How I Built An Oak Herringbone Countertop

Not sure if I made this clear in the “About Me” section, but the house we bought about a year ago needs to have almost every square inch of it redone from a cosmetic perspective. Much of it has to be redone from a functional perspective, too, but that’s for other posts.

The Family Room

One of the first undertakings when we moved in (after replacing all of the incandescent bulbs) was to renovate the family room. It was dark, had faux wood paneling, lacked lighting, ratty carpet, etc. And it was dark. The only two features we kept were the ceiling fan and the exposed brick fireplace. Did I mention it was also very dark?

I added recessed lighting (it had been very dark), replaced the sliding back door with French doors, hung new drywall, painted, redid the hardwoods underneath the ratty carpet, installed a new gas fireplace, replaced all electrical receptacles and switches, repaired some termite damage, put in new crown moulding, and added built-in cabinets and shelving. It sounds like a lot. It was.

Inspiration!

It was during this last portion of the project (the built-ins) that I stumbled upon some inspiration on ye olde internet. We didn’t know what we wanted for a countertop on our new base cabinets, but we knew it would either (1) be custom built, or (2) be very pricey. Sure, we could go to a countertop business to get quartz to span the 13 feet we needed, but we weren’t sure it would be a good fit for the room. Normal butcher block counters don’t often come in lengths that long, either, so that was out. 

I thought it might be a good idea to help tie the room together to build something that incorporated oak to mimic the existing floor and revamped mantle. I also wanted the counter to be visually interesting, so I opted to pursue a herringbone pattern using oak. My original thought was to repurpose oak flooring, but the tongue-in-groove on the pieces meant a lot of extra complication that I thought best to avoid.

After a bit ‘o googling, I came across some wonderful inspiration from DIY blogger Jill Rose. Her post on DIY Herringbone Wood Countertops set me on the right track (Thanks, Jill!). Of course, since I can’t even follow a recipe when I cook, I had to make some changes to make her method my own…

The Method to My Madness

Jill used two-by oak pieces for a kitchen countertop she did. Since I was trying to avoid this being a wildly thick and extremely pricey countertop, I opted to use one-by oak instead. I ordered 1×4 red oak from my local mill and cut the pieces to be 12 inches long (making them each 3.5 in x 12 in). As a base to attach my pieces, I also ordered 3/4-in, 5-sheet plywood that I screwed directly onto the base cabinets.* 

I then began the mostly simple yet tedious task of arranging the pieces, then measuring and cutting them to fit flush with the walls before gluing them into place.** As I’ve done with many, many wood projects, I either clamped the pieces down (if close to the edge of the cabinets) or used weights to hold them in place for the glue to cure. Who knew free weights would end up being such a versatile purchase?

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After a few days of working in sections (I was limited by the amount of weights I had), I finally finished the top. I then took my electric planer and ran it along the front of the countertop to give it a uniform edge. To finish the front edge, I chamfered the top and bottom corners of a piece of oak hobby board using my routing table and glued/nailed the pieces in place.

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It was really shaping up at this point. Time to sand and finish. I used progressively finer grit sandpaper for what seemed like ages to get to a nice smooth finish on top. I then applied General Finishes Flat High Performance Polyurethane Interior Topcoat according to the manufacturer’s recommendation (3 coats, light sanding/cleaning in between coats).

The Finished Product

I have to say, it turned out beautifully. This project really measured up in terms of being a one-of-a-kind product that didn’t break the bank. It’s also not so unique that it would turn off future homebuyers as being too quirky or looking like a toddler did it (no offense to my son!). I absolutely love it and am thrilled it turned out so well.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments!

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*For general reference purposes, the more “sheets” in plywood, typically the stronger the piece. 7-sheet plywood would have been better, but the mill didn’t carry it…

**Titebond III (the green kind). Get it at your local hardware store instead of paying twice the price on Amazon.