Galley Counter Top

[wolfenzee]

Originally Posted by BlueSun

Hey wolfenzee - Im really interested in this option. Im assuming you used solid boards, not laminate? Is it sealed? If so, with what? What kind of maintenance are you finding it needs?

Thanks so much!

3/4" thick tongue and grove flooring...solid wood
I used it for my counter top, cabin sole (with 3/3" teak between the strips)and a few other misc things...scraps also burn well once you get them going.
note: this wood is so hard you have to pre-drill, tap and use machine screws (a stainless screw works for tap).

[boatsail]

The rumors about granite staining are Just that, rumors. I have been working with granite for years and hear about stains, but don't see them. The people who sell the silstone are the main spreaders of the granite strain myth. I'm going with granite myself.

[SunDevil]

Originally Posted by Sam Plan B

My galley top is .10" stainless steel. The boat came with plastic laminate that was totally shot. I stripped it and patched the plywood substrate with epoxy. I did a careful CAD drawing of the piece needed and emailed it to Stainless Steel Fabricators. Stainless Steel Fabricators: Custom Stainless Steel, Steel, and Aluminum Fabrication It came back in two weeks and fit like a glove. I glued it down with Dow 5200. They have made other parts for me and IMHO do very good work.

It would be the logical choice, if you had light oak colored cabinets or white ones and it would look good with white fiberglass walls. It would look like a commercial kitchen.

That is the way I would go. Do you have any photos?

Thin granite would be my second choice.

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by boatsail

The rumors about granite staining are Just that, rumors.

I have a red ring on the granite counter in the house that would argue with you about Sasquatch existing too.

[boatsail]

Originally Posted by Sailmonkey

I have a red ring on the granite counter in the house that would argue with you about Sasquatch existing too.

It really works
Getting A Stain Out Of Your Granite Counter Is Actually Easier Than You Think | Young House Love

I sell houses for a living amd rehab investment properties. I'm not just making this up. Promise

[Sunchaser]

Boatsail
I posted the comment about Silestone. I've never had granite so I am can't claim to be an expert. I based my comment on friends who have.
I'll be interested to see what your granite installation looks like. It seems a number of people on the forum like the granite. I'll also be interested if anyone has a Silestone installation.
Thanks for the feedback.

[boatsail]

I'm starting my new galley within the month (I would do it now, but want to enjoy the weather a bit more). Once the boat is pulled,bottom job, flashing through hulls, skills and galley, then back in the water. I payed for the slip four the year and they have no yard. I'll be going to another place to pull and duo the work. I don't want to pay for two places four to long, so ill be working as fast as I can.

Ill be sure to photograph as much as possible

[boatsail]

Originally Posted by Sunchaser

Boatsail
I posted the comment about Silestone. I've never had granite so I am can't claim to be an expert. I based my comment on friends who have.
I'll be interested to see what your granite installation looks like. It seems a number of people on the forum like the granite. I'll also be interested if anyone has a Silestone installation.
Thanks for the feedback.

The truth is... In my opinion.... Its a preference. I like the look of granite better and have not had issues with straining or getting stains out. I might change my opinion if my experiences change, but I have been using granite for about seven years without issue... Even on rentals.


In my personal house, I don't seal it and I do clean it with Windex type products (counter cleaning products) not specifically designed food granite. In fact the granite purple tell you that you have y to use certain products to clean and seal..I have seen granite seriously abused and it stands the test of time...... I would offer one piece of advice, k go with dark color granite

[Sailor g]

Originally Posted by wolfenzee

I ended up going with tongue and groove cumaru...the wood was easier to install, warmer and cheaper.

I have never heard of cumaru before. It is beautiful!! Nice that it is so tough too.

[wolfenzee]

Originally Posted by Sailor g

I have never heard of cumaru before. It is beautiful!! Nice that it is so tough too.

Also called Brazilian Teak, but it's not really a type of teak

[Weyalan]

We plan on refitting the galley next winter. We will do the bench top in the same manner we have done for all the other benchtops we have refitted (vanity, head, nav station): i.e. marine ply with epoxy-fibreglass on the underside and epoxy-carbon fibre (varnished) on the top.

[bobconnie]

Gee folks ! I thought we were taking about GALLEYS, not home kitchens! Granite, and all that stuff is great in your house ! But this is a sea going galley! It either should be a fine wood as wolfenzee has, or Stainless Steel as others have said ! Now thats just my thoughts, and they don't amount to much. But if ya want to go to sea in a house thats ok with me ! But I prefer to go with a little more traditional style! cus theres a reason boats have had these type of countertops for years ! They LAST and ya can slam your hot pots and pans right on it from your stove without worry !! Just sayin theres a reason these mateials have been in use for a long time !! Just my 2 cents again LOL

[boatsail]

^^^^^I'm with you in regards to galley and not a kitchen. For me, it comes down to making it feel like a home and not a cave. To me this is done by makint it like what we are used to at home. Nothing wrong with Corian, silestone or granite. Reminds me of a story. I have heard it told several times and did a quick search and found it again.

No reason to do it jsut because it was done that way in the past. Much of boat design is done that way when it could be better.

Look at the catamaran(rofl). I have a mono, but could not resist.

A young woman is preparing a pot roast while her friend looks on. She cuts off both ends of the roast, prepares it and puts it in the pan. “Why do you cut off the ends?” her friend asks. “I don’t know”, she replies. “My mother always did it that way and I learned how to cook it from her”.
Her friend’s question made her curious about her pot roast preparation. During her next visit home, she asked her mother, “How do you cook a pot roast?” Her mother proceeded to explain and added, “You cut off both ends, prepare it and put it in the pot and then in the oven”. “Why do you cut off the ends?” the daughter asked. Baffled, the mother offered, “That’s how my mother did it and I learned it from her!”
Her daughter’s inquiry made the mother think more about the pot roast preparation. When she next visited her mother in the nursing home, she asked, “Mom, how do you cook a pot roast?” The mother slowly answered, thinking between sentences. “Well, you prepare it with spices, cut off both ends and put it in the pot”. The mother asked, “But why do you cut off the ends?” The grandmother’s eyes sparkled as she remembered. “Well, the roasts were always bigger than the pot that we had back then. I had to cut off the ends to fit it into the pot that I owned”.
How often, do we take action and don’t even think to ask, “Why do it this way?” Some of our behaviors were learned long ago – and come out of circumstances that may no longer be relevant and belong to another place and time. And yet, we just keep doing the same thing, over and over. We need to stop and ask ourselves, “Why do I do this?”

[motion30]

I thought about granite as I love the way it look. But I worried it could crack in heavy seas

[Roy M]

How come no one is talking about all that mass, rolling back and forth, adding to the heeling moment. I hope no multihulls are considering granite or its ilk. Back at the slip, or in the romantic protected cove, lit by candle light and oil lamps, the granite will be a hit. Underway, it's something else. And the weight of the countertop... think of all the peanut butter you could be carrying instead.