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Question is: can I take same width strips of the same species wood - ideally from another section of same-brand butcher block, and then glue and clamp it to the butcher block countertop to make it wider??

Background information:

We just finished installing our new kitchen cabinets, and, because the walls of the old house are so bowed, there's over an inch gap between the top backs of the cabinets and the wall even with the bottom of the cabinets pushed all the way against the wall.

This means that the countertops will need to be an inch wider than normal, which is putting a kink in our plans to use butcherblock which is sold at 25" wide. We need it to be closer to 27" wide!

We chose Baltic Birch butcher block countertops from Menards, a lot cheaper than other species from Lumber Liquidators and I think they'll be better than the ones from IKEA. I don't have a lot of experience with birch, other then plywood, but it is supposed to be just as hard/durable as oak and takes stain similarly to maple.

The sizes that Menards carries is limited: they have 4 and 8 foot lengths of 25" wide boards, and a 6' length of 36" wide. The cabinets are 24" wide, and need at least 1/2" overhang past the drawer fronts, which are 3/4" wide - so that's more then 25" wide! Why would they make the countertops only 25" wide??? And then our peninsula will need an even wider countertop because the 3/4" backer panel makes it that much wider. So the plan is to buy the 36" wide countertop for that section, rip two 3" wide strips off of that to glue to the other sections. Does that sound reasonable?

Also, feel free to share your opinion of wooden countertops in the comments :) We want wood for it's looks and I just love wood personally, but we're also looking at laminate because it can take a beating a lot better. That being said, if we stick with the butcherblock idea, I will use Rubio Monocaots because it's supposed to have the water/stain resistance of poly yet the feel, looks and repairability of penetrating oil. And you don't have to apply it once a month. Your thoughts?

Thanks! Edit: I've attached a photo of what I came up with for the dimensions of the countertops that we'll need. At the moment, there's a needed 7" section I can't quite squeeze out of the 3 pieces, so we'll probably need to buy an extra 4' long piece.

enter image description here

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  • Why do you think it wouldn't work? What part of the plan worries you? You're going to glue unfinished wood to other unfinished wood, right?
    – JPhi1618
    Commented Feb 7, 2018 at 20:49
  • use dowels to connect the two pieces together
    – jsotola
    Commented Feb 7, 2018 at 20:51
  • I would also dowel the sections together, if just a couple of inches in the back they could be glued and screwed because you won't see the heads, the laminate may be easier to match with that 16" section c.
    – Ed Beal
    Commented Feb 8, 2018 at 0:00

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Maybe you could stand a piece up and create a backsplash on the back side against the wall? Or if you are worried about the glued piece snapping off, put it on the back wall side and glue it there. Thats how butcher block and cutting boards (unless solid slab) is made by the way, they glue pieces together and clamp tight. If you attach tot eh back wall side, you could pre-drill holes and use screws instead of clamps. You have lots of options.

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