Ideas for galley countertop redo?

[Diesel Bill]

Greetings SKWanderer, I clicked on your post cause it's something I've been thinking about for a while, if I ever finish the dozens of other projects. When I clicked on the 2 photos my brain suddenly said to myself, HEY! that looks like my galley. I did a quick look at what boat you have. Lo and behold we have the same boat. Now I'm really interested
in what you decide to do. I hope you will keep us informed with many photos and details.
Best of luck with the project. Possibly someday I'll get up the nerve and ambition to attempt it myself. For now my radar died last week so it gets priority.

[bcboomer]

We went to stainless countertops with built in sinks and a "marine edge".
Easy to look after, you can put a hot pot or frying pan anywhere. We had the double sink made to accommodate our pots. The built in back splash and sinks means no crevice's to trap gunge.

[stormalong]

I replaced my countertops with Hanex, a Corian equivalent. Three countertops - 2 in galley and one in head. Bought a full sheet and cut/machined it myself. Very hard material. Rough cut with a jig saw and precision machined it with a router. Extreme care is necessary because a simple mistake can wreck a whole piece.

One of the galley tops has two openings, refer and freezer. Plus hinged lids for both. The other galley countertop has a cutout for a locker and for an undermount double sink. To do the undermount sink I took a common double sink and recessed it into a plywood sheet and then cut the Hanex to go on top. The plywood and Hanex are glued together and the sink edge is sealed with caulk. This will probably never come apart and replacing one probably means replacing both.

The head counter has a cutout for an oval sink that is the traditional flange mount. After I did that I realized I could have done undermount.

This was done about 12 years ago and it still looks great. It was a lot of work and patience is required to be successful. I am not generally patient so this took extra effort.

[mitiempo]

Originally Posted by skwanderer

Maybe take that idea of a thin wood/veneer and epoxy, just wonder/worry if it will hold up to scratching and stuff if I do. I know there are plenty of bar tops that are like this. Wondering what's best.

Wood can be durable if done right and if it has reasonable care. Below is a galley I did many years ago. Several coats of epoxy wet sanded between coats and 3 coats of Epifanes on top.

These pics were taken after the next owner sailed to New Zealand and back.

[OS2Dude]

We redid the countertops in our 1985 Catalina 30 with laminate. Removed the fiddles, sanded the old tops and used spray adhesive to adhere the new. Used a laminate cutter on a hand router to cut to size and make the openings for the cooler and sinks. Redid the fiddles at the same time, reattached and looks as good as new. Later removed large fridge and added an induction cooktop using same laminate.

[Hermia II]

We just put 8mm Corian on top and had to re-hinge the hatches. Looks marvelous!
You don't have to lift the sink, just cut the edges nicely around it.

[Celestialsailor]

I used Corian when I redid the westsail and mounted the sink under.

[Na Mara]

It always surprises me that more people don’t consider stainless steel, brushed or otherwise, for galley tops on boats. It’s light, it’s easy to keep clean, it’s fireproof and heat resistant, it allows for seamless integration of sinks and cold boxes and it can even be contoured to remove seams where dirt collects and to provide splash backs.

I also think it looks the business.

What about laying stainless over the OPs existing countertops?

https://rhumblineyachtsales.com/wp-c...interior-1.jpg

[skwanderer]

Originally Posted by Diesel Bill

Greetings SKWanderer, I clicked on your post cause it's something I've been thinking about for a while, if I ever finish the dozens of other projects. When I clicked on the 2 photos my brain suddenly said to myself, HEY! that looks like my galley. I did a quick look at what boat you have. Lo and behold we have the same boat. Now I'm really interested
in what you decide to do. I hope you will keep us informed with many photos and details.
Best of luck with the project. Possibly someday I'll get up the nerve and ambition to attempt it myself. For now my radar died last week so it gets priority.

Hi Diesel Bill!! Oh wow, great to meet another Lancer MSV owner!! I LOVE mine, and absolutely understand the eternal projects list. I'll update here as I make progress. Would love to see more of yours/OP Lancers. So much fun(?) to continue to modify/customize these beauties.

[skwanderer]

Originally Posted by Na Mara

It always surprises me that more people don’t consider stainless steel, brushed or otherwise, for galley tops on boats. It’s light, it’s easy to keep clean, it’s fireproof and heat resistant, it allows for seamless integration of sinks and cold boxes and it can even be contoured to remove seams where dirt collects and to provide splash backs.

I also think it looks the business.

What about laying stainless over the OPs existing countertops?

https://rhumblineyachtsales.com/wp-c...interior-1.jpg

Wow that's gorgeous and functional. That backsplash is great! I'll look into this further. Thanks for the great idea!!

[CarinaPDX]

You could replace the Formica with 3mm thick acrylic solid surface from Avonite - something I'm considering. Unfortunately they seem to only offer it in variations of white.

I have the same sink as the OP. It has 6 studs spot welded on the bottom to hold it down. A deep socket and extension makes it easy to get at the nuts. I've had it in and out several times. And my galley and counter is much smaller.

Greg

[skwanderer]

Originally Posted by OS2Dude

We redid the countertops in our 1985 Catalina 30 with laminate. Removed the fiddles, sanded the old tops and used spray adhesive to adhere the new. Used a laminate cutter on a hand router to cut to size and make the openings for the cooler and sinks. Redid the fiddles at the same time, reattached and looks as good as new. Later removed large fridge and added an induction cooktop using same laminate.

Wow that came out nice! Thanks for posting the pics. My fiddles seem so solidly in place, that messing with them at all (removing/replacing) seems like yet another project, other than refinishing them. But definitely food for thought! Thank you.

[skwanderer]

Originally Posted by CarinaPDX

You could replace the Formica with 3mm thick acrylic solid surface from Avonite - something I'm considering. Unfortunately they seem to only offer it in variations of white.

I have the same sink as the OP. It has 6 studs spot welded on the bottom to hold it down. A deep socket and extension makes it easy to get at the nuts. I've had it in and out several times. And my galley and counter is much smaller.

Greg

Thanks for the info. Never heard of Avonite but just Googled it and it definitely has potential here. Not a fan of white, but I'll investigate further about shades and variations. Much appreciated!

[skwanderer]

Originally Posted by mitiempo

Wood can be durable if done right and if it has reasonable care. Below is a galley I did many years ago. Several coats of epoxy wet sanded between coats and 3 coats of Epifanes on top.

These pics were taken after the next owner sailed to New Zealand and back.

Yes!! That looks lovely! Thanks for sharing your process and pics. I like the look.

[skwanderer]

Originally Posted by Bowdrie

If you pour epoxy you will regret it.
It's soft, it hazes over, it has zero tolerance for UV, it scratches if you look at it crooked, set a hot pot on it by mistake,, it's toast.
I too am in the process of re-doing my galley counter, (1-1/4 Maple,) with under mount sink.
Beautiful, but too much maintenance, now making the patterns that will be laser cut from Stainless, and change the sink to surface mount.
Granite/Corian/Tile/Marble?, no thanks, too hard, it's noisy and a tipped over glass can break too easily, an accidently dropped pot can chip it
For a boat, nothing can come close to all stainless counter tops,, actually there is something better than stainless, it's Monel, but 4>5 times the price.

Great feedback, thanks for sharing wisdom about epoxy.
Ok, with yours and OP replies, pouring on a new countertop now seems silly.
Another vote for stainless. Hadn't ever even considered it til this post. I'll research further about the costs and effort. Thanks much!