Here's the website:
https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/bondo-us/

Building up the wall whether by bondo or spackle to level it out to just a small 1/4 in. gap then caulk. I have found the easiest way to caulk.

get some rubber gloves, a bowl of water and some paper towels or a rag. When applying the caulk use a steady hand and move quickly while applying a steady pressure on the caulk gun trigger. do this in 1-2 ft sections at a time. With the gloves on your hand, go over where you applied the caulk to push it into the gap and give it a smooth finish. When too muck caulk gets on the glove dip it in the bowl of water and rinse it off. Don't worry about drying the glove. IMO it helps to spread the caulk. If you don't like how it came out dampen the towel and clean it off. Start again.

With a bigger gap don't try to fill it all in at once. Do it in several steps.

We had slate counters cut to fit on either side of it, so any replacement would have to be exactly the same length.

For silicone “counter gap fillers” or “stove crumb guards” The paintable silicone ones can be trimmed to fit exactly the angle you need to cover. A stainless steel one could be trimmed to fit at a exactly at a local machine shop and it would compliment the sink.

I'll do that.

I hope you are pinteresting your remodel, I would love to follow your progress.

bugging me when I look at it. We started in 2012 with an addition, doing some of the work ourselves, and paying as we went. My husband did homebuilding as a job in college, and worked

We used reclaimed pool table slate for countertops (Craigslist - we lucked out that a pool table restorer was going out of business, so we got just the slabs that he recovered, and didn't have to take apart any pool tables ourselves) $200 for everything, then $1000 to have it cut and installed, including a 5" backsplash. I looked for a sink on craigslist that was wide, and had straight edges, so we wouldn't need to cut a hole in the slate.

We got oak cabinets from Craigslist from someone gutting their kitchen, then put matte finish on them so they look more handhewn.

We used our old base cabinets, which were ash, and very close in color to the "new cabinets" as a peninsula, and made the cabinet that was under the sink into a pull out trash/recycling unit.

Lighting fixtures off Craigslist.

Corner breakfast nook at a yard sale - $100

Here's part of it on Pinterest:

https://www.pinterest.com/secondhandmaven/the-remodel/


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Here’s a link to a remodel I’ve been working on https://pin.it/lhjxpnzptx6ip6

Thank you!

I read them all for two years before we started with the addition.

we had old walls that were uneven and caused gaps where the base cabinet touched the wall. What we did was apply drywall mud to the entire wall before the installation of the cabinets to float out low spots and bring them flush with high spots to make the wall straighter. In really bad spots we applied multiple layers of mud, just be sure to let each application dry thoroughly. We then put in a subway tile backsplash tile and used additional mortar to build up the last uneven spots and make everything straight, and now you can't see any imperfections. I am very happy how it turned out!

We had also thought about other options like replacing the old drywall on one really wavy section with new drywall, or using thicker stucco to build out the low spots followed by a smoother plaster finish to make the surface flush, flat and even before applying a texture coat.

Good luck!

And recently remodeled the kitchen. We had the granite countertop overlay the back of the sink, with hole drilled for faucet.

Alternative--put a brick or stone backsplash behind it. Besides looking way cool, you can match the stones to fill in the un-eveness.

there are only a few inches of space between the sink backsplash and the bottom of the window frame.

But that’s a little tricky for someone not experienced.

The process would be to load the portion of the wall with drywall mud and striking it off with a taping knife - the larger knife the better. You can start with a smaller knife to build it up in layers. Finishing off with with a 14 inch knife.

The lower edge of the knife, as you swipe sideways, follows the back of the sink and the top. The top edge of the knife feathers it out to zero.

Do several coats. The first coats will be rough and only meant to establish the new wall lines. Don’t make yourself crazy trying to get the first coats perfect. Layers are key. Sand and knock down “boogers” between coats.


I would use the dry mix bag 45 minute mud “hot mud” for the first coats because it sets up fast. Finish off with the blue top pre mixed mud. You CAN use the pre mixed for all coats but the thick initial coats may take a day or two to dry - which is ok if you have time. For a novice, slow may be better anyway.

He is working on finishing the trim (6 years after starting the addition and the whole project).

Can't complain, the price is right.

You sound like you've done a lot of work yourself, especially drywall.

I do a little bit of drywall for my own stuff. But hire out big projects.


I’m just finishing up some updates on my place in Chicago to get ready to sell. We re looking for a project in the suburbs to keep me busy.

I want something I can add square feet on and also something with room for a small shop.

We just finished painting every square inch of trim in the house from natural oak to white. I used to think painting natural trim was sacrilege. But it was dated and orange.

We also added new dark floors. Of course along the way I built some furniture to suit the new look and down size the over sized dining room furniture I built (for staging).

I had some old cherry in storage that I bought off a cabinet maker 10 years ago. I needed something for an island top so I used tha. I fell in love with the look so I made a floating bar/server, a couple coffee tables and a dining room table.

I’ve always worked with oak or quarter sawn oak because that’s what is in these old vintage buildings in Chicago. I especially like quarter sawn white oak. But I fell in love with cherry recently.

I’ll post some pictures when I get my photo bucket figured out.

You seem like a big diyer. Love it! Love the reclaimed slate.

I’ve owned granite polishing tools forever but never did much with them. I recently replaced our countertops and did some of the fabrication myself (cut the sink hole). I’ve gotten pretty good at it. I’ve been scarfing up scraps from my supplier and made some cabinet tops. I also made a few center piece tps for the wood tables - basically giant coasters

Your home must be fantastic! I went to graduate school at NIU, and had friends and professors in Chicago, so I know about how gorgeous the houses are there. Oak Park especially.

We were looking for reclaimed bowling alley flooring for our kitchen penninsula, but none was available.

I kwym about furniture size. Our home was built in the 1940s, so furniture in the original house has to be smaller than the McMansion sized stuff that sells now.

I found a product called Insta-trim, that I plan to use for gaps: https://instatrim.com

Sounds like an easy fix, right?