NEW GALLEY COUNTERTOP PROJECT
STEP ONE.
We cut a half sheet of ¾” plywood to 42” x 33” – the measured dimensions of the existing countertop in place (correct method would have been to pull sink and Wallas, remove the old countertop, remove trim, and then measure the old piece - my dimensions are NOT correct, we have a bit more gap on the head end than desired). We marked the rear side, put painter’s tape on the front side, and cut from the back side. Very clean cut. Then we cut a piece of Wilsonart laminate to the same size, and used Wilsonart contact cement to fasten the laminate to the plywood. Patty did an excellent job on the laminate, looks very good.
STEP TWO.
We removed the sink and the Wallas from the existing countertop, unscrewed the countertop from all the L brackets holding it in place, and removed it. There were some fasteners holding the cable bundle that we did not see, and inadvertently broke the rear brace. Will either glue it or replace it. Finally we carefully removed the existing teak molding pieces, they came off intact – they are held in place by a small bead of some kind of adhesive like 4200 and a couple of brads. We removed it by starting with a wide chisel very carefully tapped down between the molding and the plywood, and when we had it started, we used a long piece of angle aluminum tapped down to separate and pry it off. We sanded, stained and re-oiled the molding. It looks new.
STEP THREE.
Bought a nifty new sink, quite a bit shallower than the old one, carefully cut out the hole for it with a sabre saw, and put it in. The sink is now oriented the way most sinks are and was moved forward and to the left, giving us quite a bit more room behind and under the sink. It is held in place with some fasteners that ride in a channel on the underside of the sink and then screw down clamping tight to the underside of the countertop, very clever. This time we put the painter’s tape on the laminate, drilled a hole and cut through from the top side, also very clean cut. Put in the strainer and tailpiece with some putty, not sure we did this well enough. Put in the single handled Moen faucet. Reattached the molding. This part was harder than we thought it would be, but in the end, we got it “almost” right, it looks good as well.
STEP FOUR
Tried to replace the countertop, realized that there was one more cut to make on the right rear corner so the countertop could slide under the cabin wall. If I had used the old countertop as a template, I would have done this back in the garage, not in the boat! Made the cut, and replaced the countertop. Fastened it down with the L brackets. Reattached the sink drain and water supply lines, which are now re-routed along the back wall. With the shallower sink moved forward and to the left, the re-routing of the water supply lines and no Wallas, the area under the galley in now much more open and unobstructed. It is now sitting in place with no backsplash.
STEP FIVE
Now we need the backsplash. Patty attached some glass tile that nicely matches the Wilsonart laminate to a thin board I had cut to length for the backsplash. There is a double-stick product called SimpleMat tile setting mat that makes this much easier than using mortar. She glued the board in place and grouted the tile. Very good job, we are very pleased with the backsplash.
STEP SIX
The price paid for guessing at the measurement instead of using the old countertop as a template is that we are just a wee little bit off on the edge that sits against the wall of the head, and it is too wide to cover with caulking. We could put a molding here, but instead decide put the little Ikea wood storage containers that we used to have behind the sink along this side. The Wallas is not back in, but we are holding off on that decision for now.