best ideas (price) for a kitchen work top

[Crofter]

2 hours ago, lord mud of the flyes said:

How thick do you think the ply wood should be?

Depends on how far apart the supports are. 

Kitchen worktop is normally 44mm thick for stiffness. You don't want any bounce as you're chopping onions with all the ferocity of an aggrieved Gordon Ramsay. You'd probably be fine with thinner stuff, but at a guess I'd say half an inch would be minimum for a well supported worktop.

[lord mud of the flyes]

13 minutes ago, Crofter said:

Depends on how far apart the supports are. 

Kitchen worktop is normally 44mm thick for stiffness. You don't want any bounce as you're chopping onions with all the ferocity of an aggrieved Gordon Ramsay.

But they use stainless steel in commerial kitchens

 

So where is the best place to look for waste?

Edited Monday at 23:48 by lord mud of the flyes

[Crofter]

1 minute ago, lord mud of the flyes said:

But they use stainless steel in commerial kitchens

 

So where is the best place to look for waste?

That's a good point. I've worked in a few kitchens over the years and the stainless counters don't seem to flex that much.

Maybe domestic ones are thicker because we tend to have them installed with a tiled splashback above, so any flex would eventually break the seal and lead to water damage. Commercial kitchens use freestanding units so don't have the same problem.

 

Best place to find an old length of worktop is probably your local Facebook group or maybe Gumtree.

[-rick-]

Just guessing but 2-3mm of stainless is pretty stiff especially if folded over front and back and will likely be supported by a frame. Commercial kitchen stuff is not cheap.

 

10 hours ago, Crofter said:

Depends on how far apart the supports are. 

Kitchen worktop is normally 44mm thick for stiffness. You don't want any bounce as you're chopping onions with all the ferocity of an aggrieved Gordon Ramsay. You'd probably be fine with thinner stuff, but at a guess I'd say half an inch would be minimum for a well supported worktop.

 

Plenty of surfaces are less than 44mm now, but they are all designed to go on a well supported base.

[JohnMo]

If they can't afford laminate - no idea why anyone thinks stainless is affordable.

[-rick-]

14 hours ago, JohnMo said:

Not water proof or water resistant. External ply would be better.

 

I would be hesitant to use external ply. They will likely be questionable from a food safety POV.

 

Honestly, using ply seems like a significantly more expensive and less good option than finding a second hand source. Also, the veneer on ply is very thin and will come off/start splintering PDQ even if you are careful.

 

You can make a good kitchen surface with ply. Get some 25mm or thicker high quality birch and laminate some melamine on top of it but this is not at all cheap.

[JohnMo]

18 minutes ago, -rick- said:

 

I would be hesitant to use external ply. They will likely be questionable from a food safety POV.

 

Honestly, using ply seems like a significantly more expensive and less good option than finding a second hand source. Also, the veneer on ply is very thin and will come off/start splintering PDQ even if you are careful.

 

You can make a good kitchen surface with ply. Get some 25mm or thicker high quality birch and laminate some melamine on top of it but this is not at all cheap.

Do you actually think this is a serious thread? Good guess it's someone just flinging daft questions about. You can buy a 2.4m long worktop from B&Q for £60.

[Crofter]

2 hours ago, JohnMo said:

Do you actually think this is a serious thread? Good guess it's someone just flinging daft questions about. You can buy a 2.4m long worktop from B&Q for £60.

Well earlier on the OP did ask me what I meant by 'wood'.

[-rick-]

4 hours ago, JohnMo said:

Do you actually think this is a serious thread? Good guess it's someone just flinging daft questions about. You can buy a 2.4m long worktop from B&Q for £60.

 

I tend to try and assume the best. Even if this thread isn't entirely serious who knows who will look at it in future.

[lord mud of the flyes]

17 hours ago, JohnMo said:

If they can't afford laminate - no idea why anyone thinks stainless is affordable.

kitchen/ catering stainless grade is very cheap!

[Crofter]

6 hours ago, lord mud of the flyes said:

kitchen/ catering stainless grade is very cheap!

Per square metre, I'm certain you'll find a laminate worktop is much cheaper than a sheet of stainless steel.