constrained panel for a countertop

[Prashun Patel]

I'm making a narrow countertop to sit atop bar height dividing wall.

The dividing wall terminates on one end into a fullheight wall, and on the other end into a support column.

I'm planning to make this a glued up panel of hard maple.

Question is: Since the panel will be constrained on its ends, how should I account for movement? Is it even a problem?

What's the best way to attach it to the underlying wall?

[Aaron Berk]

Long grain movement won't be much.

If your REALLY worried about it, fasten the top rigidly to the column end, and then notch the drywall to form a pocket for the other end.

[Jamie Buxton]

I'm not sure I understand your description. Are you building something like the following? The counter will be six inches deep (the thickness of the wall) by four feet long. The thickness doesn't matter.

If so, I wouldn't worry about movement. The wood won't move in the long-grain direction (the four foot direction), and there won't be enough movement in the other direction to make any difference. You can just use construction adhesive to fasten it to the top of the wall. If you really wanted to be strong, you could put a couple of screws through it, and plug the holes.

[Aaron Berk]

I'm not sure I understand your description. Are you building something like the following? The counter will be six inches deep (the thickness of the wall) by four feet long. The thickness doesn't matter.

If so, I wouldn't worry about movement. The wood won't move in the long-grain direction (the four foot direction), and there won't be enough movement in the other direction to make any difference. You can just use construction adhesive to fasten it to the top of the wall. If you really wanted to be strong, you could put a couple of screws through it, and plug the holes.


+2 on the adhesive, I was going to mention that but thought some might consider it off limits for fine wood working :D:D

[Prashun Patel]

Thanks for the comments so far.
I see that longitudinal expansion won't be much of an issue.

The countertop will be 120" long by 20" wide. One of the ends terminates into a wall, the other terminates into a support column.

My new issue is getting and working with 8/4 material that's 10' long. If I can do this with sections <= 8ft, I'll make this much easier on myself.

Any issues with gluing up the panels as in the attached image?

Aesthetic concerns?

[Jamie Buxton]

If the wall is only the usual 5" thick, a 20"-wide counter is a little wide just to sit on top, even with construction adhesive to hold it in place. I could see somebody deciding to sit on the counter, maybe on the edge. That might provide enough leverage to break the adhesive bond. A common fix is to add some support under the wider overhang. You can buy fancy carved corbels, or you can make your own.

As to the structure you're proposing, where you use 8' boards to make a 10' counter, that should work fine. You've staggered the joints, which is good.

[Jamie Buxton]

Fancy corbels..

http://wwhardware.com/catalog.cfm?GroupID=Wood%20Products&CatID=Corbels%20%2D%20Plain%20Support%20Brackets&showprod=1

https://www.adamswoodproducts.com/configure.asp?cat=34

But simple ones may suit your taste better, and are easy enough to build.

[Prashun Patel]

Yes, I'm definitely going to use corbels to support the ledge, but I'm just wondering whether my proposed glue up will look 'hacked' (finishing skills and edge treatment notwithstanding!)

[Paul Murphy]

Any butt joints along the outside edge of your panel should be tongue and groove or splined along the ends if they are like in your picture (~7” wide). If it is brick-layed out of 2x2 stock then simple butt joints are fine.

[fRED mCnEILL]

I built a similar countertop for my son but haven't installed it yet. What I did was make the first board (the outer edge) full length (in your case it would be both edges)and then used shorter, staggered boards after that. .