Bespoke Vanity top for bathroom/laundry

[ManU07]

Hi all, i'm about to kick off a full reno of our bathrooms and laundry and I am keen on making my own laminated timber vanity top(s) and laundry bench top. I have never done anything like this before but naively i think it shouldnt be too hard (famous last words)! Cabinets are most likely going to be done by the company that did our recent kitchen renovation and the tops will be fitted after delivery.

Looking for basic advice on do's and dont's, i have looked on youtube but yet to find the video that really goes through it in sufficient detail, lots of videos of guys gluing and clamping stuff, but not much about why they have made the choices they have and what wont be suitable for this application.

Basic requirements are that it needs to be good in a wet environment, tough enough to hold up to typical bathroom use and resist stains from bathroom products. Also going to use sit on top sinks so should only need to cut holes for the drain and the tapware. Attached a pic from the internet as an example - colour isnt right but you get the idea. I dont have a jointer or thicknesser yet so will be getting a local woodworker to prepare the lengths for me but will do the rest in my garage (i cant call it a workshop yet) and will be cutting to length with a compound mitre saw and/or table saw and joining with biscuits. Also havent chosen the material yet but will be a light/grey coloured hardwood of some kind.

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Main areas i need advice are around which glues i should use/avoid for the laminating process?
Best type of finish to use/avoid for water resistance and wearability?
If the boss wants alternating/different colours between adjacent pieces, is it best to use different timbers or is it ok to pre-stain some pieces of the same timber to achieve the same effect?
Any other advice?

TIA,

Dan

[riverbuilder]

Epoxy glue everything
Polyurethane finish all over
Two different species of timber alternating for appearance.

[ManU07]

Thanks RB, appreciate it

[wood spirit]

Well alternating colours if that what you mean-Ok prefer natural colours -say Jarrah + Bunnings" hardwood" -often something that is LIKE mountain ash in looks (about the best answer you will get from them) for instance. Will always look better than stained pieces. As to other matters as others have said epoxy is the primo -could go for polyurethane as well, but don't go for even the best of the PVA's. Ideally work out ALL cut-outs Sinks, taps ends Anything else as well. And after that Seal the ENTIRE thing with say 2 pac poly or good quality poly -say 4 coats or epoxy. but NOT wax, oil, shellac or lacquer. SEAL every part of the surface. Also seal every possible thing with silicone as you fit it. Sink, taps, edges, everything. Yeah everything. The cheap silicone wipes from Bunnings are good -the yellow ones -not the crap ones with the handles.

[ManU07]

Thanks mate,

I have some conflicting advice from a local furniture maker and timber supplier (i wont give out his details but he is a great bloke and spent a long time talking through my projects and providing his suggestions). He has recommended using titebond as the glue, he said you could use an epoxy but stated that the grip strength of titebond is orders of magnitude greater than epoxy and is easier to use. Also recommended to not use poly as a finish because it is susceptible to scratches and cracks etc that show up. Again he said you could use it but has recommended a bathroom specific furniture oil.

Thoughts??

[david.elliott]

Solid timber I think could be a problem in a bathroom.
I do mine by placing 19mm boards onto 19mm MR particle boards with floor glue, secret nailing as well as biscuit and glue the edges with Titebond.
I make a 40 x 40mm rebated strip for the front edge and glue and pocket hole that on.
The one below has had two generous coats of varnish on the bottom and 5 coats of floor poly on top, wet sanding in between each
488377

[ManU07]

Thanks David, that looks great mate, well done, do you have a thread on here with more photos and details of your build?

[david.elliott]

Nope, was a kitchen and laundry for a client, here's a link to the album of the images I do have...the completed kitchen was really hard to get photos of that showed it all, but here is what I have...

Shoalwater - Google Photos (https://photos.app.goo.gl/fYDSykWRpHjBABG99)

[ManU07]

Question: Is there any benefit in using cauls in addition to biscuits for larger panels?

[kph]

Hi
Having made timber benchtops commercially and supplied a major reseller for over ten years, this is what we did and had no complaints.
We used Titebond III exclusively for all laminations/gluing. Easy to use, easy to clean up, dries fast and is cost effective.
Once the timber has been coated (enveloped) on all sides by an approved (a finish suited for the application) the glue joint is sealed so to speak.
In regards to the best finish, well that's a minefield of opinions and in the end it is subjective. Water based finishes have come a long way over the years and should not be discounted. In the marine industry two pack solvent based are still the preferred choice but even this is now under threat by the water based products.
I would avoid staining timber as over time it will darken just like natural timber and the intended colour variance will change as well.

Hope this helps

Kevin

[ManU07]

Quick question - i finally glued up my first vanity top yesterday and i think it is going to work just fine, but i did notice a very slight difference in height between the 2 lengths (less than 0.5 mm).

I glued up using biscuits (size 20) using my new dewalt biscuit joiner. The biscuits were quite loose when fitted. Is it normal to have a slight difference in height when biscuit joining a panel?

FYI: I clamped a few straight pieces of scrap as a quick caul and this did actually help, so now it is a fraction of a mm so it will sand out just fine. I will take some pics tonight and put up later this week.

