Forced Learning: the Metric System & Our Countertops

In addition to speaking half-German, half-English at our house, we’ve developed a horrible habit of speaking half-metric, half-standard.  How far do we have between the parked car and our rented van full of lumber?  One meter.  How far to the nearest IKEA?  8 miles.  Thickness of cabinet wood?  10 millimeters.  And the horrible gap that isn’t covered by our brand new countertop?

crooked countertop

3/4 inch.

It’s a dreary day in Berlin.  Okay, so most winter days are dreary in Europe.  This day was looking like double dreary duty because it turns out things weren’t going to plan.  Martin spent several hours sketching out a counter order, even after the counter salesman measured it.  We had to be sure.  We just didn’t foresee these two problems:

  1. The wall we tore down halfway wasn’t exactly 90 degrees from the structural wall.  We built cabinets against it, and now… well, it’s pretty obvious that the wall is more like 91 or 92 degrees.  Hmm.
  2. The countertop we ordered wasn’t cut at 90 degrees.  We would have been set if it had been overcut to 91 degrees to match our wall.  But it was undercut by a millimeter or two, heightening our problem on the other end of the counter to a whopping 3/4 inch.

Did you know such a tinsy tiny difference on one end of the counter could become such a problem on the other end?  Me neither.

So we started a little hacking… er, trim work.  We had until 5:00 when quiet hours set in and it becomes illegal to make unnecessary noise in Germany.  Sand, baby, sand!

martin sanding

(Image by Katie for Making This Home)