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Thread: Wood top vanities

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
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    Seattle area , Duvall
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    Question Wood top vanities

    Anyone here have one? I was thinking about on my own, its 22x96. I was thinking 8/4 Teak but the cost is around 16bd ft plus tax for me which is over $500, I could tile it alot cheaper than that. I have seen walnut on a countertop in a kitchen.It was new so I dont know how it worked out.
    Anyone here have any input on to whether its a bad idea or not? Im imaging it can be coated with a marine clearcoat for longtime duration.
    Any suggestion types of wood also?

  2. #2
    ah, I saw a thread on here recently about that.....

    you would be better off doing a search, than relying entirely on my memory, but one of the points that stuck out in my mind .... heat sources on the tops and how the finishes would react. IE hair dryers / curling irons, etc.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Eagle River, Alaska
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    731
    My bathroom is totally wood including the tub surround. The vanity top is oak. The bathroom is now around 20 years old and never had a problem, just don't let water sit on it for long periods and you should be fine.

    Rich
    ALASKANS FOR GLOBAL WARMING

    Eagle River Alaska

  4. #4
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Calgary, Alberta
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    206
    I am thinking about using Parallam for my bathroom vanity. There are lots of voids in this manufatured wood, but I am planning on testing out mirror coat on it to both level the voids and protect the surface from moisture.
    http://www.systemthree.com/p_mirror_coat.asp

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
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    Bethel, Delaware
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    34
    Oak and Maple make nice tops, too. You can coat with Table Top varnish and they work out just fine.

    Teak is very pricey... if you like darker woods, have you considered Mahoganny? It's used in wooden boat construction.

  6. #6
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    Yes Mahogany has croseed my mind. I think the DIY channel last weekend had a bathroom renovation with Teak. Got me thinking I dont tile well.. but I sure can make a nice wood countertop.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
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    Bucks County, Pennsylvania
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    I am an expert on picking difficult top material.

    I did one in my master bath at one time - it worked out just OK. It would have been better in a bath that had less use.

    I had poly on mine - so it was easy to add another coat - but I had to remove the sink and hardware to do it right. If you go with it, make sure you coat all the sides and cut the holes first so you can coat the sink cutout and the hardware holes. I had problems with items dropping on the top and causing small cracks in the finish that then all water to get through. Just to let you know - I would not do it again. I have had teak in boat bathrooms - teak is a pain!

    I have also learned the hard way with using pure white marble in bathrooms or black absolute granite in kitchens - they require constant work to keep them looking good.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Northwestern Connecticut
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    I made a lot of hardwood counter tops at my last job. Maple, cherry, poplar, white oak (flat, rifted and quarter sawn), Jatoba, red beech, bubinga, mahogony, walnut, wenge, and even one in zebra wood! Never teak though. White oak is a great and cheaper choice, good moisture resistance. Jatoba is real tough and handsome, cheaper than most exotics, and quite heavy. Mahogony is a real nice looking top, but its real soft...maybe not a good choice in a high traffic or high use environment.

    Make sure to dry fit then remove your top, finish all 6 faces! They dont all have to be pretty like the show face, but I saw a lot of complaints on vanity tops (we sent them out raw) where the contractor installed, finished the top, ran like hell. They almost always warp/check or worse.

    I love teak but I hate teak too. We used teak for flooring, exterior thresholds for beach homes, nosing. Teak is tough but absolutely sucks to work with. No fun at all. Smells like rotten artificial blueberries to me. It will eat all of your HSS cutters (jointer/planer) in a few lineal feet..never mind a few passes. Need carbide to work it. If you don't have carbide knives already add $275 for the planer and $140 for the jointer. Teak dust turns into bubble gum in a widebelt or drum sander, real mess to clean your machines afterwards. Doesn't go well with random orbital either. It will kill most hand tool steel quick. Plus the dust is toxic to most people, makes you wheeze quick. Difficult to glue as well. We used to whipe the edges with acetone, epoxy and clamp the hell out of it. I'm not a finisher but am told it doesn't take finishes well either. To top it off, it isn't particularly stable either in a high humidity enviroment. It doesn't take fastners well either (screws break, nails bend!)

