Recycle Hardwood Flooring to Counter Tops

When our house caught fire in 2008 the hardwood flooring was ruined by water damage. Not being the kind of person to throw something out, I saved the better of the boards. This instructable will show you how I used these boards to create some beautiful counter tops.

For this project you will need the following:
Flooring-This should be a hard wood and can be new but used is better
Trim-for the drip edge
Base for counter top-I used some old wall cabinets as my base
Table saw
Band saw or jig saw
Circular saw
Pocket-hole jig
Router (optional, you can use your table saw to make the rabbit)
Belt sander
Square
Ruler
Straight edge
Drill/Drill driver
Clamps
Glue
Sandpaper
Poly-urethane

This is a project anyone can do. It uses a very simple joinery technique, namely pocket screws. I use a system called the "Kreg Jig", but any system you choose will work, and can be found at your local home improvement store.

Step 1 Choosing boards and glue-up

When choosing your boards, look for ones that have their full tongue and groove, are straight and have no defects that you want in your project.
Once you have selected your boards you need to glue them up into panels. The number you need depends on how wide you want your counter top. Start by applying glue to the tongue of one board and mate to the groove of the next board. Continue until you have the width that you need and clamp together. Keep the panel flat by clamping down the ends or applying a weight across the width of the panel.  Don't forget to glue up some boards for the back splash.

Comments

[cpotoso]

Very nice work. The fact that you re-used material is a definite plus. Congratulations!!!

[ContraptionMaker]

Thank you.