[ManU07]

I have completed the bench tops and gotta say i am really happy with how they turned out, i think what i learnt is that its not that difficult and not everything has to be 100% perfect in order to get a great result. Unfortunately aside from 1 or 2 people on this forum responding, i was a little bit underwhelmed with the amount of advice being provided here. If its not to help others learn and give tips then what is a forum like this for? Anywho, i'll persist for a bit longer and want to contribute to others that might be new to all this as well so here is my process and some pix of the finished product:
1. Started with dressed camphor laurel that was cut to rough length and squared up by the legends at the hobbyist timber supply store/workshop in Wollongong.
2. Used dewalt biscuit joiner to cut biscuits every 30cm or so - this was a very easy process and there are plenty of vids on youtube on how to do this
3. Glued up the panels with some titebond making sure there was plenty in the biscuit slots - this was pretty messy and i was glad i laid down some butchers paper and put some tape on top of the clamps to prevent glue getting on them
4. I only have 4 quality bessel clamps and 2 cheap sash clamps from bunnings, so clamped up the panels with the bessel's underneath and the sash's on top (pic below). I also added some very basic cauls to try and make sure the panels were as flat as possible, i kinda rushed this because i found a couple of adjacent lengths had a slight offset and was not really prepared for that, so just used some pieces of pine i had lying around and clamped with G clamps. This is where my comment above about still getting a good result when not everything is perfect comes from! Next time i will have properly shaped cauls made from hardwood (again, learnt from youtube)
5. Once dry, i used boat coat epoxy with some colouring agent to fill knots and cracks in the panel - i sucked at this but it got there in the end. I used a heat gun to heat the resin and found that helped it seep into the finer cracks, not sure if that was necessary but it seemed to work. This was quite time consuming as i did 1 side at a time and had to do it a couple of times as the resin either seeped in to the deeper cracks or shrunk as it dried (not sure which)
6. I don't have any planes so next step was sanding flat - i scribed a pencil across the top and sanded in an even fashion until most of the pencil marks were gone (where pencil marks remain it indicates a slight dip in the surface so don't keep sanding until its gone or you will just make it worse! - excellent vid from stumpy nubs on youtube on this process). I did this first sanding with 80 grit. Once i was happy that it was flat, i went through the grits down to 320 and the result was beautiful.
7. Finishing was done with Linn's bathroom finish - again i sucked at this but it came out ok, i just brushed it on, let it sit for 10-15 min and then wiped off excess with a clean lint free cloth. It took 24 hours to dry to a point where it wasnt tacky so not sure if that means i was too heavy with the oil. Sanded with 480 grit in between coats, did a 2nd coat, let it dry and sanded the again and then installed the tops on the benches. I attached them with some angle brackets and runners (?) which i drilled the holes a little oversize to allow for movement and fixed with timber screws and washers.
8. Final polishing was applied to the top using the same finish and a microfibre boot on my orbital sander. I'm not sure if this really was the best way to finish it but its the best i could do and it came up pretty well i think. It remained a bit tacky to the touch for a few days but seems to be hardening off now.

Happy to hear any suggestions/tips or constructive feedback if anyone has any, i still have 1 more top to make so i have a chance to learn a few things and maybe do a better job but at the end of the day i think they look great and im really happy with them. PS: Sorry the pics are upside down, i thought i rotated them but obviously didnt save it!

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[Aussiephil]

Dan, Hi,

It seems that is the way here at times, often questions go unanswered.

Based on the pictures well done so far, absolutely love the grain patterns.

Couple thoughts for you,

it was interesting the cry out to use epoxy from the start yet I have to agree with a couple later posters that titebond 3 was more than good enough and once it's sealed top and bottom it should never be an issue.
Another way to think about it is Titebond 3 is nearly exclusively used for kitchen chopping boards that honestly probably get more water soaking than any bathroom or laundry benchtop... i know mine does.

Whilst i have biscuits and a biscuit joiner I'd never use one these days for a panel glue-up... if your woodworking mate has cut everything square.. and i mean square then you just don't need biscuits.

If your struggling getting multiple boards glued up at the same time then glue pairs together, rinse and repeat till wide enough.

Isn't sanding fun.... just done first two rounds that on my 4100x860 benchtop, i'm at the fill all the defects with epoxy time.

Epoxy will do two things , seep into the wood and shrink as it cures, both will results in a sunken surface. for really runny Epoxy it easier to make a little dam around the spot and overfill then slice/sand off.

Cheers and good luck with the next top

Phil

[DJ’s Timber]

PS: Sorry the pics are upside down, i thought i rotated them but obviously didnt save it!



Next time you take pics, turn your phone up the other way, it’s the metadata on your phone that causes the pics to rotate upside down

[ManU07]

Thanks Phil, yeah the grain on this camphor is really nice, got a bit lucky there, this timber was tucked up on a high shelf in their workshop and they had forgotten about it, they cleaned it up and milled it for me and even they were surprised with how nice it was and were regretting not having used it themselves :)

Appreciate the response

[phild001]

Interested to know how people know Titebond to be so superior to other adhesives. I use Soudal PVA exterior grade glues and have no issues with it. I have tested it against polyurethane type wood glues which I have found to be inferior. Long ago I tried titebond and noticed no difference to the other PVA glues I was using. Is there really a difference between Titebond and other high grade PVA wood glues, seems to be hype to me.