Close to completing a refurb of a cloakroom and I have to build in a
cupboard under the sink. Simple enough, although everything has to be
a custom fit for good reasons. I want to effectively set the sink
into a worktop, although it's not as deep as the sink itself IFYSWIM,
more like a curved triangle each side.
My original intention was to make this from a piece of white worktop
but when we went to get some over the weekend, all the 'white'
worktops looked pretty off-white compared with the sink and would look
pretty poor. SWMBO says it must be white, so no contrasting colour
options there (!).

Plan B is to use something (thick ply/mdf/pine) to make it up, then
get a suitable finish onto that. Trouble is, what sort of finish?
Regular paint is too weak, things like formica don't seem to be
available any more (except in 8x4 sheets to special order). I thought
of ceramic tiles but cutting all the curved edges to follow the sink
would be a complete pain and (more importantly) doomed to failure in
my hands.
I don't mind taking a little while getting the job right and it
occurred to me that spray paints should be capable of giving a good
glossy hard finish if it's built up with plenty of coats but I've only
ever used sprays on metal before and have no idea if any will work
well on a primed wood surface.

So what does the committee think? Any advice on the spray approach
or any other suggestions warmly received...

"GMM" wrote in message
...
Close to completing a refurb of a cloakroom and I have to build in a
cupboard under the sink. Simple enough, although everything has to be
a custom fit for good reasons. I want to effectively set the sink
into a worktop, although it's not as deep as the sink itself IFYSWIM,
more like a curved triangle each side.
My original intention was to make this from a piece of white worktop
but when we went to get some over the weekend, all the 'white'
worktops looked pretty off-white compared with the sink and would look
pretty poor. SWMBO says it must be white, so no contrasting colour
options there (!).

Plan B is to use something (thick ply/mdf/pine) to make it up, then
get a suitable finish onto that. Trouble is, what sort of finish?
Regular paint is too weak, things like formica don't seem to be
available any more (except in 8x4 sheets to special order). I thought
of ceramic tiles but cutting all the curved edges to follow the sink
would be a complete pain and (more importantly) doomed to failure in
my hands.
I don't mind taking a little while getting the job right and it
occurred to me that spray paints should be capable of giving a good
glossy hard finish if it's built up with plenty of coats but I've only
ever used sprays on metal before and have no idea if any will work
well on a primed wood surface.

So what does the committee think? Any advice on the spray approach
or any other suggestions warmly received...

TBH I think it would look worse than tiles even if they are a pain to cut.
Even uPVC might look better. I just don't think you will get a cleanable
finish with paint. White tiles are cheap, get a tile saw and persevere is
what I would do.


--
Bob Mannix
(anti-spam is as easy as 1-2-3 - not)

On 17 Nov, 14:42, GMM wrote:
Close to completing a refurb of a cloakroom and I have to build in a
cupboard under the sink. *Simple enough, although everything has to be
a custom fit for good reasons. *I want to effectively set the sink
into a worktop, although it's not as deep as the sink itself IFYSWIM,
more like a curved triangle each side.
My original intention was to make this from a piece of white worktop
but when we went to get some over the weekend, all the 'white'
worktops looked pretty off-white compared with the sink and would look
pretty poor. *SWMBO says it must be white, so no contrasting colour
options there (!).

Plan B is to use something (thick ply/mdf/pine) to make it up, then
get a suitable finish onto that. *Trouble is, what sort of finish?
Regular paint is too weak, things like formica don't seem to be
available any more (except in 8x4 sheets to special order). *I thought
of ceramic tiles but cutting all the curved edges to follow *the sink
would be a complete pain and (more importantly) doomed to failure in
my hands.
I don't mind taking a little while getting the job right and it
occurred to me that spray paints should be capable of giving a good
glossy hard finish if it's built up with plenty of coats but I've only
ever used sprays on metal before and have no idea if any will work
well on a primed wood surface.

So what does *the committee think? *Any advice on the spray approach
or any other suggestions warmly received...

Do it in steel / stainless steel & then get it powder coated or stove
enamelled?

In article
,
GMM wrote:
Close to completing a refurb of a cloakroom and I have to build in a
cupboard under the sink. Simple enough, although everything has to be
a custom fit for good reasons. I want to effectively set the sink
into a worktop, although it's not as deep as the sink itself IFYSWIM,
more like a curved triangle each side.
My original intention was to make this from a piece of white worktop
but when we went to get some over the weekend, all the 'white'
worktops looked pretty off-white compared with the sink and would look
pretty poor. SWMBO says it must be white, so no contrasting colour
options there (!).

