Bushboard Encore Worktops

[Spud41]

Hi everyone on the Forum.

I'm Spud 41 and work in park home industry (big caravans).

As you can see by the thread subject, i was just wondering if anybody has worked with the Encore worktops and as either any tips or opinions they could share.

The company I work for has started using them quite a lot and i have a love hate relationship with them (as the fitter), out of 2 joints, for instance, i can have one seamless and then one not so seamless, both routered with a new cutter each time and same techniques, a router cutter as recommended by Bushboard.

Black gloss joints go better but light colours sometimes have a mucky mark which cannot be sanded out. This is very frustrating as i try and follow the manufacturers stringent cleaning process (cleaner than forensics at a crime scene).

Any advice or opinions would be greatly appreciated, because for myself i'd like them to be right, for when they are they do look good.

Thanks Spud 41.

[andy5405]

I think this was discussed on here recently. Try doing a search and see what you come up with.

[Fitter Steve]

My advice would be to use masking tape on your joints so no pencil is drawn onto the worktops where they are being joined.

[snezza]

Hi Spud,

Here is an oldish thread about a section of Encore that I made from a few spare bits that I had. It is Quartz White ( more of an off white really). As you can see from the pictures, there are loads of joins in it but none of them were visible.

http://www.kitchenfittersforum.com/showt...ght=encore

The paler the colour, the more preparation you need to do. The joints have to be SPOTLESSLY CLEAN......!!!!! Using the de-natured alcohol, clean and wipe the mating surfaces and at least 10mm of the surface either side of the joint 3 or 4 times until you can see no change in the colour of the clean cloth you are using. Bushboard supply there own cloths in the Installation pack. I cut them into smaller sections and ONLY USE THE SMALL SECTION ONCE, then throw it away.

I assume you are using Bushboards own adhesive and it is the correct colour for the tops you are installing?

The Encore material is a bit tougher on your router cutters than a laminate worktop, but you certainly shouldn't need to use a new cutter for every joint that you cut.....

Snezza.

[Spud41]

Thanks for the replies,

Steve I will be using masking tape and Snezza i don't think I've been clean enough, Glacier White is one of the colours I've struggled with along with Calico, I'll definitely be cutting the cloth and only using once and yes I do use everything provided from bushboard, adhesive etc.
Hopefully this will stop my process of re-routering the joint about 3mm deep and piecing a bit in(cut off the top of an off cut) then re-sanding. A long process but effective and shows the versatility of the product.
Snezza I'm well impressed with your photos from your earlier thread, but how do you get the joints to nip up without using bolts?

Thanks again for welcomed advice,
Spud41

[snezza]

Thanks for the replies,

Steve I will be using masking tape and Snezza i don't think I've been clean enough, Glacier White is one of the colours I've struggled with along with Calico, I'll definitely be cutting the cloth and only using once and yes I do use everything provided from bushboard, adhesive etc.
Hopefully this will stop my process of re-routering the joint about 3mm deep and piecing a bit in(cut off the top of an off cut) then re-sanding. A long process but effective and shows the versatility of the product.
Snezza I'm well impressed with your photos from your earlier thread, but how do you get the joints to nip up without using bolts?

Thanks again for welcomed advice,
Spud41

As you can see from the photos, that section of top was only just over 1000mm wide X 620mm deep so I just used sash and speed clamps until the adhesive had set. The joints also had a double row of biscuits in them, set about 15mm and 30mm down from the surface.

In a real installation situation, its not always possible to use biscuits/dominos on every joint due to how and where tall housings are for example, but I do fit biscuits in as many joints as I can.

One other tip I can give you is, make sure you sand both faces of each joint with a flat palm sander, after you have cut your biscuit/domino slots. There is no need to sand the routed Encore edge, just the chipboard core. You will know when it is smooth enough when you run your finger over the chipboard in BOTH directions and you cant feel any difference in the grain of the chipboard. Then, vacuum the edge until there is absolutely no more dust left on either face, then clean the Encore edge as I mentioned in the earlier post, making sure not to get any of the de-natured alcohol on the chipboard itself.

Allow both the mating surfaces to dry and make sure all the alcohol has evaporated.

Then you can apply the biscuits/dominos and adhesive as per the Encore instructions.

It may all sound a bit of a PITA and longwinded, but it is time well spent and it will show in the finished result.

I hope this helps Spud.

Post up a couple of photos of the next top that you join, Stretch loves to see photos

Snezza.

PS. Here's a link to an older thread that you may not have seen. These tops were also the same colour, its where I had the offcuts from.

http://www.kitchenfittersforum.com/showt...179&page=4