Tile on a Galley Countertop ?

[Tropic Cat]

Originally Posted by bobfnbw

Just went to home depot last night to look at a few things, and one of them is countertop material.
I have tiled countertops before in homes and it works ok. Currently have stainless steel at home, but would not have that onboard.
I love the look of corien, but at 55 bucks a sq ft, is very expensive. Granite is to heavy in my opinion but looks great.
I dismissed time outright, but after reading this thread will revisit it. Would save a few bucks thats for sure.
Bob

Home Depot has to order the Formica product. Lowe's has sheets in stock.

[pressuredrop]

all this talk of formica makes me sick, it is beyond me why anyone would want it anywhere on their boat.
i recently built the galley in my allied seawind and heres what i did for my countertops. hard wood ply heavily epoxied on the bottom and edges, tops i stained with minwax mahogany (607 i think) gel stain. installed the contertops, pluged the holes. to finish it (i forget the name of the exact product, but its the stuff used for bar tops, its a thickened resin that you mix and just pour it on and it levels it self. the results are a cost effective and beautiful finish. everyone that has seen it so far has said, ohh is that mahogany?, i call it fahogany, works for me...

Ben

[Fishman_Tx]

Liquid pourable acrylic.

This stuff...
Liquid Glass Epoxy Resin Coating
and again...
Pourable Clear Epoxy Bar and Table Top Coatings

[Cheechako]

all this talk of formica makes me sick....Liquid pourable acrylic... Cool just like the old cable drum tables from the 70's...!

[cat man do]

Originally Posted by Tropic Cat

I love the look of the new Formica, it was easy to install and it's cheap, durable and light.

And there we go.

My vote for No 1 answer

[Herbseesmoore]

Go tile,
go now.

[mikereed100]

It really boils down to taste and weight. For the OP, with 2x4s and 3/4 ply, weight is obviously not a consideration. Tile would be a good solution. In a performance mono or multihull weight is a major consideration. Tile, Corian and coated ply become less atractive and Formica is king.

On my mono I made a counter of birdseye maple over 3/4 ply, covered with epoxy. Beautifull, scratches easily and weighs a ton. On my cat I am currently building the nav station and galley with Formica (Pionite) over 1" PP honeycomb. Beautifull, bombproof, featherweight and cheap.

Mike

[Pblais]

Weight - no big deal. Weight is a lame excuse. You are a cruising boat. If weight was big deal you could rip out the plywood and go 1/4 inch with epoxy paint.

We have Corrian and it's very heavy. Even Catalina uses it. Tile done with a flat tile on a tight joint looks nice and a chance to get some real, color into a boat. Go bright! There are few chances to go bright with color. Pillows and tile are great way to get the place looking more than luke warm.

You could go with the over sized or the hex or the traditional 4 x 4 or 6 x 6. If you grout you can use a grout sealer and it should be just fine. I would draw out the pattern as the area is small and the breaks and tiles to be cut could be large. Cutting fewer tiles looks better. I would avoid borders and back splashes. You might do a bull nose on the edge if you can cut easily. Get a water saw. They rent them.

[sailorgal]

We installed tile over our old counter tops just a few months ago on our motor vessel. I ordered the tile from some place on ebay. It's 1 inch square italian tile in a nice green/tan color combinatin that looks really nice with the teak trim. We used the epoxy grout. We love the look and have had no problems with staining or mildew.

Another suggestion for alternative materials:
Home

Copper countertops might be kinda cool

[redcobra]

I am about to do countertops also. A local marine carpenter (he does a lot of local boats and his own) said that corian for my boat will flex enough without cracking if the underlayment is solid. What about silestone? Is it as brittle as corian.

[Pblais]

What about silestone? Is it as brittle as corian.

Corian is an engineered material so it is a known stability so is Silestone. I would be more concerened about real stone. Even tile is very stable. Unless you have a really long counter top I don't see it being a problem. If you have a long counter top, you probably don't have a place to sleep.

[S&S]

I've installed granite under our cabin heater and can recommend it for counters. Thin (1/2" or less) granite epoxied to a plywood substrate is easy to clean, won't scorch (like Corian) and not heavy enough to concern me. I'm going to do the galley counters next. Much better than tile for horizontal surfaces.

[Maren]

Originally Posted by mikereed100

It really boils down to taste and weight.

... and budget.

[sailing now]

Seven or eight years ago, while redoing the salon I laid granite tiles over the formica. I roughed up the surface with 60 grit and a belt sander and used 4200 (flexible) and caulked the joints rather than grout (flexible again). One of the best things I did! Hot pots and pans? No problem! Durable? Like iron! 3/8" thick tiles meant I could use the original fiddles too. There were only 6 full size tiles in the whole project. The rest had to be cut. I made very accurate templates for the rest and a really nice fellow at a local tile shop did all the cutting and polishing for $100. Go for it!

Added a double sink at the same time, and yes the curtains have been changed! '-)

[bobfnbw]

It looks good.
Seems there is a big divide here on countertop material.. who would of thunk?
After looking at tile again, and comparing costs, and knowing I can install time my self, vs. local stores wanting to install it for you, and the possibility of a large chunk of cash being wasted with corian, or a stone top like granite, it seems that at least for now, a tile top is in our future.
Brite colors are nice, but for me just want to brighten up a otherwise dark corner of the boat. The galley is small, and compact, with little head room. The overhead material dingy, the ports small, the Formica hideous... and the backsplash greasy.
I will post pics when done.