Draining Board Repair

Anthony Bailey fixes the water damage to this wooden draining board

Wooden kitchen countertop with sink and plant.

This ash draining board had been in use for around five years and over time it had gradually slipped into a terrible state. There are several lessons to be learnt here, I feel. One, regular refinishing in-situ is a necessity using a suitable water-resistant coating and two, although it is nice to see the top edges of the sink china, it also allows water to run under the edges of the drainer and damage the underside and the carcasses beneath. Rather than replace the entire top, which would include making a sink cutout and tapering draining grooves, I thought it was worth a shot at trying to restore it.

Assessment

Person using wrench on plumbing setup on wood.
1. The first thing to do was undo and remove the wooden drainer, after shutting off the inline valves and removing the taps. The next task was to make up a small board as a temporary surface to fit the taps on, so the sink would be useable during repairs, which could take some time
Scraping paint from wooden surface with knife.
2. All mastic and silicone was then scraped and chiselled off the wood so it was as clean and free of excrescences as possible
Weathered wooden board with holes and slots on table.
3. The area around the taps was in a poor state and combined with the rot under the right-hand drainer, things weren’t looking at all good. However, never say ‘never’

Clean-up

Hand using sander on wooden surface
4. I decided to deal with the major task and sand the top completely with 80-grit Abranet, followed by 180 grit. I found my very old Hitachi random orbital sander was mean enough to do the job of sanding away the old varnish very efficiently
Woodworking tool making precise cuts in timber
5. The next job was to rather precariously balance my Trend T5 router on the edge in front of the tap mounts, fitted with a ‘grounding’ cutter and then clean up the surfaces. The cross-grain machining runs were completed using a T-square for guidance. The burns would be cleaned up with abrasives
Hand carving wood with a chisel
6. Rather than re-machining the draining grooves, I decided to dry-grind a radius on a bent L-bracket and use a burnisher to raise a burr on the edges. I used this to scrape back to bare wood, removing as much discolouration as possible
Hand sanding wooden surface with sandpaper.
7. Next, a good hand sanding using 150 grit to smooth away the scraping marks. I discovered that the surfaces were a bit porous near the edge, so I was relying on varnish to fill the grain properly
Applying varnish to wooden surface with brush.
8. Before tackling the rotten underside, I wanted to get a protective first coat of varnish in place. I decided to use Le Tonkinois Vernis No.1 as 11 this is an extremely tough, hard-wearing, low VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) varnish used by the French Navy for their training yachts
Carved wooden plank with circular cutouts on surface.
9. Although not in perfect condition, the area around the tap mount is now sealed and has ‘character’ shall we say …
Electrical tool cutting wood on workbench.
10. With the draining board turned over and resting on battens, it was time to machine away the rot and mess around the sink opening. After a lot of head scratching, I reached for my under-used ‘beast’ – a Flex Porter Cable biscuit jointer, that can saw quite deeply when required
Electric router shaping wooden edge on workbench.
11. Having done the horizontal cuts, the jointer was reset to do the vertical runs, effectively cutting a rebate. It couldn’t reach the corners, but using this method allowed removal of the bulk of the waste and gave a precise line to machine to with a router
Woodworking with electric router on workbench.
12. Using a slab of thick MDF as a fence and my big ELU machine with a straight cutter, I could set the cutter against the already sawn surfaces and get the accurate fence alignment I required. Now I could machine right into the corners as well as removing other waste routing freehand, so long as the base was straddling the corner safely
Person holding wooden countertop cutout section
13. This silhouette shows the profile of a new moulding that would be cut in half and fitted in the newly created rebate and this time, overhang the sink edge. Note: the drip groove to stop water running back under the draining board
Wooden workbench with attached clamps on surface.
14. After some repeated cutting and fitting with the rear section done first, the overhangs were clamped in position to test the fit. They had already been sanded and sealed with a coat of Vernis No.1
Sanding wooden board with sandpaper by hand.
15. The whole sink top – minus the new sink overhangs – was left to harden before sanding the varnish with self-lubricating finishing paper. This was done thoroughly to get as smooth a surface as possible

Finishing

Wood care with oilcan, brush in jar.
16. When I’m working on a project using oil-based finishes, I put the brushes in clean water to stop them hardening. Putting them in any solvent means the brushes keep dripping solvent if you aren’t careful, whereas with water, I just prepare the brush by wiping it on the fence outside my workshop to get rid of any water
Wood boards clamped together for furniture assembly.
17. The sink overhangs were glued in position using PU glue. This glue will bond most surfaces and it cures with moisture so it is quite at home around a sink. Nearly ready for installation time. Once fixed back in position, a third coat of Le Tonkinois varnish and fitting a wooden upstand would complete the job!

PHOTOGRAPHS BY ANTHONY BAILEY/GMC PUBLICATIONS

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