Just finished fitting my kitchen worktops, and now I need to seal the
joint where the two butt together.

Now I am a total novice when it comes to sealents, and Googling this
group for topic gives suggestions of....

Decorators caulk
Black mastic
Gloss paint
Acrylic based sealents
Silicone based sealents

I have no idea what any of these are (except gloss paint :-), or which
would be best.
The worktops are bog standard chipboard with black laminate, so I would
prefer something that is either black, or transparent.

The popular choice seems to be silicone, but I've read that it is a
nightmare to get off once set. Somebody suggested isopropanol to get it
off before it is cured, but after a quick search I can't find anywhere
that sells it online. I can't find black mastic either.

Any advice for the newbie?

Thanks,
Lister

wrote:
Just finished fitting my kitchen worktops, and now I need to seal the
joint where the two butt together.

Now I am a total novice when it comes to sealents, and Googling this
group for topic gives suggestions of....

Decorators caulk
Black mastic
Gloss paint
Acrylic based sealents
Silicone based sealents

I have no idea what any of these are (except gloss paint :-), or which
would be best.
The worktops are bog standard chipboard with black laminate, so I would
prefer something that is either black, or transparent.

What I'd do.

Find some really penetrating wood varnish, or protector.
This MUST not be water based.
Now, paint the cut ends with several coats, until it stops absorbing
any more.
And paint the bottom similarly, otherwise spills will be absorbed.

This will make the joint less likely to absorb any water that gets in.
Now, attach the cover bit with contact cement, and weigh down for 48 hours.

--

take off your trousers to e-mail me
"Ian Stirling" wrote in message
...
wrote:
Just finished fitting my kitchen worktops, and now I need to seal the
joint where the two butt together.

Now I am a total novice when it comes to sealents, and Googling this
group for topic gives suggestions of....

Decorators caulk
Black mastic
Gloss paint
Acrylic based sealents
Silicone based sealents

I have no idea what any of these are (except gloss paint :-), or which
would be best.
The worktops are bog standard chipboard with black laminate, so I would
prefer something that is either black, or transparent.

What I'd do.

Find some really penetrating wood varnish, or protector.
This MUST not be water based.
Now, paint the cut ends with several coats, until it stops absorbing
any more.
And paint the bottom similarly, otherwise spills will be absorbed.

This will make the joint less likely to absorb any water that gets in.
Now, attach the cover bit with contact cement, and weigh down for 48
hours.


The OP is not putting on an end strip, he is butting 2 pieces
together.......

After serious thinking wrote :
Just finished fitting my kitchen worktops, and now I need to seal the
joint where the two butt together.

I put our kitchen in about 10 years ago and all I did was seal every
cut worktop edge with silicon sealant before offering them together. No
problems noted since.

--

Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.org

wrote:
...
The popular choice seems to be silicone, but I've read that it is a
nightmare to get off once set. Somebody suggested isopropanol to get it
off before it is cured, but after a quick search I can't find anywhere
that sells it online. I can't find black mastic either.

I used bog standard black silicone sealant (my local kitchen shop
stocked it, but you could use clear sealant instead if black is hard to
find), gooped it evenly on both faces (technical term), and clamped the
joint closed.

It squeezed out top and bottom like toothpaste, but I wiped the top
surface clean with paper towel, left the sealant to set, and then rubbed
any remaining film off with a dry finger. It doesn't really stick to
laminate at all. I had the non-gloss laminate - it'd probably stick
even less well to gloss laminate.

--
Tony

wrote in message
oups.com...
Just finished fitting my kitchen worktops, and now I need to seal the
joint where the two butt together.

Buy the stuf Screwfix sell for this purpose, colour coded to the worktop.

Tony Eva wrote:
I used bog standard black silicone sealant ...

I should also mention that the aforementioned kitchen shop specifically
recommended *against* using the special fillers like Colorfill. This is
because they not flexible once set and can crack open under the slight
movement of the worktop as it is used, allowing water ingress. They
have their uses, but a jointing compound isn't one of them.

--
Tony

Have a look in the screwfix catalogue or on line screwfix.com and they have the proper coloured sealant in tubes to match your work top.

wrote in message
oups.com...
Just finished fitting my kitchen worktops, and now I need to seal the
joint where the two butt together.

Now I am a total novice when it comes to sealents, and Googling this
group for topic gives suggestions of....

Decorators caulk
Black mastic
Gloss paint
Acrylic based sealents
Silicone based sealents

I have no idea what any of these are (except gloss paint :-), or which
would be best.
The worktops are bog standard chipboard with black laminate, so I would
prefer something that is either black, or transparent.

The popular choice seems to be silicone, but I've read that it is a
nightmare to get off once set. Somebody suggested isopropanol to get it
off before it is cured, but after a quick search I can't find anywhere
that sells it online. I can't find black mastic either.

Any advice for the newbie?

Thanks,
Lister


Why not use worktop joining strip, aluminium stuff available in all DIY
sheds, in various colours.
Silicone under it when you fit it, problem solved.

Alan.

On Mon, 11 Apr 2005 08:53:38 GMT, "Alan"
wrote:



Why not use worktop joining strip, aluminium stuff available in all DIY
sheds, in various colours.
Silicone under it when you fit it, problem solved.

Alan.


aargh.!!!...My kitchen fitter just used clear silicone betwen the
pieces that were butted and used the rods beneath to join them and
cleaned up the excess silicone that got squeezed out .Looks fine but
coloured ( black) silicone probably would look better .
Stuart






Shift THELEVER to reply.

I used PVA to join my dark grey worktops together. I am assuming that
you have used router to prepare the joints. The PVA drys clear and the
finish is pretty good. Seeing the outrageous cost of jointing compound
from B&Q (=A37ish) persuaded me to do it this way.

I would also advise against pre painting the ends and letting it dry, I
did this on one of my joints and the finish was not as good.

simon beer wrote:


--

take off your trousers to e-mail me
"Ian Stirling" wrote in message
...
wrote:
Just finished fitting my kitchen worktops, and now I need to seal the
joint where the two butt together.

Now I am a total novice when it comes to sealents, and Googling this
group for topic gives suggestions of....

Decorators caulk
Black mastic
Gloss paint
Acrylic based sealents
Silicone based sealents

I have no idea what any of these are (except gloss paint :-), or which
would be best.
The worktops are bog standard chipboard with black laminate, so I would
prefer something that is either black, or transparent.

What I'd do.

Find some really penetrating wood varnish, or protector.
This MUST not be water based.
Now, paint the cut ends with several coats, until it stops absorbing
any more.
And paint the bottom similarly, otherwise spills will be absorbed.

This will make the joint less likely to absorb any water that gets in.
Now, attach the cover bit with contact cement, and weigh down for 48
hours.


The OP is not putting on an end strip, he is butting 2 pieces
together.......

I was assuming (as on mine) that there is some aluminium trim between the
two bits.