Countertop design

[deejayoh]

I am a bit confused about how to get the counter in front of my oven the right height.

I want to pour a concrete countertop in front of my oven that is the same height as the oven floor. But I have 3 inches of insulating board + 2.5 inches of brick on my hearth, so the counters have to be 5.5 inches higher than the hearth - and I don't want counters that are 5.5 inches thick!

What do people use to build up the area in front of the oven? Should I do another concrete pour? maybe build up the area with concrete bricks?

suggestions?

[Tscarborough]

Re: Countertop design

Oven floor height and countertop height are not generally the same. Countertop height is 36-38" and ovens seem to run around 40-44".

I made a watertable at countertop height for continuity on my oven (the light band below the entry slab in my profile pic).

[deejayoh]

Re: Countertop design

I am probably using the wrong term - what I mean is the counter space in front of the oven. I know that people either make it the same height as their oven floor or slightly lower. I want to make it the same height, but am wondering how people do this w/o having a 5 inch thick concrete pour. I want at most a 3" thick pour.

I should probably do a sketchup to show what I mean.

[Tscarborough]

Re: Countertop design

The upper surface is the limiting factor, the depth is strictly a design choice. I do not understand the issue.

[dvm]

Re: Countertop design

I think to FB term you are looking for is "landing". Gulf made some amazing exposed aggregate corbels which said will support a poured concrete landing. Check it out.
http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/8/mi...tml#post128271

[deejayoh]

Re: Countertop design

Landing! yes, that's what I meant. Attached picture should help. I followed the Pompeii directions for hearth sizing, which means I left ~12" in front of the vent for a landing/counter. I want the finished landing to be at the same level as the oven floor. I don't need any corbels, but I agree those are amazing.

Ultimately, I want to have my landing look like Smuth's in the second picture, which doesn't look like it's 5 1/2 inches thick. I think I will just build the form so that the bottom 2 1/2 inches are flush with the edge of the hearth, and top 3 inches have an overhang - and do a single concrete pour. Thicker pour has less chance of cracking.

[Mingy]

Re: Countertop design

My 'landing' is granite countertop. Granite is strong, stain resistant, fireproof, and washable. These are usually 3/4" thick with a border so they look 1 1/2".

I had some concrete pavers left over, so I embedded them in mortar. Bricks or 4" (actually 3 1/2") concrete blocks on their side would work just as well. I figured a small concrete pour would have been too much of a pain, After that set up I mixed up some 'thin set', which mortar for floor tiles. It is really gooey and I made it nice and thick. I laid down a good bed of that and lowered my granite on top. Because the thinset is gooey it gives you a fair bit of leeway to level the counter top. You an even lift a little if you have to. Anyhow, once everything was the way I wanted it, I put a few wood shims just to encourage it to stay put.

I am replacing all the window landings in my house with granite and this is the technique I've found works the best (I don't need pavers for the windows).

[azatty]

Re: Countertop design

Looking at Smuth's picture, I think he poured his structural slab, set his hearth and dome bricks, then filled in with vermicrete (or even concrete block) to a couple inches below the hearth, then poured a two-inch landing slab. The distance between his landing and the door under his slab is pretty big--i'd guess at least 16 inches--which suggests there's a lot of fillwork in that space.