2- “How big is an inch?” The difference between zinc tops and stone.

Today we’re going to talk about a challenge facing the soft metal countertop industry- how the construction basics for zinc differ from the most popular surface-stone.

To do this, let’s look at a stone installation, which places the stone slab, measuring 1.25” thick, directly on the base cabinets. Corner blocks and mounting rails allow silicone to bond the box to the stone slab, and silicone can be run around the perimeter for further bond.

Most zinc bar tops installed on a die wall are 1.5” thick, and require a 3/4" subtop to install, so the final assembly comes to 2.25”.  They’re also attached with fasteners rather than adhesive: You almost never want to bond these tops to the subtops or die wall below with adhesive.

What does all this mean for your project?

Well, you really have to understand the construction details for the specific product.  Often, it’s not as simple as decreasing the thickness of the top or eliminating the subtop, because most manufacturers bond two sheets of 3/4" material to make the base for the bar top, which you can see in the free downloadable PDF on my website.

So if you don’t account for this extra inch in design, it can really increase your overall height and throw off ADA compliance, the user experience, and all your bar finishes.

So a challenge facing the zinc countertop industry is a standard that differs from most commercial stone tops, and the considerations that must be made in design to account for this.