Galley makeover ideas

A couple of points I have come across when dealing with different materials for Kitchen bench tops for clients.

1/ As said Granite is very heavy and the choice of finishes is not as great as some other options. Also Granite being a natural stone and quite porous & can have internal stress points, which if you are very unlucky, can fracture if you drop a heavy item onto the weak spot.Also Granite feels very cold to touch and is unforgiving if you drop anything onto it.On the positive side the premium granite tops have a depth to them that can not be matched elsewhere,but you are talking 'big bickies'.If you damage Granite it is not easy to repair.

2/ 'Manufactured stone' such as Quartzstone, Caesar Stone etc, is very versatile, slightly cheaper than Granite, is non porous and can be repaired if damaged. The colour range is very good and the product is non porous. This product has been around for approx 20 years and seems to stand up to wear & tear well.You can get it in differing profiles ie 6mm, 9mm, if you like the chunky look you can glue a 12mm edge profile to give the impression of a large solid bench top.

3/ Corian is not a stone product and hence has a softer feel than the above and it is kinder to glasses and plates that may be dropped onto it.Also it is lighter, but quite expensive. The great thing about Corian is that you can fix major damage quite easily(well if you know what you are doing)The only downside I have noticed is that on older tops they tend to look a bit dull, but having said that the Corian people say you can polish them up, however to my eye they still don't look 100%

4/ Under benchtop sinks look great but be aware of the area where they are screwed/glued to the bench top, they collect dirt and grime and soon turn black if you are not diligent, waterproof silicon has to be scraped out and replaced on a regular interval.

Sorry if I have repeated what others have already posted.For the record here is our set up in our IG 36. We have kept the kitchen quite minimal as our climate in Sydney is mild and almost all of our cooking in summer & winter is done on our BBQ on the aft deck

Some things I'd really like: A trash compactor, convection microwave and powered exhaust vent over the stove.

If I had the corner situation I think I would have to seriously consider putting in a corner cabinet on a lift. Push a botton and that huge space would rise up for access. It would be very easy to do. You can use the lift mechanism for TV's or build your own.

shrimp wrote:


4/ Under benchtop sinks look great but be aware of the area where they are screwed/glued to the bench top, they collect dirt and grime and soon turn black if you are not diligent, waterproof silicon has to be scraped out and replaced on a regular interval.

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When done right the top to sink joint should be under the top and not visible. This eliminates the need to maintain the appearance of the joint.

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Daddyo wrote:

If I had the corner situation I think I would have to seriously consider putting in a corner cabinet on a lift. Push a botton and that huge space would rise up for access. It would be very easy to do. You can use the lift mechanism for TV's or build your own.

Click to expand...

I really like the idea of a hidden cabinet on a lift. I've looked into TV lifts and they could work bu, WOW, they're expensive. I'd be interested in some ideas for building one. As a mechanical engineer I can visualize various lift mechanisms but I'd need some help coming up with a motor to drive it.

I'm thinking a simple box riding on heavy duty drawer slides mounted vertically on the back. The front of the box could be lifted with a pulley system drive by a reversible*electric motor. I'm open to ideas. I'd be happy to provide design details and test results if we ca nwork it out.

These links for linear actuators might be helpful
http://www.firgelliauto.com/show_info.php?page_id=35

http://www.firgelliauto.com/product_info.php?cPath=104&products_id=146

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-- Edited by GarryP on Wednesday 19th of January 2011 07:56:13 AM

-- Edited by GarryP on Wednesday 19th of January 2011 07:59:11 AM

Although I think it would be great to use the space under the corner counter, that space does serve as a parking spot for small appliances you don't want to move every time you get something from below. We do store items that we use very little but like having, around the corner under the sink cabinet. Our helm chair hinges forward, when in the slip or at anchor, creating more counter space.

Seahorse,
we are talking about the space that would be below where your coffee maker is...the dead corner in the cabinets.

Bets use I have found for them is putting my son inside. This led me to the idea of being able to use the space to smuggle illegal aliens into the USA. Alas though, I do not in CA so not sure how that will pan out for me. Guess I'll keep my day job.

Woodsong wrote:Seahorse,

we are talking about the space that would be below where your coffee maker is...the dead corner in the cabinets.

Click to expand...

Yes, I know. Read the first sentence in my previous post.

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-- Edited by SeaHorse II on Wednesday 19th of January 2011 09:25:19 AM

The cabinet lift idea sounds worth pursuing. Lee Valley sell a sewing machine lift that could work in that application.

koliver wrote:

The cabinet lift idea sounds worth pursuing. Lee Valley sell a sewing machine lift that could work in that application.

Click to expand...

The linear actuators at Firgelli Automations would work great. Check out model number*FA-200-TR-24-20" but they have plenty of diferent capacities and stroke lengths.
http://www.firgelliauto.com/product_info.php?cPath=104&products_id=146[/b][b]

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-- Edited by GarryP on Wednesday 19th of January 2011 10:47:22 AM

we've considered a lift idea*but it would be limited by the clearance to the upper cabinet.* Maybe it could be used to at least raise the bottom higher within the space itself when you are trying to get something out of the bottom??

This one doesn't require any height above the cabinet.
http://www.leevalley.com/en/hardware/page.aspx?p=41821&cat=3,48759

Let's start the party!

A year and a half later I put a shelf in one of the bottomless pits!

