The natural look of a wood countertop goes with nearly any decor.
A wooden countertop from IKEA brings the natural beauty of wood into your kitchen. Simple to install with basic tools, the countertop can be cut to fit, enabling you to place a counter that runs the full length of your kitchen or simply covers a small side cabinet. The counter is quick to install, securing directly to your cabinet base without the need for a subsurface for support, like plywood or cement board. And once it's in place, it's easy to maintain, requiring just a small bit of regular cleaning to keep its appearance in a near-new state.
Instructions
1. Place the countertop onto the cabinets where you intend install it. Leave a gap of one-eighth of an inch along the rear of the counter between the countertop and the wall to allow for expansion of the wood. Measure the installation space with a tape measure, covering the base cabinets and adding a one-half inch overlap on any free sides of the counter. Lay a strip of masking tape along the counter centered at the measured cutting mark. Use a pencil and a straight edge to place a line down the tape at the measured mark to serve you as a cutting guide.
2. Place the counter top onto a pair of sawhorses and clamp the counter in place to keep it steady while cutting. Use a fine-toothed handsaw to cut the counter along the pencil-marked guideline.
3. Remove the masking tape and then smooth the edge of the countertop with a file. Wipe off any sawdust with a . Treat the cut edge with wood treatment oil by rubbing the edge down with a lint-free cloth dampened with the oil. Use small circles to saturate the wood with the oil and then wipe away the excess using a clean cloth.
4. Place the countertop back onto the cabinets and check it with a carpenter's level. Raise any low areas of the counter to make it level by placing wood shims between the countertop and the cabinets. Position the shims over the corner braces of the cabinet and use a wood screw to hold them in place by screwing up through the cabinet and into the shim. Make sure the counter sits level before securing it in place. Set the countertop aside.
5. Attach the countertop brackets that came with your IKEA counter to the cabinets at 12-inch interval. Screw the brackets in a line along the top of the cabinet so that the top edge of the bracket forms a ledge that you can screw the cabinet in place with. Use an electric screwdriver to drive the bracket screws into the cabinet rear and along the cabinet fronts, inside the cabinet bodies.
6. Place the countertop onto the cabinets again and mark the location of the brackets on the base of the cabinet using the pencil. Remove the countertop and drill pilot holes into the base of the counter for the mounting screws. Place the counter back onto the cabinets and secure it in place with the wood screws up through the brackets and into the countertop.
7. Sand the countertop with a fine-grit sandpaper to remove any light scratches or flaws. Wipe with a clean cloth then treat the entire surface with the wood treatment oil.
Tags: onto cabinets, clean cloth, Place countertop, with wood, along cabinet, back onto, back