Update: See how our counters have held up after one year and after four years.

With our new kitchen island, we decided to do an inside out colour scheme. By that I mean that we reversed the existing finishes that were already in the kitchen.

Around the perimeter of the kitchen, we kept the natural wood cabinets and the light countertop. On the new island that we added in the middle, we chose white cabinets with a wood countertop.

I wanted to keep the wood tones consistent, so when it came to finishing our DIY wood countertop, the usual methods–wax, oil–were out, as they would have left the countertop too light in colour. I sampled lots of stain until I found one that matched the existing cabinets as closely as possible–Early American from Minwax.

To prepare to stain the countertop, I wrapped the island in plastic drop cloths to protect our nice white cabinets and went over the wood with a tack cloth to pick up any dust and bits that might interfere with the finish.

For staining, I used the standard technique of brush it on, let it sit, wipe it off.

After letting the stain cure, it was on to the waterproofing stage. Given that I was working on a countertop, I wanted something very durable and of course food safe. I chose to go with Waterlox after reading positive reviews online.

I followed their very detailed how-to guide on their web site to make sure I got the finish I was looking for. Waterlox was pretty easy to use.

I did four coats, brushing it on liberally with a natural bristle brush and letting it dry for 24 hours between each application.

Here’s some of the pros, cons and lessons learned.

First, Waterlox stinks when it’s wet. After the first coat, we developed a routine of putting the Waterlox on right before going to bed. We opened the windows, turned on fans, switched off the heat (since we had windows open) and closed the bedroom door. Given that it was March, it wasn’t necessarily the best weather to have windows open, but it was necessary both for the odor and for the cross ventilation needed to dry and cure the finish. The worst of the odor did ease after a couple of hours, thankfully.

Second, sanding between coats is not recommended with Waterlox. Instead, the guide tells you to wipe down the countertop with mineral oil before each coat to get rid of any dust. I did this, but I still feel the finish isn’t quite as smooth as I would like. I’m used to using Varathane where I sand between each coat and get a super smooth finish. The Waterlox guide recommended using a very fine steel wool between the second-to-last and last coat of finish to sand out any rough spots, which I did, but it’s still not perfectly smooth.

Third, the finished surface is very shiny. I used Waterlox Original Sealer/Finish, which is recommended for the first few coats (or all coats, if you choose) and is listed as having a medium sheen. A satin finish is available, but honestly I was too cheap to buy another can, so I did all four coats with the Original.

After the final coat of Waterlox, we let the island top cure for a full week without putting anything on it.

Now that we’re using the island, the finish seems to be both waterproof and durable.

Given that it is a wood counter, we use a cutting board if we’re chopping and cork pads for any hot dishes. However, there are still occasions to put the finish to the test. If we spill (which of course never happens), liquids bead up on top of the surface. When we slide dishes across the counter, we don’t have to worry about scratching the finish. The wood wipes down really easily and looks fresh.

Finishing our homemade wooden countertop was a question of both form and function. I wanted to match the wood tones we had in the kitchen, and I also needed it to stand up to actual kitchen prep work. Done and done.

Update: See how our counters have held up after one year and after four years.

We’ve lived with our homemade wood countertop for more than a year now. To see my report on how it has worked for us, click here.

See the update after four years with our counters here.

Since we’d splurged on having our new kitchen island professionally made, I had to balance the scales and DIY the wood countertop.

There are some tutorials online and lots of inspiring photos, but in the end we pretty much winged it. Here’s what we did.

For our island’s 80 inch by 42 inch top, I decided that four 2x12s were the way to go. I chose spruce–the cheapest option at my local lumber mill. My first tip is to be very careful in selecting your lumber. I went through nearly the whole pile looking for the straightest, cleanest boards possible. Watch for chips, knots, bends and warps.

Once you’ve selected your boards, the first step is to trim them so that their edges are square rather than rounded. This will help you to get a smooth even surface when you join your boards together. I took a half inch off each side of my boards–or the staff at the lumber mill did for me.

We let our boards acclimatize inside the house for a day or so–especially important as the lumber had spent the winter outside and was completely frozen. We could hear them snapping as they adjusted to the temperature.

Once we were ready to start constructing the countertop, we laid out our boards and decided the best configuration.

Making sure we kept everything in order, we marked the backside of the boards for screw holes.

We spaced the screws 8 inches apart.

Then, I set up my newest toy and drilled holes using my Kreg Jig–yup, I got one!

I was pretty confident that the Kreg Jig would give us really tight joints, but we glued each board as well with carpenter’s glue just to make certain. Be careful not to use too much glue, as you don’t want drips or seepage on the good side of your top.

Holes drilled and glue spread, it was time to put it all together. Matt held the boards even and kept the joints tight while I went along with the drill and set each screw.

Soon enough, we had a large slab of wood. Don’t be confused by the stamps and the holes from the Kreg Jig. This is the underside.

We took our incredibly heavy countertop and flipped it over. I trimmed one end with my circular saw to get a nice flush edge. I left the other end ragged, because I wanted to wait until we had the island, just to make sure I got the length exactly right.

While the joints were really tight and pretty smooth, I still filled everything–every joint, every knot, every divot–with wood filler just to even out any imperfections.

Then, it was on to sanding stage. Using my little orbital sander and lots and lots of sanding pads, I went over the countertop time and time again. I started with a 60 grit and slowly worked my way up to finer and finer grits (80, 120, 240 and 400).

Despite choosing a very cheap grade of lumber, it came up beautifully smooth and even with the sanding. Take your time with your sander and don’t skimp on this step.

We did have one issue arise with our DIY wood countertop. Once the boards were all together and the top spent more time acclimatizing inside the house, it started to warp a bit. I attribute this to the frozen state of our lumber before we started construction. By the time the island was installed and we set the counter on top, we had a pretty good wave going on.

Aaaah! A wonky wavy countertop was not at all what I envisioned. Our cabinet maker diplomatically limited his comments to “I dunno about that countertop.” My Dad suggested shimming under the one edge, where the gap between the underside of the countertop and the top of the cabinet was about 1/4 inch.

To everyone’s surprise–including mine–trimming the length of the countertop helped immensely. I don’t know whether most of the warp was happening at one end of the boards, but it was laying nearly flat after we cut off the extra length. Screwing the countertop into place on the cabinets leveled it out a bit more–even though we were very gentle and didn’t overly tighten the screws for fear of opening the joints between the boards.

My enthusiasm for my DIY wood countertop was rekindled. However, it was basically a large hunk of raw wood sitting in the middle of our kitchen–an attractive hunk of wood, but not the most useable surface.

The next step was to finish and waterproof the wood–which I’ll talk about on Wednesday. Stay tuned.

See my review on how our wood countertop held up over its first year.

See my review after four years.