Is this worktop fit ok?

Jabbah

Hello

I am in the process of having my kitchen refurbished. Kept the cabinets but have had the kitchen worktops and kitchen table replaced plus several other things. The joiner had originally said to me that my job would be a 2 day job but on the day arrived with some extra men as he had a bigger job to go to and had decided mine could be sorted in a day. It was really evident that he was getting through it as fast as he possibly could as he pressured me to keep the new sink despite it having a ding in it (I have refused and am waiting for a replacement) plus the floor was not plyed well - I have had to ask him to returm as far too many nails are not flush and are bent which will not be good for the sheet vinyl I am planning to put down. They also left the entire kitchen in a complete mess with sawdust and scrapings and sundry nails and bits of wood lying around.

I am concerned about the worktop edging, the previous edging was smooth and flush with no 'bits' hanging down. This is rough to the touch both top and bottom and has small bits of glue hanging off it in places. I'm also not sure whether the gap between it and the worktop is ok and how it should be.

It doesn't feel or look right to me but I have no knowledge to enable me to judge whether it is an ok job - I am reluctant to complain unnessarily (or anger him unnecessarily) as the plumber still has to fit the replacement sink when it arrives.

The joiner has presented his bill for the joinery part (he now tells me the plumber will invoice me separately which I didn't know but have no energy to argue over. The joiner said he will pay the plumber if I pay him in cash but I do not want to do that as I'd rather have a paper trail in case anything goes wrong in the future. Although he wants me to pay now I plan to pay the joiner's bill immediately after he has fixed any outstanding joinery issues. Is this reasonable? Then I will wait and hope the sink will be sorted by the plumber and pay him after that.

Apologies for the long background story - I guess my real worry is the worktop edging and I have attached photos of that.

warwick2001

That's laminate worktop? Although I can't make out the finer details in your picture, it looks like the end was cut with a less than super-sharp sawblade, and has chipped the edges of the top laminate. And once the end trim has been glued on, the glue has settled into the chips, making it look worse?

I would say whilst its certainly not the best job I've ever seen, its certainly not the worst. I suspect with a brand new sawblade the joiner could have cut the worktop to a sharper/cleaner edge. Unless you have another run of worktop lying around, I'm not too sure the joiner will be able to do anything, and as its been cut right to the edge of the floor-unit there's no extra worktop to have another go at the cut (is there any overhang?).

As for the drips of glue on the underside, once fully dried they can be scraped off. Again, not ideal, but should just be a 10 minute job with a decent paint scraper/chisel. Just be careful and watch your fingers, those tools can be pretty sharp. And take a shallow 'swipe', don't gouge.

Jabbah

Thank you so much. 

Yes it's laminate. And no overhang.

I think it's safer for me to leave it as it is, hope no water gets into the edge bit and do the clean up as you suggest.

And thanks again, this advice is greatly appreciated

FreeBear

Would have looked better if he had used a tube of Colorfill matched to the worktop - They do a huge range of colours, and there would have been one good match in the range.

I've used the stuff on a black worktop, and you'd be hard pushed to see the join.

Postik

FreeBear said:

Would have looked better if he had used a tube of Colorfill matched to the worktop - They do a huge range of colours, and there would have been one good match in the range.

I've used the stuff on a black worktop, and you'd be hard pushed to see the join.

You may well be able to get some colorfill into the gap as it stands at the moment. I remember doing something similar on my previous kitchen in places.

If all else fails you can also try rubbing a wax crayon of a similar colour into the affected areas. In this instance they'd want to be careful they didn't start to tear the laminate away from the edge though.

I once created a big chip in a black laminate worktop and I filled it using a black wax crayon. It lasted best part of 15 years and was never noticeable and the wax never came out of the hole. Although I think this works better with deeper holes.

Jabbah

Thank you - that's really useful

twopenny

Just in case this comes up in a search.....

Not just wax crayons. I've used Poundland eyeliner pencils (wax based) to fill in scratches on a car I bought and lipstick (also wax based) for the roof of my old car where a cat had put multiple scratches. Both sucessfully.

Happy days from a problem

subjecttocontract

You can get metal edging strips in aluminium and various colours. The top has an overlapping lip that cover the join completely.

FreeBear

subjecttocontract said:

You can get metal edging strips in aluminium and various colours. The top has an overlapping lip that cover the join completely.

Yes, but... In my opinion, they look cheap and piggin' ugly. Often used to cover poorly cut joints & edges.

Most (all ?) laminate worktops come with a matching edging strip to be glues on to any exposed cuts - Done right, these are far superior to any aluminium strips.

noitsnotme

FreeBear said:

Would have looked better if he had used a tube of Colorfill matched to the worktop - They do a huge range of colours, and there would have been one good match in the range.

I've used the stuff on a black worktop, and you'd be hard pushed to see the join.

Slightly off topic - do you think Colorfill would be suitable for repairing some small chips in laminate flooring?

FreeBear

noitsnotme said:

FreeBear said:

Would have looked better if he had used a tube of Colorfill matched to the worktop - They do a huge range of colours, and there would have been one good match in the range.

I've used the stuff on a black worktop, and you'd be hard pushed to see the join.

Slightly off topic - do you think Colorfill would be suitable for repairing some small chips in laminate flooring?

Probably not - The stuff sets pretty hard, and laminate is usually an MDF type material, so quite soft. I'd try a wood filler first.