B&Q do plain high gloss white doors for kitchen units - made out of the
usual MDF. The finish is superb. Could you cut one of these to suit - and
perhaps use something else as a backing for added strength?

--
*Marriage changes passion - suddenly you're in bed with a relative*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 17 Nov, 14:51, "Bob Mannix" wrote:
"GMM" wrote in message

...



Close to completing a refurb of a cloakroom and I have to build in a
cupboard under the sink. *Simple enough, although everything has to be
a custom fit for good reasons. *I want to effectively set the sink
into a worktop, although it's not as deep as the sink itself IFYSWIM,
more like a curved triangle each side.
My original intention was to make this from a piece of white worktop
but when we went to get some over the weekend, all the 'white'
worktops looked pretty off-white compared with the sink and would look
pretty poor. *SWMBO says it must be white, so no contrasting colour
options there (!).

Plan B is to use something (thick ply/mdf/pine) to make it up, then
get a suitable finish onto that. *Trouble is, what sort of finish?
Regular paint is too weak, things like formica don't seem to be
available any more (except in 8x4 sheets to special order). *I thought
of ceramic tiles but cutting all the curved edges to follow *the sink
would be a complete pain and (more importantly) doomed to failure in
my hands.
I don't mind taking a little while getting the job right and it
occurred to me that spray paints should be capable of giving a good
glossy hard finish if it's built up with plenty of coats but I've only
ever used sprays on metal before and have no idea if any will work
well on a primed wood surface.

So what does *the committee think? *Any advice on the spray approach
or any other suggestions warmly received...

TBH I think it would look worse than tiles even if they are a pain to cut..
Even uPVC might look better. I just don't think you will get a cleanable
finish with paint. White tiles are cheap, get a tile saw and persevere is
what I would do.

--
Bob Mannix
(anti-spam is as easy as 1-2-3 - not)

It did occur to me that a single piece of ceramic cut from a large (30
x 60) tile might do the job: I wonder how many of them I would need
to buy to cut the curve for each side? (;-)

On 17 Nov, 15:36, "Dave Plowman (News)" wrote:
In article
,
* *GMM wrote:

Close to completing a refurb of a cloakroom and I have to build in a
cupboard under the sink. *Simple enough, although everything has to be
a custom fit for good reasons. *I want to effectively set the sink
into a worktop, although it's not as deep as the sink itself IFYSWIM,
more like a curved triangle each side.
My original intention was to make this from a piece of white worktop
but when we went to get some over the weekend, all the 'white'
worktops looked pretty off-white compared with the sink and would look
pretty poor. *SWMBO says it must be white, so no contrasting colour
options there (!).

B&Q do plain high gloss white doors for kitchen units - made out of the
usual MDF. The finish is superb. Could you cut one of these to suit - and
perhaps use something else as a backing for added strength?

--
*Marriage changes passion - suddenly you're in bed with a relative*

* * Dave Plowman * * * * * * * * London SW
* * * * * * * * * To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Well, I had that same thought - in fact I bought a door and side panel
for this very job, so there wouldn't be any problem with colour
matching. I must admit I'd rather thought the finish would be too
fragile - maybe I should try bashing it a bit to see if it might be
robust enough......

In article
,
GMM wrote:
B&Q do plain high gloss white doors for kitchen units - made out of
the usual MDF. The finish is superb. Could you cut one of these to
suit - and perhaps use something else as a backing for added strength?

Well, I had that same thought - in fact I bought a door and side panel
for this very job, so there wouldn't be any problem with colour
matching. I must admit I'd rather thought the finish would be too
fragile - maybe I should try bashing it a bit to see if it might be
robust enough......

Any high gloss paint finish won't be that robust.

You say it must be white - but is everything white? If you're doing a wood
floor using real wood rather than laminate you could use that for the
worktop - that's what I've done in my bathroom for the same as you and it
looks stunning.

--
*It's o.k. to laugh during sexŒ.Œ.just don't point!

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 17 Nov, 17:45, "Dave Plowman (News)" wrote:
In article
,
* *GMM wrote:

B&Q do plain high gloss white doors for kitchen units - made out of
the usual MDF. The finish is superb. Could you cut one of these to
suit - and perhaps use something else as a backing for added strength?
Well, I had that same thought - in fact I bought a door and side panel
for this very job, so there wouldn't be any problem with colour
matching. *I must admit I'd rather thought the finish would be too
fragile - maybe I should try bashing it a bit to see if it might be
robust enough......

