New Laminate Counter Top along a Wavy Wall

[Spare]

I have just finished installing new cabinetry in our home office. Now I'm ready to order the laminate counter top, but I don't know the best source. Should I just go with Home Depot, or should I try to contact a specialist? What's the best way to find a specialist?

Home Depot charges a measuring fee and an installation fee, will also allow me measure and install myself, but of course I accept more risk (bad measurements, etc.) Is this difficult? I'd like to keep costs low.

The key issue I'm concerned about is that one wall that the counter top will be mounted against is not very straight. It backs up to the laundry room, and carries plumbing to the upstairs bathrooms, and is 'wavy' as a result. Is this as simple as getting several measurements along several points along the wall? What are some techniques for compensating for the wavy wall? We don't plan to use a backsplash. I prefer to not have to use quarter round trim.

Thanks!

[RayV]

I doubt you will get a counter from home depot that will 'fit' your wavy wall no matter who measures it. If you want a custom fit you have two options:

1 Have a custom countertop company come out and make a template. Be very clear that you want it to fit the wall exactly. They will probably need to sand it onsite to get a good fit 2 DIY. Not really that difficult if you have a belt sander. Put the straight counter in place with masking tape along the top. Run a compass along the wall so the pencil will transfer the contour to the masking tape. Sand away!

Make sure you account for how much material needs to be removed vs how much overhang you'll have left in the front. Me? I don't like 1/4 round either but shoe molding looks very nice and can be painted to match the wall.

[Robert Allison]

Look in the yellow pages under countertops. Find a company that does laminate and give them a call. Do NOT use Lowes or HD.

Otherwise, you can go to a supplier that supplies laminate and ask them if they have the cards of some good installers. They will.

Wavy walls are dealt with in a number of ways. I would have to see it to know which is best, but generally the laminate is coped to the wavy wall or the sheetrock is cut to let the laminate slide into the humps. Backsplashes are used to cover up a lot of problems but you are not going that route. You need a good installer.

[Mark]

Don't bother with paying HD to measure. They don't take the irregularities of the wall, or even the squareness of a corner into account. had similar worries when I wanted to replace the L-shaped counter in my kitchen. I paid them to measure a few years back and the guy that came out forgot his tape measure and had to use mine, then proceeded to measure the length in each way and walk out the door!

As other posters have mentioned, it isn't difficult to scribe the edge and sand it to fit the errgularites, even less difficult if you don't have a backsplash.

[Spare]