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.

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.

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

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.

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).

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.

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.

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!

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.)

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