Any high gloss paint finish won't be that robust.

The doors will be covered with a pvc foil rather than paint, though,
and those are pretty soft.

I agree that paint is also likely to get scratched up pretty quickly
though. Even gloss proper (melamine-based) laminates aren't really
suitable for horizontal applications.

wrote:
On 17 Nov, 17:45, "Dave Plowman (News)" wrote:
In article
,
GMM wrote:

B&Q do plain high gloss white doors for kitchen units - made out of
the usual MDF. The finish is superb. Could you cut one of these to
suit - and perhaps use something else as a backing for added strength?
Well, I had that same thought - in fact I bought a door and side panel
for this very job, so there wouldn't be any problem with colour
matching. I must admit I'd rather thought the finish would be too
fragile - maybe I should try bashing it a bit to see if it might be
robust enough......
Any high gloss paint finish won't be that robust.

The doors will be covered with a pvc foil rather than paint, though,
and those are pretty soft.

I agree that paint is also likely to get scratched up pretty quickly
though. Even gloss proper (melamine-based) laminates aren't really
suitable for horizontal applications.

Having recently used some B&Q white high gloss kitchen unit doors as
source material for bathroom cabinets, I assure you they are melamine
and not PVC finish. (At least the ones I used!) So long as not being
used for kitchen type activities, I'd suggest they would be fine.
Certainly much tougher than any paint job.

--
Rod

Hypothyroidism is a seriously debilitating condition with an insidious
onset.
Although common it frequently goes undiagnosed.
www.thyromind.info www.thyroiduk.org www.altsupportthyroid.org

In article ,
Rod wrote:
The doors will be covered with a pvc foil rather than paint, though,
and those are pretty soft.

I agree that paint is also likely to get scratched up pretty quickly
though. Even gloss proper (melamine-based) laminates aren't really
suitable for horizontal applications.

Having recently used some B&Q white high gloss kitchen unit doors as
source material for bathroom cabinets, I assure you they are melamine
and not PVC finish. (At least the ones I used!) So long as not being
used for kitchen type activities, I'd suggest they would be fine.
Certainly much tougher than any paint job.

That's interesting as I have them too. And had to cut one down, height
wise, using a circular saw. The finish both chipped and melted slightly.
I assumed it was some type of paint.

--
*What hair colour do they put on the driver's license of a bald man? *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article
,
wrote:
Any high gloss paint finish won't be that robust.

The doors will be covered with a pvc foil rather than paint, though,
and those are pretty soft.

Heh heh - isn't that just transport protection? Removing it gives a
brighter white...

--
*Forget about World Peace...Visualize using your turn signal.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Rod wrote:
The doors will be covered with a pvc foil rather than paint, though,
and those are pretty soft.

I agree that paint is also likely to get scratched up pretty quickly
though. Even gloss proper (melamine-based) laminates aren't really
suitable for horizontal applications.

Having recently used some B&Q white high gloss kitchen unit doors as
source material for bathroom cabinets, I assure you they are melamine
and not PVC finish. (At least the ones I used!) So long as not being
used for kitchen type activities, I'd suggest they would be fine.
Certainly much tougher than any paint job.

That's interesting as I have them too. And had to cut one down, height
wise, using a circular saw. The finish both chipped and melted slightly.
I assumed it was some type of paint.

Hmmm - what I got were some doors from the "it Kitchens Gloss White
Slab" range. They didn't seem to melt for me - but maybe I was lucky?
Certainly quite a solid, decent thickness layer - whatever it is!

--
Rod

Hypothyroidism is a seriously debilitating condition with an insidious
onset.
Although common it frequently goes undiagnosed.
www.thyromind.info www.thyroiduk.org www.altsupportthyroid.org

On 18 Nov, 14:06, "Dave Plowman (News)" wrote:
In article ,
* *Rod wrote:

The doors will be covered with a pvc foil rather than paint, though,
and those are pretty soft.

I agree that paint is also likely to get scratched up pretty quickly
though. *Even gloss proper (melamine-based) laminates aren't really
suitable for horizontal applications.

Having recently used some B&Q white high gloss kitchen unit doors as
source material for bathroom cabinets, I assure you they are melamine
and not PVC finish. (At least the ones I used!) So long as not being
used for kitchen type activities, I'd suggest they would be fine.
Certainly much tougher than any paint job.

That's interesting as I have them too. And had to cut one down, height
wise, using a circular saw. The finish both chipped and melted slightly.
I assumed it was some type of paint.

It will be a pvc foil at that price point (and from that source).