Thynes! Thanks so much for giving me the exact name and number for your tile. I had seen your expanded kitchen post and couldn't find the exact tile. You have such a lovely kitchen, so warm and welcoming and the tile really makes a statement. I also see they only have one USA distributor. Your tile in your kitchen looks totally different than on the website..were you able to get a sample or see the tile in a store? I've sent Saltillo an email as well..so we shall see. Thanks again for the information. This post was edited by harleysbud on Sun, Mar 31, 13 at 15:25

I just had to post here...OMG...the lady that wrote Laminate and luxurious in the same sentence.."NO". I hope I never have to meet someone like you in my lifetime. What a bunch of snobby, snarky..people! I am sorry..I think you can have a beautiful, luxurious kitchen without paying for granite, quartz, soapstone...etc. My goodness. I am building a house now and get to hear from our subs about all of the snooty women that they have to deal with...literally walking out of a house because the closets aren't big enough... What kind of country have we become? I say..if you want to buy high end appliances...beautiful cabinets..and put it all in a laminate kitchen. I think it can be stunning! Don't listen to all of these snooty fruities.....do what YOU want..and the people that matter...won't walk into your kitchen and take a mental note of your laminate..I would think it was beautiful! And for those of you who think that I must be some low life...my husband is a doctor! There....rant over! :-)

If your long straightedge is bowing from the pressure of the router, you could support it in the middle by butting a two-foot-long scrap of particleboard (or almost anything, really) against the back of the straightedge and clamping it to the far side of the counter. That said, as long as the bow in the front edge is a smooth, even contour without abrupt jogs, it shouldn't cause any problem with the laminate. It might be better aesthetically if it were straight, but the laminate doesn't care if it's got a gentle curve in it. It's hard to imagine the counters are sagging on the sawhorses so much that they'll be permanently distorted by gluing laminate on them in that position. However, you'll need them fairly well supported for the glue up so you can lean some of your weight on the roller you use to press the glued surfaces together. For that reason alone it's worth supporting them well. You don't need a lot of sawhorses; I'd just put a couple of 2x4s on edge, on top of the sawhorses to provide even support along the whole length. You'll need to stabilize those 2x4s a bit, probably by nailing or screwing a couple of cross pieces between them, so they don't fall over flat at some inopportune moment. What size router do you have? There's nothing wrong with holding the router sideways except that you don't have practice doing it, and it could be difficult if you have a large, heavy router. The ones made for laminate trimming are small and light and can be held at odd angles with one hand. If you're stuck with a bigger, general-purpose router then it may be worth getting some help to set the pieces on edge as you described. You don't need a giant vise; just clamp it to some stable vertical object like a cabinet frame or the side of a sawhorse. When the clamp gets in the way, stop routing and repostition as necessary. Whichever way you go, if you've never done it before and you can't afford to goof, PRACTICE on some scrap!

You do not need to stack two 2cm slabs on top of each other to make it look like you are using 4cm thick slabs. You only need a small amount of extra material (1-2â inches depending on edge type) to beef up just the outside edges of the counters. Laminated or mitered edges are very common here in So. Cal., where most stone and quartz is sold in 2cm size, rather than 3cm. The fabricator will put a 5/8â thick plywood subtop that is a little narrower than the finished counter size on top of the cabinet. Then the 2cm slab counter is put on top of the plywood. A narrow strip of the quartz is attached just at the edge of the counter to hide the edge of the plywood and make the whole counter look thicker. For standard 24â deep cabinets, the finished counter width with overhang is typically 25.5.â I donâÂÂt know what brand of quartz you plan to buy, but Caesarstone slabs are 56.5â wide, Hanstone is 55â wide, Silestone is 54âÂÂ, Cambria is 55.â (Some brands sell wider âÂÂjumboâ slabs if you have deeper counters.) Assuming a 55â wide slab, two 25.5â deep counters will use up 51â (plus a small amount of loss in the cutting process), leaving the few inches you need for the edge strips. You should need the same number of slabs whether you use 2cm or 3cm material. The thinner material will cost less, which should offset the increased labor cost for the laminated or mitered edge. I am going to try to attach pictures that show the different types of edges.