How to Create a Countertop Template

Creating a countertop template is simple and easy to do. But why it is important to make a template to your kitchen or bathroom countertop?

Making a template helps you to have a natural scale pattern of your new countertop. This template will be really useful during the installation of the new countertop. No more needs to measure every time two or three times, to write the taken measures down or to keep in mind the position of each part of the countertop.

Carpenter
Drawing a Countertop Template

Materials & Tools

– Plastic template or Poster board; Masking tape;
– Screwdriver; Scissors or Utility knife; Carpentry pencil; Marker;

Steps:

1| Remove all your stuff from inside the kitchen cabinets. When the cabinets are empty, unscrew the hinges and remove the cabinet doors. Also, remove the cabinet drawers.

2| Remove all your stuff from the countertop surface, including stove, sink and any appliance that is set into the surface of the countertop. Take all safety precautions.  Shut off the gas valve if you have your stove on gas, turn off the electricity, shut off the water and remove all the plumbing from the area.

3| Use a plastic template or poster board sheets. You need a quite large surface so it is a good idea to tape the poster board sheets together until you have an area slightly larger than the countertop surface.

4| Lay these taped plastic template or poster board sheets over your countertop. Using a carpenter’s pencil carefully draw the outer edge of your countertop. If you use plastic template will be quite easy to outline the edge of countertop, because the material is transparent and you can see the old countertop pattern. However, even if you use poster board sheets will be quite easy to create the needed template.

5| Tape the plastic template or the poster board sheets in place to prevent as your template to slide. Now you can mark without any problem, the old countertop pre-cut areas. Trace carefully these areas using a sharp black marker. You can write down on your template everything that may help you such as which countertop section goes near the sink or near the wall and which side is down.

6| Using scissors or a sharp utility knife cut carefully along the template contour.

7| The last step is to lay your template onto the surface of your new countertop and to transfer the pattern and the measures of the old countertop to the new countertop, but not before be sure that your template faces the right direction. Your new countertop will be identical in size and shape to the old one.

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