# anyone here do diy solid surface counter top?



## smitty1975 (Aug 20, 2013)

It reacts to hot and cold much differently than most think. You never sit a hot pan on it, or crack. If you put a big pan on the stove that hangs over, crack. Peninsula with too little support, crack. It stains to, be careful what you clean it with.

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## spikehornkid (Dec 26, 2005)

I do solid surface countertops for a living and they are pretty easy to do with your standard wood working tools. Once you have it they way you want you need to polish it. Starting with 120 grit sand paper then 220, 320, then red scotch pad and then white pad for final finishing. Corian scratches real easy but can be polished out. I was gonna do Corian on my kitchen but decided acid stained concrete and I am so glad I did turned out really nice.


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## brushbuster (Nov 9, 2009)

I thought about doing concrete. How much more time consuming is it compared to solid surface material


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## spikehornkid (Dec 26, 2005)

brushbuster said:


> I thought about doing concrete. How much more time consuming is it compared to solid surface material


The only time consuming part is having to wait a week for the concrete to cure. At a week it's about 60 percent of full strength. The magic cure time for concrete is 28 days. I like it because it's different and was about 1/5 th the cost of Corian and I get Corian at contractor price. Plus you really don't know what you are gonna get till you neutralize the acid.


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## FISHMANMARK (Jun 11, 2007)

spikehornkid said:


> The only time consuming part is having to wait a week for the concrete to cure. At a week it's about 60 percent of full strength. The magic cure time for concrete is 28 days. I like it because it's different and was about 1/5 th the cost of Corian and I get Corian at contractor price. Plus you really don't know what you are gonna get till you neutralize the acid.



Would you mind writing up the process or do you have a link that you followed?


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## whitetail&walleye (Dec 13, 2017)

FISHMANMARK said:


> Would you mind writing up the process or do you have a link that you followed?


Check out z form counter tops

https://www.concretecountertopsolutions.com

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## spikehornkid (Dec 26, 2005)

I basically watched a bunch of YouTube videos on pouring concrete countertops in place and watched videos on acid staining. I also just used high strength 5000 quickcrete and wire mesh for strength. Then I ordered diamond staining pads from Amazon for smoothing out rough spots and the edges. I probably have no more then $250 total in my island top that would have been $1200+ for Corian (that's at contractor cost). I am not a concrete finisher by any means but I work with a bunch and asked a lot of questions on finishing. Just do some small practice pieces before you do the final product. YouTube was my friend for sure.


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## brushbuster (Nov 9, 2009)

smitty1975 said:


> My dad built custom counter tops for 40 years. He was a prototype engineer for Merillatt cabinet company, he was working with coreon, cerell, and gibraltar long before it was even available to the general public. I have built many tops with him. The most important two things. When you move it hold it edge up, not flat. Especially if it's cold, it will break like nothing you've ever seen. *The other thing is if you make a seem use a wavy cutter with a step spacer on your router. Strait cutting your splices is a big no no.*
> 
> Sent from my SM-J737T using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


something like this ?


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## spikehornkid (Dec 26, 2005)

Yeah you use that to join the two pieces of Corian together. The router base has a step in it so that the two pieces line up.


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## spikehornkid (Dec 26, 2005)

http://m.specialtytools.com/item/3231363230
Here is the step base for the router


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## brushbuster (Nov 9, 2009)

spikehornkid said:


> http://m.specialtytools.com/item/3231363230
> Here is the step base for the router


Ok great, thanks for the link.


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## smitty1975 (Aug 20, 2013)

Yes that's a wavy cutter, very important!


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