    On the up side its pretty, wears well, and seems to be popular for high end counters right now (they put one in the latest 'This Old House' project too! In one episode they showed the fabricator, beard covered in that sticky teak dust, no dust mask, pushing a PC speedmatic through a 2 1/2" thick teak slab with an giant ogee cutter that looked like a helicopter blade! I'm guessing he made the sink cutout with a chain saw?

    I was thinking of making a morado counter..bolivian rosewood they call it. still tough to work though. Maybe undermount sink might help the water drain well?

    If your committed to teak good luck, and check out this site: http://www.smithandcompany.org/CPES/index.html. They sell ausome products for wet use/marine enviroments and restoration. Might be some useful products for any wood counter. I used their CPES on a T&G porch floor restoration on my house, made the Doug fir harden up like iron, also makes it mostly waterproof. Makes paint and varnish stick better too if you follow the finishing schedule they advise. They also have wet 2part epoxy for oily/exotic woods that works well.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Peter Quinn View Post
    I made a lot of hardwood counter tops at my last job. Maple, cherry, poplar, white oak (flat, rifted and quarter sawn), Jatoba, red beech, bubinga, mahogony, walnut, wenge, and even one in zebra wood! Never teak though. White oak is a great and cheaper choice, good moisture resistance. Jatoba is real tough and handsome, cheaper than most exotics, and quite heavy. Mahogony is a real nice looking top, but its real soft...maybe not a good choice in a high traffic or high use environment.

    Make sure to dry fit then remove your top, finish all 6 faces! They dont all have to be pretty like the show face, but I saw a lot of complaints on vanity tops (we sent them out raw) where the contractor installed, finished the top, ran like hell. They almost always warp/check or worse.

    I love teak but I hate teak too. We used teak for flooring, exterior thresholds for beach homes, nosing. Teak is tough but absolutely sucks to work with. No fun at all. Smells like rotten artificial blueberries to me. It will eat all of your HSS cutters (jointer/planer) in a few lineal feet..never mind a few passes. Need carbide to work it. If you don't have carbide knives already add $275 for the planer and $140 for the jointer. Teak dust turns into bubble gum in a widebelt or drum sander, real mess to clean your machines afterwards. Doesn't go well with random orbital either. It will kill most hand tool steel quick. Plus the dust is toxic to most people, makes you wheeze quick. Difficult to glue as well. We used to whipe the edges with acetone, epoxy and clamp the hell out of it. I'm not a finisher but am told it doesn't take finishes well either. To top it off, it isn't particularly stable either in a high humidity enviroment. It doesn't take fastners well either (screws break, nails bend!)

    On the up side its pretty, wears well, and seems to be popular for high end counters right now (they put one in the latest 'This Old House' project too! In one episode they showed the fabricator, beard covered in that sticky teak dust, no dust mask, pushing a PC speedmatic through a 2 1/2" thick teak slab with an giant ogee cutter that looked like a helicopter blade! I'm guessing he made the sink cutout with a chain saw?

    I was thinking of making a morado counter..bolivian rosewood they call it. still tough to work though. Maybe undermount sink might help the water drain well?

    If your committed to teak good luck, and check out this site: http://www.smithandcompany.org/CPES/index.html. They sell ausome products for wet use/marine enviroments and restoration. Might be some useful products for any wood counter. I used their CPES on a T&G porch floor restoration on my house, made the Doug fir harden up like iron, also makes it mostly waterproof. Makes paint and varnish stick better too if you follow the finishing schedule they advise. They also have wet 2part epoxy for oily/exotic woods that works well.
    Thanks Peter, very helpful. I have in no way committed to Teak. I like the idea of Jatoba, I have worked with it before.
    Im thinking two vessel sinks since its in the master bath. I guess I might have to watch my wifes hair dryer and straightening iron on it.She will have to keep them in the sink.
    The undermount idea sounds like a good idea for a kitchen.

    Thanks

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