Refit & Repairs: Galley Countertop (part 1 of 2)

The countertops were in bad shape when we bought Gyatso in 2005, so we were especially thankful to our cousin Will in Annapolis for his offer to replace the main countertop.  Lisa worked alongside him for several days during December 2005.  With limited time available, we decided to keep the project as simple as possible by replacing the old white Formica with new white Formica.  The trickiest part was working around the teak frames for the doors to the top-loading fridge and freezer compartments.  Because of the way they were installed, we didn't want to take these out, but it meant that Will couldn't just slap down a piece of Formica and route out the holes.  We had to measure and install the custom-cut piece very carefully.  We were very pleased with the final outcome.  Here are some photos of the project:

	Galley Countertops: Cousin Will removed the old countertops that had peeled up and cracked with age in preparation for installing new ones.  This step of the project involved many hours of scraping and removing contact cement, fiddles and refrigerator compartment doors.
	Galley Countertops: Although a new refrigeration system had just been installed, everything was emptied out and kept at home while the countertop project was going on.
	Galley Countertops: Instead of removing the teak trim around the cut-outs for the fridge, we cut the main piece of white Formica to fit the space with a router and then glued it down with contact cement once we had the right fit.
	Galley Countertops: The fridge compartment doors were refinished in Will's shop at home.  Here is the master at work on our countertops.  We don't have the skills or tools to take on a project like this -- we couldn't have done it without Will's help.
	Galley Countertops: Cousin Will shows off the finished product!

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© Copyright 2006-2012 s/v Gyatso.  This page was last updated on 02/06/12.