30 mm Granite for a 2 ft x 10 ft weighs roughly 200 kg , plywood carcass joints would eventually give away ( will happen over years).Mounting granite on ready made or site made carcass will not last long. The impact force and dead load of the counter top should be decoupled with the cabinet below for long lasting setup.
The best way to lay them is to build brick columns on the sides and in between based on the span, and also insert in the wall (by chipping 0.5 to 1 inch into the plaster) . After this Modular kitchen around this can be built by your carpenter, with sufficient support under the sink area . In the end , the Granite is cut for sink . If you cut it before, without the sufficient ply wood backing , the thin section of granite my break. The only disadvantage is that you may loose storage area around columns, but that is a small price to pay for long lasting design.
It is a misconception that only Black Granite can be used for Kitchen Counters, You can use any granite of your choice and it looks stunning(worried about stains see below) . The only reason many choose black because its available in 30 or 40 mm . I have discussed the same on this thread
http://www.mybdasites.com/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=6775
granite slabs of your choice may be available only in 16 to 20 mm . Then you need to sandwich a lower quality ( Steel grey or Sadarhalli slab ) with a higher quality one with Araldite and have the edge polished. This sandwich is not only limited to edge but entire area.
Any Granite need to be sealed , Non Toxic Nanotech sealers are available , HydroPhobic & Oleophobic sealers like Tenax Proseal \Ager, Ardex FC-SS can be applied if you worry so much about the stains and water leaching. After this you can through oil or coffee ,they will float away .
Kitchen counter top - please help
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ardesarchitects
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- Joined: June 20th, 2009, 2:12 pm
Re: Kitchen counter top - please help
Hi ,
I don't really under stand why do we need 30mm granite on a modular kitchen .Even if you use 30mm granite the entire weight of granite can be taken by the wooden box ( ply/ HDf ) with out any issues life long.
2x10' granite may weight 1 to 3 ton but its not a point load ,its a distributed load of just 10 kg per sft , if your basket channel can take 35 to 50 kg of loaded basket ,we are really underestimating the wood load factor. You can place the granite on wooden box directly with out a second thought and please don't waste space by building a wall in between .
Light color granite is not just about oil stain issues but there is something called granite rusting that you can see in most light color granite over a period of time .once the rusting starts you cannot remove them using any chemical .You can see those rust stains even on new granite slabs in some shops .Using sealers is a good options but they are not permanent coats its need to be applied as and when required .chemical may be non toxic but not recommended for direct food contact ,we use platform many times directly to cut veggies /mix atta and other stuff so its better we avoid chemicals on granite platform .
Regards
Ar.Praveen.N
Ardes Architects and Interior Designers
ardesarchitects@gmail.com
www.ardesarchitects.com
https://www.facebook.com/ardes.architects
I don't really under stand why do we need 30mm granite on a modular kitchen .Even if you use 30mm granite the entire weight of granite can be taken by the wooden box ( ply/ HDf ) with out any issues life long.
2x10' granite may weight 1 to 3 ton but its not a point load ,its a distributed load of just 10 kg per sft , if your basket channel can take 35 to 50 kg of loaded basket ,we are really underestimating the wood load factor. You can place the granite on wooden box directly with out a second thought and please don't waste space by building a wall in between .
Light color granite is not just about oil stain issues but there is something called granite rusting that you can see in most light color granite over a period of time .once the rusting starts you cannot remove them using any chemical .You can see those rust stains even on new granite slabs in some shops .Using sealers is a good options but they are not permanent coats its need to be applied as and when required .chemical may be non toxic but not recommended for direct food contact ,we use platform many times directly to cut veggies /mix atta and other stuff so its better we avoid chemicals on granite platform .
Regards
Ar.Praveen.N
Ardes Architects and Interior Designers
ardesarchitects@gmail.com
www.ardesarchitects.com
https://www.facebook.com/ardes.architects
Re: Kitchen counter top - please help
Sealers are Non Toxic and are particularly designed keeping in mind the Food Prep Surfaces and kitchen counters (Polyurethanes). You can seal the stone and after its cured, you can do roll atta over it . Sealed\Cured stone can be compared to Plastic utensils in terms of toxicity.
Stone weathers irrespective of their color, Stone sealers are primarily designed to considerably slow the process of Granite rusting , efflorescence.
As you pointed out , you may need to reseal it over years ,but not frequently.
I agree, Plywood is very strong, its mechanical data is available, The channel \screw \ basket's mechanical data is available , However there is no data available for the entire box , The load gets distributed at the top and redistributed through out the box and gets concentrated at the mount , its the joints that can give away and slowly deform. I could not find any Modular kitchen mechanical test data or MTTF with 30mm granite top under Indian use conditions.
I agree about the slight storage space reduction , but if that is not a big constraint , its best to decouple the box with counter top.
Stone weathers irrespective of their color, Stone sealers are primarily designed to considerably slow the process of Granite rusting , efflorescence.
As you pointed out , you may need to reseal it over years ,but not frequently.
I agree, Plywood is very strong, its mechanical data is available, The channel \screw \ basket's mechanical data is available , However there is no data available for the entire box , The load gets distributed at the top and redistributed through out the box and gets concentrated at the mount , its the joints that can give away and slowly deform. I could not find any Modular kitchen mechanical test data or MTTF with 30mm granite top under Indian use conditions.
I agree about the slight storage space reduction , but if that is not a big constraint , its best to decouple the box with counter top.