The butcher block counter the PO installed over the old laminate counter is starting to fail rapidly, especially around the sink. I was thinking of ripping it out and relaminating as a short term fix but discovered the PO had removed some of the old coutertop around the sink (that must have rotted as well) so if I have to go the trouble of replacing the underlayment stuff, might as well redo the galley how I want at the same time. We plan to do something similar to what Woodsong did and replace the old stove/oven with a smooth surface range and a convection oven/ microwave. I'd also like to replace the sink but I'm having trouble finding one that will fit that is more than 7" deep. Current one has seen better days since the butcher block was glued on top of it.

Anyone installed copper countertops? I saw some in a house years ago and LOVED them. I've been doing lots of research on them and not 100% convinced I can install them myself. I've seen conflicting info on what to do at seams (should only have one).

Anyway, still in the daydreaming phase so thought I'd bring this old thread back... Max created a tile countertop thread under other systems and I don't want to hijack his thread anymore than I already have...

Jennifer
What is the size of the sink that you are looking for?

any issues with Ballast?

rochepoint said:

Jennifer
What is the size of the sink that you are looking for?

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I think it's 21" total wide, 14" back to front and 10" deep. Two bowls. I find the bowls too small and while I can get the identical sink for $600 or $700 from defender, I'm looking for a single bowl w similar dimensions. Also the one at defender is super shiny and I have never seen one (on a boat) hold that shine for long. Another TF member pointed me to a custom sink maker so I'm looking into that.

Planning to do this project in December.

IF I were doing a galley makeover the first thing I would look at is the range location.

If it is against the hull a passing wave has a 50/50 chance of tossing its contents on the cook.

Mounted athwartships the odds are the contents are tossed on the cook are much lower, tho the counters may get a boiling bath every so often.

Our space was too limited , so a gymboled range with fiddles and pot clamps (sail boat style) was the choice.

Pretty is always nice , but SAFE is perhaps better.

bringing this thread back up since my galley makeover is nearing completion.

Countertops went in yesteday and we drove up to the boat (90 miles) after work to see it!

The corner stroage to the right of the sink is where we are installing a pop up "bar". If we can figure out how to get it to work. The lift mechanism is in place, now to engineer the rest of it!

We hope to finish up this weekend but probably won't have time because we are getting our runabout on Saturday and we have to leave early Sunday to get home for mother's day brunch with the inlaws.

WOW!! That looks great! Nice big sink.

thanks Al a large sink was a priority. Overall it is smaller than the original double bowl but the bowls on the old one were too small to be very practical. So one big bowl won out.

I feel the same way on our boat's double sinks. When we had our kitchen remodeled last month, we went with a large single basin and really appreciate its functionality. If we ever redo the galley, we'll go with the big single basin.

Where's the dishwasher? Under the glass stove top bling?

Hi Al, yep it will go under the stove top. Have to get the sink drain squared away before we can hook it up so it's in the saloon on the floor at the moment.

Pineapple Girl said:

bringing this thread back up since my galley makeover is nearing completion.

Countertops went in yesteday and we drove up to the boat (90 miles) after work to see it!

The corner stroage to the right of the sink is where we are installing a pop up "bar". If we can figure out how to get it to work. The lift mechanism is in place, now to engineer the rest of it!

We hope to finish up this weekend but probably won't have time because we are getting our runabout on Saturday and we have to leave early Sunday to get home for mother's day brunch with the inlaws.

Click to expand...

Looks very nice! What material did you use for the counter top?

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Dave we went with Corian. We orginally had picked out a silestone based on the appearance of it--we really weren't sold on any particular material. I then had a long conversation with a fabricator and he convinced me that Corian was they way to go. I wrote a blog post about it a few weeks ago, countertop considerations afloat. the fabricator who conviced me does not sell Corian but very strongly feels it is the best choice on a boat.

Beautiful! We'll be doing Hobo's counters this fall. This sure gets us thinking about it.

Some of what I did last spring on the old boat. The material was 3/4 granite from clearence center.

The first shot is fabricating, second the final product.

Rob

Pineapple Girl said:

we've considered a lift idea*but it would be limited by the clearance to the upper cabinet.* Maybe it could be used to at least raise the bottom higher within the space itself when you are trying to get something out of the bottom??

Click to expand...

If the lift has enough vertical travel to raise the height of the lower cabinet, but you lack the vertical clearance above the counter, you could build a double decked system with the top half removable. You could raise it half way to get access to the top section. Then if you move the top section out of the way you could raise it the rest of the way to access the bottom. You could even connect the top section to the bottom section with a drawer slide, so you could slide the top over far enough to clear the upper cabinet. I would recommend an inhibit switch that would prevent the lift from going all the way up until the top section was slide open.

Jennifer
Thanks for the info on Corian, I am getting ready to redo our galley and was looking at all the different tops that could be laid in place. Hope the sun shines strong on the Delta this year, it is a great cruising ground in the summer.

Pineapple Girl,

Someone mentioned drawer slides for a slightly different purpose, but in general you can get ball bearing drawer slides on ebay inexpensively. What you'll probably want is the "full extension" style, otherwise a 12" slide as an example might only extend 9", whereas full extension slides go all the way.

You'll use them in conjunction with your linear actuators JUST like you would designing a drawer that slides out, only its going in a vertical plane instead. Build stops if you need to, otherwise hopefully your linear actuators have built in stops.

What I've found is that its EASIEST to build the whole system including the surrounding framework on your workbench. You can even test it there. Then you take the whole thing, slip it into place and shim it to where it needs to be.

This is much easier than trying to build the moving parts while measuring and mating them to the supporting structure with your head in an opening and no place to stick an arm or hand.

Not sure if you're already past this stage but thought I'd throw the ideas at you.