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As Huey Lewis would say, "it's hip to be square." Particularly in this case. They say an eco-friendly
house can't be built in 150 days for $150,000, and I say it can. I'm Allen Smith, join me
as push the limits with time, budget and creativity with the Garden Home Challenge, exclusively
on eHow Home. That really isn't square, is it? Not when you're installing even these
new countertops, you always gotta check them. See how much that one's out of square? Yeah,
it is. Almost a full quarters. Right, so you're gonna recut it and get it squared up before
we apply it. Instead of just trying to cut just that quarter, I move over about 3/4 of
an inch -- that let's my saw take a little rest on this part and gives me a good square
cut when I cut it across. So when you order countertops, butcher block like this, you
need to make sure that it's square on this end, and you also need to make sure it's square
on your cabinets. Also, Tony, our eHow viewers need to recognize that these butcher blocks
have a top and a bottom. Yeah. Or an upper side and a lower back side. And this is the
back side here, and you can see these places in it. Yeah, because it's unfinished, and
it hasn't been filled or anything. Right, and the finish looks much better than this.
Yep. Keep that in mind. Now, you want me to hold this while you cut it off? I got it pretty
stable here on this saw horse. Okay, alright. Well, I'm gonna take our viewers over here
and show them where it goes. Come on over here. You also need to make sure that where
you're gonna place the butcher block, where you're gonna install it, it's square. And
since Tony built this wall, I'm sure it is square. But what you wanna do is you wanna
check it. And, you can see, it's very square. So, as he squares off the butcher block, it
should fit in here, beautifully. Now, here's a thing to keep in mind: If you wanna apply
butcher block to an existing house -- if it's an old house, you know, they can move over
time, and it's very likely that the walls aren't square. So you're gonna have to cut
it to fit. Now, you know, there's just something about butcher block I love. From the beginning,
when we were designing this house, I thought it would be so cool, even in this small kitchen,
to have an antique butcher block. So I went to all kinds of stores, all over the place,
seeing if I could find one we could afford. I finally found one in the back of a store
in Memphis. Bought it, and it's gonna go right here. And that was the inspiration for using
butcher block here in the kitchen as a countertop. What I wanted to use here was a light color
butcher block. You know, there's all kinds of woods that you can use. This is Maple.
If I wanted to go darker, I could go with black Walnut. If I wanted it to have a little
redder sort of finish to it, you could go with Cherry. There's a lot choices out there.
When Lumber Liquidators delivered this, I couldn't believe how heavy it is. So what
we have is an inch and half thick piece of butcher block, and it wraps all the way around
here, and it breaks for the stove there, and it goes over to the other side. And, of course,
over on the pantry side, we're gonna place that one -- that's what Tony's putting in
now. And the way he secured this is he took a 2 inch wood screw and screwed it in from
up under here. Remember, a 2 inch -- you don't wanna bore through your butcher block. That's
not good. And also, make sure you get the right side up. Because when you finish it
out, you're gonna sand it lightly, and we're gonna apply a mineral oil to bring out the
color. You wanna make sure you don't have those pits and gaps in there. Hey, if you're
enjoying our progress on the house, check in regularly and tell a friend. And make sure
you subscribe to eHow Home. We're gonna be cooking in this kitchen before you can say
black-eyed peas.