, but I am guessing that 1 cm think is available. And, that thickness with a beveled edge might look very nice (black granite countertop with a green beveled edge frame (5 cm around the stove top), would I think look very nice. The best option, I think, is a strip of black granite to fill the gap. If done correctly, it should be virtually unnoticeable.    

fair enough but I mentioned the 500x500 tiles because that's the size you can buy.

and granite is generally 18-20mm thick, any thinner and it will fall apart just by looking at it.

[Artisi]

25 minutes ago, BigT73 said:

No problems, depending on previous cutout size you could use aliminuim flatbar, 1mm some come painted and picture frame it or just use strip one each side.

They sell them in the steel shops you see everwhere

Do you mean 1cm not 1mm?

[BigT73]

1 minute ago, Artisi said:

Do you mean 1cm not 1mm?

1mm thick, width will depend on how big gap he needs to fill and shop availability.

[sirineou]

 Can you look from inside the cabinet, under the cooktop? The hole cut in the granite, is usually smaller than the cooktop so that the edges of the cooktop can rest on the granite. It could be that the hole would be sufficiently smaller to accommodate the new smaller cooktop. I would be concerned if the hole is too big and the new cooktop only rests on two sides for obvious reasons.

   If indeed there is a gap between the granite and the cooktop , the Granite shop near you might have a better solution than any of as.

[Fat Prophet]

12 minutes ago, sirineou said:

 Can you look from inside the cabinet, under the cooktop? The hole cut in the granite, is usually smaller than the cooktop so that the edges of the cooktop can rest on the granite. It could be that the hole would be sufficiently smaller to accommodate the new smaller cooktop. I would be concerned if the hole is too big and the new cooktop only rests on two sides for obvious reasons.

   If indeed there is a gap between the granite and the cooktop , the Granite shop near you might have a better solution than any of as.

Thanks. At the very least, I can get 3 stable and strong sides which rest on the countertop. One side will/may have a gap of up to 5 cm (2 inches).  That, unless the hole cut in the granite is very small, will need to be filled. And, as someone noted, the granite shop may have some very good ideas. I will check with them before doing anything other than taking the old stovetop off. 

 

Thanks to everyone for all of the interesting and helpful ideas. All have been interesting and thought provoking. I will post pictures when the job is complete. Thanks again.

 

FP

[sirineou]

11 minutes ago, Fat Prophet said:

Thanks. At the very least, I can get 3 stable and strong sides which rest on the countertop. One side will/may have a gap of up to 5 cm (2 inches).  That, unless the hole cut in the granite is very small, will need to be filled. And, as someone noted, the granite shop may have some very good ideas. I will check with them before doing anything other than taking the old stovetop off. 

 

Thanks to everyone for all of the interesting and helpful ideas. All have been interesting and thought provoking. I will post pictures when the job is complete. Thanks again.

 

FP

If indeed there is a gap , I am sure the granite shop can glue a piece of granite and then buff it to make the joint almost invisible, (they have special glues) or perhaps use a different color granite strip to make it look as a decorative accent.

Good luck, look forward to seeing pictures of the final result.  

PS: google "glued granite" lots of info in the subject including YouTube vids  

[sirineou]

Youtube video

 

[Fat Prophet]

Update: I went to the granite shop close to my house. I explained my problem and he had all of the reasons why it couldn't be patched, not of which seemed reasonable to me. Bottom line -- the patch job was just too small to be worth his effort. He recommended the new granite section cut to the required measurement on top of the existing granite countertop. He had 2 contrasting colors of granite available -- a clay red and a green. We chose the green.

 

The existing countertop is "L" shaped and there is a joint/seam in the middle of the "L", so we decided to extend the new piece of granite to the joint, and then put the new stove top in the middle of the new piece of granite (equal lengths of green granite on each side), so it is larger that originally planned. The new piece of granite butts up firmly to the splash board in the back, up to 2 mm less than the edge in the front. He had at least 6 choices for edges, some quite involved, but the more detailed ones all had spaces to hold food and grease, so we opted for the simple beveled edge. The new piece of green granite, cut and installed was B4,950 (10 cm all around the new stovetop would have been B3,600, but I think that extending the new piece of granite to the seam was worth the extra money). The granite walla installed the granite and stove top on Monday and Siemens came and hooked up the electricity and gas today. Very pleased with the result-- the green granite makes it look "planned and not patched", IMO.  Thanks for all of the good thoughts and suggestions.  

[grollies]

I was going to say take the gap to the back and fit a stainless splashback over the gap but...you've gone for the best option I think.