Kitchen Work Surface

[mr_lob]

Hi guys. I have ordered some kitchen cabinets and asked the guy to use the tiles i bought to put on top as a work surface.

After much umming and ahhing he said that he has never tiled on top of cabinets before, and is worried that the base would warp if he did tile it.

Surely he is thinking of using concrete, which would of course cause the wood to warp - but what i need to know is, is there something else i could lay the tiles on that would not cause the warping?

I know that in the UK many kitchens have tiled work surfaces so don't quite understand why it can't be done here.

Please help!

Cheers, Lob

[Sel]

There is concrete type fibreboard around (4mm) can be nailed to the top of the cabinet then tiled over.

If the cabinet is made of particle board then you could seal the ends closest to the top with a stain or polyeurathane to help keep the moisture out.

[Big Tony]

Just glue or silicone the tiles on, That's what I did.

[COBBER]

Our kitchen benchtops have tiles layed over plyboard. The ply is only about 6mm and it get a good workout with the meat mallet and have had no problems but i would probably reccomend that 12mm would be better.

[lopburi3]

I suspect the cement board idea is valid as I know for a fact that tile applied to wood in a receipt for severe warp unless there is a special adhesive that can be used these days. I would not use tile myself as it is not a smooth surface. Plastic laminate or granite would be my choice.

[camel_jockey]

Being a chef, I would say stainless steel is the way to go, tiles are porous which means they will absorb liquid, smells, germs. etc, just a thought.

[ProThaiExpat]

Thai granite is quite inexpensive in Thailand and is a far superior surface for kitchen base cabinet tops than tile, with its uneven surface, grout maintenance and edge finish difficulty.

If you do not install a substrate under any counter top you are doing a poor installation job. "Creteboard" is preferred due to its lack of rot characteristics but a "float" should be used, if tile is laid.

[mr_lob]

Thai granite is quite inexpensive in Thailand and is a far superior surface for kitchen base cabinet tops than tile, with its uneven surface, grout maintenance and edge finish difficulty.

If you do not install a substrate under any counter top you are doing a poor installation job.  "Creteboard" is preferred due to its lack of rot characteristics but a "float" should be used, if tile is laid.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

OK, cheers - looks like it will be granite. Thanks for all the replies guys.

[Heng]

Second granite. Not terribly expensive (considering it's pretty much going to stay with you until you die).

[ProThaiExpat]

I found there to be quite a price differential between Thai granite and imported granite. The Thai granite "patterns" are not a varied or as "exotic" but, unless your going for a "decorator" look, go Thai granite and save yourself a bundle.

I found that many of the granite "shops" were not much more than that with the ability of the shop intallers to vary widely. I was not happy with the installers of my granite, careless and damaged the product after reaching my site. When your used to granite installers, that when finished, leave no telltale seams, Thailand is rough and tumble by comparison.

I would have the job done incrementally. Order one counter top from your choice of provider, determine if the quality of the installation is to your starndard, before progressing to other tops.

I have my large "peninsula" kitchen, two bathrooms, a large dinning room round and a coffee table all done by different shops.

A word to the wise from one who has done a lot of kitchens over the years. Pay attention to the "pattern" of any surface you choose. If the pattern tends to "hide" the dirt, beware. I have gone from snow white corian to my present Thai gray granite stone look and find that I have to run my hand over the surface to deternine if it is clean, as the pattern hides the dirt. The less pattern in the granite, the less likely to hide the dirt. Unfortunately, most granite does have a pattern that conceals dirt.

Make sure you call for a high gloss finish when they polish the granite, easiier to see the dirt with that finish. By dirt, I mean pepper flecks, drops of spillage, etc.

[The Coder]

As usual, good post. For me, the one constant thing when having Thai's do work is the workmanship is just the shoddiest and sloppiest work imaginable. I did granite counters too, like them a lot, but the quality of workmanship leaves something to be desired. Every single time I have the slightest thing done Thai workers just make a mess of it; they can't even figure out how to put screws back correctly after cleaning AC units. It's just insane. You recommend trial and error till someone does a decent job, but it would be nice if there was a better way rather than paying people who stand a good chance of screwing up nice materials. For me, I am becoming more and more of a do it yourselfer which is a real shame as Thai labor is just so cheap and I can't really figure out how to capitalize on it.

[ProThaiExpat]

Coder: Perhaps a blend of both concepts. I am an old do-it-yourselfer from the west where the cost of labor made it manditory.

In Thailand, the labor is so cheap that it seems riduculous to do it yourself, except for the shody workmship.

Having learned this, I now approach my projects with Thai labor and me watching every move.

I have an electrician, who works for a major hotel, and when he does my electrical, I am all over him, making sure he errors not, which is all the time. He is now used to my "helping" him, and in doing so, I point out when he goes amiss, which is with great regularity. His heart is in the right place, but it is amazing how he lacks basic mechinical sense.

My falang neighbor is one who turns the project over to the Thai and bitches when the job isn't done right. When I sent him my electrician, and my neighbor disappeared, my electrician was over asking me to make the decisions that were properly my neighbors, to get the job done right.

I must say that I didn't go outside in the boiling heat to supervise the fabricaction of my granite and that was were the damage was done through careless "apprectices" who were given tools that they didn't know how to use. Major dicounts off the price of the job, but I have their nicks and scratches to look at ad infinitum.

Fortunately, my eyes aren't what they used to be, so much is no longer minded.