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Saturday, October 30, 2021

My Trailer Redo - Days 167-173 - Kitchen Countertop

  I definitely get to cross a big item off today. Doing the kitchen countertop was a completely separate entry from the trailer kitchen, because it's such a big project all by itself. acrylic pour countertop in trailer kitchen

First, I had to cut the board the right shape. That wasn't too difficult, since there was a "junk" board covered with contact paper that we'd been using already. The shape just needed a few tweaks, although it was in two pieces, and then I could use it for the pattern. It got painted white on both sides first. Oh, I filled holes on the right side with plastic wood. This is the back, so I wasn't as picky. building trailer kitchen countertop

There were multiple rounds of dry-fitting everything, because of some additional changes I'm making to the final iteration. building trailer kitchen countertop

I did the acrylic pour, the same as I did with the table. But I learned some things. I used less paint and let it run more. The link to the explanation of how I did the pour with the table top is at the end. I am quite satisfied with the result this time. acrylic pour trailer kitchen countertop

But then-- I was facing that issue with the resin leaving such big dimples. I watched some more videos, one of them addressing this exact issue. First of all, I washed the whole thing with soap and water after the paint was good and dry. I put duct tape around the edges to keep so much resin from running off the sides (the video I watched had good luck with that. The tape didn't stick very well for me). resin pour trailer kitchen countertop

My plan was to do thinner layers this time. First layer left many of those bare spots just like before. For some reason, the resin just flies away from certain spots. It has nothing to do with how much resin is applied. resin pour trailer kitchen countertop

But, the video also said that the way to fix that was with the thinner layers, and to rough the surface up significantly between layers. Don't worry about all the scratches- the new coat will bond and remove them all. This also means you have to let the resin dry for at least 12 hours between coats. So I sanded it with coarse paper, then washed with a damp cloth. Then the last thing is to wipe the entire surface down with alcohol. resin over acrylic pour trailer kitchen countertop

So, I did three coats. There are a few uneven places, but no dimples anything like the table top. I have a little bit of resin left, so I'm going to try to fix the table before I leave. The resin doesn't store well after opening, so I'll be better off to use it up. And it's expensive, so I don't want to waste any.

It looks pretty darn good! resin over acrylic pour trailer kitchen countertop

Today, I put it in the trailer. All the lower elements of the kitchen are fastened in. Ready to start above the counter! (Oh, OK, I have to do one little shelf brace piece that I forgot to polyurethane.) resin over acrylic pour trailer kitchen countertop

P.S. We are glad to get it out of the kitchen. Definitely a monster to work around. (Anyone want to give me a pole barn?)

In other news: I got a LOT done today. I worked on hike food, I did major shopping for hike food, and I got the trailer to this point. 29 BIG ITEMS to do (33 done) and 24 small ones to do (14 done). 31 days to go.

See New Table
See Lower Front Wall

6 comments:

The Oceanside Animals said...

Charlee: "Very pretty with all the different colors!"
Chaplin: "Happy Halloween!"

Sharkbytes said...

Hi C&C- Thanks kitties! I like it a lot.

Ann said...

Oh that looks amazing. Don't you just love YouTube? Someone always has a video to help through a project

Secondary Roads said...

Looks great. You are amazing--as are your projects.

Sharkbytes said...

Ann-I'd never do a lot of this stuff correctly without videos!

Chuck- I keep trying! ;)

Aaron Paul Lazar said...

I've always said, "A job well-planned is a job half done." You are the master of this concept!