Need help installing a countertop to an uneven brick wall

10 years ago

Does anyone have experience with countertops and old brick walls? We're going to be putting in ikea kitchen cabinets topped with a butcher block countertop against an old and slightly uneven brick wall.

How do you get the countertop to be flush with the wall? I've seen tons of photos of old, uneven brick wall kitchens and there must be some common way to do this.

Wouldn't it be possible to use just some type of mortar or similar compound to smooth out the entire length/surface area where the countertop will meet the wall? That seems to me like it would be the best and easiest solution, but I have no idea what materials to use or what type of pro to get to do it.

I've read about scribing, which seems like it may work.

Our contractor thinks we should do a 4 inch lip going up the wall which seems super tacky and outdated. I also don't see how that solves the problem since that top piece would still need to be flush.

Thanks!!!!

Featured Answer

PRO

Greenberg Construction

10 years ago

Are you looking for an easy solution or good looking hard one?

if your looking for the good looking one you can use concrete grinder and grin the bricks to almost smooth but only at the location of the counter so bestially the counter going to slide inside the bricks.

or you can just grin the bricks so you can almost flush the counter and fill up the gaps

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Comments (7)

User
10 years ago
Scribe it and caulk it.
s c thanked User
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eam44
10 years ago
Scribing the wood is the way to go. It's hard to know what deleterious effects grinding might have on a wall that is old brick and mortar. I'd leave it be. You can learn to scribe, but if you are an impatient person, consider hiring out this one task to someone who already knows how to do it well.
s c thanked eam44
s c
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks! So I'm guessing a carpenter would be the best person for the scribing job? I get the impression from my contractor that it is not something they usually do, which makes me think it's not something I should ask them to do.
PRO
Joseph Corlett, LLC
10 years ago
sc:

Your cabinets must be installed level, plumb, and most importantly in this case, in a straight line, no matter what your wall (or floor) is doing. If you follow a wanky wall it will look great until you put the counters on and the drawer pulls bob and weave under the top. You don't want to sight down your cabinets and counters and see a change of plane.

If you plan to have the front edge of the butcher block flush with the drawer fronts, that gives you 5/8" maximum scribe width. That should be plenty. Install color matched silicone between the top and wall. I'd mask that brick when I did.
s c thanked Joseph Corlett, LLC
s c
Original Author
10 years ago
Excellent point, Joseph. Thank you.
Matthew Rieger
10 years ago
Correct. First assemble and screw all your cabinets together on a flat surface (keeping plumb and straight), than slide as "one" unit to the wall and level. Shim the gaps to the wall and secure. Same for the wall cabinets, assembly as one unit, with some help to lift into place on top a ledger board to assist. This way the cabinets are spot on perfect straight.

On another note, I just used a product called EZ Level. Wow, I really liked these. My kitchen floor was very challenging, this made is so so so easy getting my cabinets spot on level with no fuss.
s c thanked Matthew Rieger