Resin worktops for kitchen - has anyone else tried making one?

[Vesa]

Hello all! Has anyone tried (and had success) pouring resin to make kitchen worktops?

Our self-build project is nearly finished and there’s no money left in the pot, so we decided to make our own worktops. We already have resin floor, which we poured ourselves and we are very happy with it (you can see it in the photo). So to make the worktops, we used sheets of MDF, plenty of prepping and priming and then poured the resin. We were pretty pleased with the result, considering it was our first attempt, though we were hoping for a darker colour finish. Anyway, left it to cure for couple of weeks. Then made a cup of tea and left it on the worktop for a minute and it “melted” the resin, leaving a permanent mark. Having seen these sort of DIY resin worktops advertised online showing hot pans placed directly on them, I didn’t think they would not be extremely heat resistant. Well, as it turns out, they’re not. 

Has anyone else had similar experience with resin? And do you know if there is a type of heat resistant resin or other coating that could be used for similar purpose? Any advice would be much appreciated!

[JohnMo]

15 minutes ago, Vesa said:

resin

It's a very generic term, many different types with different properties.

[LDNRennovation]

Oh no! You did such a good job. I also can’t believe just a cup of tea melted it, that’s worse than I thought. Are you able to buff it out?

I assume you want to still see the resin colour, so how would you feel about a clear pvc or vinyl protector? It’s more heat protection but there’s a chance the resin might still react under the wrap. You’d need it fairly thick and scratches might still be an issue. 
 

I have watched a few YouTubers doing resin kitchen tops, they said the same thing as you. (Yorkshire workshop was one). Just a lot of surface protectors and being careful. Not great for a kitchen really, but looks cool.

[Beau]

I'm surprised a hot cup damaged the resin but I know many epoxy resins dont really like heat. I made an engineered wooden worktop for our kitchen but didn't use epoxy for the section around the hob for this exact reason. Such a shame as you have done an amazing job. 

[Bancroft]

Kudos to you for trying in the first place!

 

I do a lot of woodworking and I've tried a few larger resin projects - and now know why those lovely resin dining tables cost thousands!

 

I find resin horrible to work with - messy and difficult to get a good result, even with smaller pieces.

 

If you are trying again, perhaps look at some of the different types of resin available as they do make a lot of different compounds for different purposes.  West System and Total Boat are two of the biggest companies that I'm aware of and they both have a whole suite of different compounds for different purposes.

[Vesa]

Ah. Damn autocorrect… 

Does anyone know if it’s possible to edit the title?

[jack]

17 minutes ago, Vesa said:

Ah. Damn autocorrect… 

Does anyone know if it’s possible to edit the title?

 

I fixed it.

 

You can only edit posts for 30 mins after paying. After that, you can report your own post and ask the mods to edit. 

[markc]

50 minutes ago, jack said:

 

I fixed it.

 

You can only edit posts for 30 mins after paying. After that, you can report your own post and ask the mods to edit. 

After paying? Damn auto correct lol

[SteamyTea]

Generally, the cheaper, 2 part, exothermic resins have a low (sub 60°C) temperature rating.

There are higher rated resins, usually epoxy or phenolics, that are much higher rated.

There is a reason that SpaceX makes rockets out of stainless steel and not carbon fibre, it can take thermal cycling.

Even if you can find a cheap, high temperature resin, it will almost certainly discolour if something hot is placed on it.

Another problem with thermosetting resins is that they absorb moisture, you to about 10% by mass.

 

I used to make steam rooms from composites, too me ages to find a suitable mix of materials, and we still had the occasional problem caused by over temperature, both during manufacture and usage.

 

Thermo plastics are a different kettle of fix, many are designed to be formed at higher temperatures, around 140 to 200°C.

 

If anyone knows of a thermoset resin that is stable at higher temperatures, let me know.

[LDNRennovation]

Have you thought about trying it again and using concrete or similar? Polished and dyed it could have the look and more durability (and not too expensive).

 

obviously do more research because it comes with its own issues too!

Edited March 28 by LDNRennovation

[Vesa]

6 hours ago, LDNRennovation said:

Have you thought about trying it again and using concrete or similar? Polished and dyed it could have the look and more durability (and not too expensive).

 

obviously do more research because it comes with its own issues too!

Thank you all for your replies, comments, advice and suggestions.

JohnMo, I used resin specifically for tabletops from Epodex, but I must admit I didn’t do enough research when it comes to heat resistance of the stuff. They also supplied the resin for the floor. From Germany. Great price.

[Vesa]

Thank you LDNRennovation and Beau for your kind comments. I was quite pleased by the way the opening for the underslung sink turned out.  Unfortunately, the hot cup of tea left an indentation in the surface and cannot be buffed out… I think I’m just gonna admit that the whole thing is going to start looking pretty bad quite soon. And when it starts to annoy me too much, then I’ll try something else…

[Vesa]

Bancroft - with my limited experience, I actually found resin easy to work with. Maybe just a bit stressful due to the limited time you have before it all starts to set… I did the ground floor as a one-man-job (needed to be done because we were due to move in the week after and other half was away on a work trip). It’s about 90 square meters and I managed it in about an hour. It did take some meticulous planning though to have everything ready before you start mixing 150kg of resin that will be solid in about two hours. It was poured directly onto primed concrete insulated raft foundations with embedded underfloor heating pipes. And I must say I do love the continuous seamless finish it gives to the ground floor.

Have you tried using resins from the companies you mention?

[Vesa]

jack - thank you for fixing the title. How much do I owe you… 😬

[Vesa]

My plan now is to try again using microcement with black pigments for the worktops. Should be good with hot pans etc.. I’m just not sure if I should put the microcement on the existing resin or if having the resin coating underneath would still give issues if hot items were placed on top? Trying to take the existing resin off the MDF base is probably going to be a nightmare so might be easier just to start all over again from scratch. The only good thing is that I only spent £150 in total for the two worktops (not giving myself a penny for the labour, obviously) and I would happily do this again in utility room or similar where heat was not an issue.

 

The microcement would need a waterproof coating on it and I was thinking of using 2-part resin polyurethane there. I used this PU to seal the kitchen walls. The yellow walls are actually Venetian plaster, but unfortunately look like they’ve been rag-rolled. Another first try that didn’t really turn out how I wanted. Especially the colour. 
 

Any thoughts on using microcement for kitchen worktops?

[JamesP]

Just want to applaud your approach and effort with the floor and worktops. I did not know some resins would be so vulnerable to heat.

I made three concrete worktops, trial worktop was for the utility making a forma added rebar and cut outs for sinks and a hob. A much slower process with lots of wet grinding and polishing to expose the aggregate.

Most tricky aspect was moving the worktops from workshop to kitchen due to size and weight.

An enjoyable and satisfying process.

I would test the microcement first, adherence might be an issue. Have a feeling you might redo them.

Keep it up!

 

Edited March 28 by JamesP

[Vesa]

Thank you JamesP. 
I would absolutely love to have solid concrete kitchen worktops (I did some windowsills in bathrooms, poured in-situ and they worked out great)  but I’m not brave enough to go there with bigger pieces. Not just yet anyway. The main reason being the weight of the units. We are already living in the property and having to do most of the work on my own means:

a) there’s no way I could move those slabs outside to machine them and

b) any dust inside must be kept to minimum due to health reasons…

Also, I don’t think the kitchen units I’ve put in are up to taking the weight of concrete worktops. 

However, I will absolutely want to try casting a concrete work surface for the outdoor kitchen/barbecue in due course!