Happy 2012!!
I am so excited about this New Year! And I am so excited to share it with you.
The holiday rush is now over, and I am in the mood to get things in order. Are you?
One of the things I wanted to do is try to share a few posts with some more details about my kitchen. I had a lot of you ask questions about the specifics of our makeover like paint colors, stain color, etc.
So I am going to try and answer those questions. (Hope you are not getting sick of my kitchen. 
)
Here is some information that I wanted to share about our IKEA butcher block counter tops:
Here is the link to the exact butcher block that we purchased…http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20057397/#/60057395
They come in different types of wood, lengths, and depths.
Cy cut the pieces of butcher block so that there would be a seam right under the faucet, and two 45 degree seams in each corner.
Cy wanted me to make sure that I told you that he used PL Adhesive to adhere the seams together.
This stuff is the bomb! When it dries, it is actually stronger than the wood that it is holding together. By using this adhesive, it eliminates the chance of the seams splitting or shifting over time.
He also attached a 1×2 underneath the seams with screws for extra strength.
After the butcher block was attached to the cabinets, we needed to fill in any gaps in the seams with wood filler.
Here is a little trick:
When sawing the butcher block, be sure to save some of the saw dust from the floor.
Then mix some of the saw dust with the wood filler before filling the seams.
This will help the wood filler blend more evenly with the wood and help the seam to accept the stain the same as the rest of the countertop.
Next, just press the wood filler mixture into the seam with your finger.
Once the filler is dry, you can sand it smooth with a sander.
Once the seams were all filled, Cy then sanded the whole countertop really well and then applied ONE coat of this stain…
You can see that the stain gave the wood just a little bit of a deeper color.
Then we applied 4 coats of Satin Polyurethane, sanding lightly between each coat.
Perfection! I love the way it turned out!
In the video below, you can see how Cy made the rounded corners in the wood around the sink. We applied a bead of caulk between the wood and the sink to keep the moisture out.
I’ve had my countertops finished for a couple of weeks now, and I can honestly say that I am thrilled with them. They are extremely durable and easy to clean.
Here is a little video I made of some footage of Cy working on the counters.
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If I didn’t answer one of your questions in this post, please let me know in the comments, and I will get back to you.
Have a blessed day!
