Working on Project Ruby and decided on 100mm walnut upstands to match the laminate work surface, so thought I’d show you how easy it is to fit them yourself. The buggar to these was that there wasn’t one perfect 90 degree corners in the room, so I’d to fill the corner gaps with brown sealant (a perfect match). These upstands are generally mdf with a laminate coating, so are easy to cut with a chopsaw to get clean cuts and mitred edges (angled corners). Make sure all your bits fit together in your corners before you glue and add sealant!
Upstands which match the worktop mean you don’t have to tile. Dependent on your kitchen style, upstands can look a touch more contemporary, and it will just be the area behind the oven which needs a splashback or tiling if that’s what’s been specified. Use a tube of adhesive in a caulking gun to fix the upstands to the wall and it s a good idea to also run a line of clear sealant along the bottom of the upstand at the same timeso you get a good seal between the work surface and underside of the upstand (stops moisture / food getting in there). Once the adhesive is dry, run another line of clear sealant at the surface/upstand joint and remove excess (some people use a tool, I use my trusty forefinger). If you’ve used a black upstand, you may wish to use black sealant, or if you’ve got a worktop which looks like limestone, use a sealant which is limestone coloured – Arbo do great ones.
Seal any gaps to the upstand / wall joint with white decorator’s caulk (and a wet finger!), and paint this caulk the same colour as the walls.
You will have some blank ends as in the image above. There will be some strips of thin veneer with the upstands, cut with sharp scissors the profiles you need carefully to the same size as the ends before you glue the upstands to the wall, remembering that left and right ends will be different shapes (reverses). Glue onto the upstand ends with timber glue designed for mdf – superglue & pritt stick won’t work!
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Very helpful – thanks. I was thinking of proceeding more or less along the same lines but your advice has confirmed that I’ll be doing it correctly
If there is tiling do they need to be removed before fitting the upstands
I’m sorry I missed your post Rose and presume you got sorted! If not: most people would be having upstands instead of tiling so the issue would not arise. I’d imagine it’d look a bit odd to put the upstands on top of the tiling. If anything, definitely only tile above or remove tiles to fit the upstand to the wall. Sian x
