Granite tile countertop - wood bullnose

[hitekredneck]

Hi all,

First time poster, long time lurker. Thanks to JB & the Crew for all the advice so far.

As many have done before I am building coutertops from 12x12 granite tiles. For the rolled edge I am using a custom milled red oak moulding coated with marine grade polyurethane. The profile of the moulding allows for attachment using glue and screws from the bottom so it won't be moving around any. I plan to use Spectralock or Spectralock Pro Epoxy Grout with the granite tiles. My question is should I grout up to the wood or keep the wood to granite transition grout free and use caulk.

I would like to grout right up to the wood for durability but I fear that normal expansion/contraction will break bond between the epoxy and the wood leading to water seeping behind the moulding.

Suggestons??

Thanks,
Preston

[bbcamp]

Use caulk between the granite and wood for the reasons you mentioned.

[hitekredneck]

Thanks Bob

Lookin to move to TN, I'll be checking out www.amysellshomes-tn.com

Preston

[bbcamp]

[cx]

Welcome, Preston.

I almost always agree with Injineer Bob on everything.

But I always grout everything on a counter top with wood edges, including the tile to wood joint. With regular grout you might get a hairline crack (not always), but I, and my customers, find that less unsightly than the caulk. The wood edge must be well pre-finished, of course.

And with the epoxy grout I wouldn't think of doing anything but grouting that joint.

My opinion; worth price charged.

You gotta report back here and tell us if Bob's kid did a good job of sellin' you a house. We plan to extract a commission, doncha know.

[T_Hulse]

Sorry CX, I'm with Bob on this one. It's a common method up here & I've seen way too many with hideously ugly grout cracks up against the wood.
Once it cracks, it invites more water straight down to the plywood & around the fasteners (which penetrate the sealer protection on the wood). The more the water affects the wood edge or plywood... the bigger the crack... which lets more water in... viscious cycle.

A year or two may be ok, but the ten, twelve, fifteen year jobs I've seen look really bad.

[Bill Vincent]

Same here. I'll stick with a latex caulk, color and texture matched to the grout. (in this case, it'd be unsanded)

[hitekredneck]

Thanks all for the advice,

I think I'll use caulk to be sure no water gets in there. This moulding was high dollar not to mention the time spent in the prime, sand, prime, sand, paint, sand, paint, sand, paint, sand, paint process

The joint is only a 1/16th so the caulk shouldn't stand out too much.

I'll get some pics posted of the whole project when I'm finished, the countertops aren't the only tile, we used 18x18 Italian porcelean with 1/16 joint on the floor which turned out pretty good for an ametuer tilesetter.