tiles on a counter top kegerator

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RRL

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Hey guys,

I want to do something with the top of my kegerator to give it a more finished look.

I was looking at maybe doing "stick on" tiles but i'll be running into a couple issues... the current top has screw heads and caps that make the top of my kegerator "uneven"

I was thinking something in the lines of this style of stick on tile

self-stick-tiles-for-bathroom-walls.jpg


I am trying to stay away from putting down a piece of plywood or actual counter top as in a couple years i do plan on building a bar around it and wouldn't mind if I could just leave it with the finished top instead of needing to take it apart, but in the mean time i'd like to have some kind of nice top for it.


Would any of you have any ideas on what I could use / do?


I think things will be a bit tricky trying to work around the screw tops and caps which will make things uneven.

What do you think?


Think i'd run into any issues if I did real tiles and grout?

here's a pic of my fridge with the bare top and as you can see if you look closely the black caps and inbetween those along the edges are screws...
nfm2KKA.jpg
 
I have done a number of tiling projects, and from what I can see in the picture it doesn't look like it will be an issue at all.

When you put down your thinset with your notched trowel it will flow around the small imperfections when you place your tile down. stick on tile won't work because it won't have the thinset as a smoothing agent.

You should be good as long as your protrusions don't come up farther then 1/8 inch.

What are you thinking of putting down? Some stainless steel tiles might look nice.
 
I did grout and glass tile on my keezer. It was easy and looks good. I don't think you'll have any problem and as someone said when I mention imperfections on mine, if there are any, you'll be the only one to notice them
.
 
Thanks for the tips / opinions!


I am still not 100% sure what I want to do as a top just yet, a lot of options to choose from to say the least.

Atleast now I know ill be limited to tiles with grouting and not the "stick ons"


Yea SS tiles would look good but tend to be quite steep on the cost.

I might look at a few tiles that have a "dark wood / stone look" if the price is right
 
Have you considered a pour-on epoxy? You could embed beer caps, pennies, coasters, kraft paper (looks like leather), anything, and the epoxy is self-leveling.
 
I have thought about it but got told its quite expensive?

I also figured covering the outside edges would get a little bit tricky vs using a tile trim to keep things nice and rounded on the outside.
 
I have thought about it but got told its quite expensive?

I also figured covering the outside edges would get a little bit tricky vs using a tile trim to keep things nice and rounded on the outside.
I don't think it's a whole lot more for a small project. Yes, it's definitely more expensive but worth a look. I mean, how many times are you going to get to top your keezer?

This pic always inspires me:

penny-floor-tile-copper-pennies.jpg


As you say, doing the edges would require some thought. Generally a guy would use wood trim for the edge and to make a "dam" for the epoxy.
 
yea the epoxy thing is definitely awesome, a friend of the family did it to his bar top with bottle caps, it looks great but kind nailed down his funds after looking at the finished cost. as he ended up needing much more epoxy then he figured.

yea the wood trim / dam would get interesting to make a nice corner finish.

I definitely want to do it just 1 time and be happy with it thats for sure, but I am also taking into consideration that this will eventually end up under my bar "hidden" down the road when funds / plans are ready for a bar build.
 
The glass tiles that I used were in 1 sq ft sheets and were only a couple of bucks each at home depot.
 
my work is blocking the pictures from your keezer build... did you use some kind of wood trim around the glass tiles or?
 
Yeap I can see that at work for some reason, typically my work comp just blocks photobucket most of the times...


Looks good!


No idea if ill do a wood trim like that or if one of those Stainless trim pieces would work
 
I think both tile and epoxy look great; one difference is that the surface of epoxy seems to be a little more forgiving on glassware, and quieter.

The other consideration when looking at the unit is that adding tile will make it heavier. Is it going to easy to service if/when that day comes? Have to be moved out? If weight is a consideration at all, I'd consider epoxy.

As far as how to create an edge for the epoxy, you could screw thin wooden slats to the top of the unit, using sealant under them to create a seal.

Either way, I bet it looks great!

[one other thought: someone recently posted a photo of a top they did that alternated small tiles with bottlecaps, then grouted over the top. I thought it looked fabulous. It could probably have been done similarly with epoxy. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=587934]
 
damn that def looks great!


I am not too worried about the weight as its not too bad to lift empty as is, a little more weight wouldn't make it un movable. As far as servicing definitely a valid question! Do they typically remove the top section to access the the evap fan and what not? If that kind of access is needed to do maint on the fridge, id be thinking twice about covering the top of it


Guess I'll look at getting some wood L pieces to do a trims around the top, seems like it will be the easier solution to keep things clean looking.
 
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