DIY custom bowling lane countertops
A while back I removed the old Formica counter top from my kitchen counters. I had seen an ad in Auto & RV Magazine for old bowling lane by the linear foot. This got me thinking that it would be cheaper to turn some bowling lane into custom bowling lane countertops, than it would be to buy new counters.
DIY custom bowling lane countertops
The first thing I did when preparing to build these countertops was to accurately measure the length and depth of the base cabinets.
The bowling lane was a full 3″ thick. It came in linear feet, but they wouldn’t cut it down, so I had to buy enough pieces to get what I needed, and had a bit left over at the end. I ended up buying two pieces of bowling lane at 10′ lengths each. It was in full-lane width which is 40.5″, and my base cabinets were 24″. This wasn’t a huge issue since bowling lane is made from individual planks of wood on end, glued and bracketed together.
Dealing with long sections of bowling lane is not super easy. The bowling lane at 40.5″ width consisting of 39 boards at 3″ thick ten feet long was very heavy. I didn’t weigh the lane, but I’d estimate its weight around 300-350 lb or more.
In order to get the custom bowling lane countertops to width, I had to flip the lane on its top. Then I had to remove the 100+ year old brackets that were attached with 2.5″ flat-head screws. The slit on the screw head was abnormally wide, and very hard to remove. Each piece of bowling lane had three brackets, and each bracket had 4 screws. Once the brackets were removed, I used a wood chisel and wedge to split the lane at the board needed to make my piece 24″ wide. The individual lane boards are glued and also nailed to each other, but since they were no longer bracketed, it came apart fairly easily.
Once the bowling lane was the correct width, I cut it to length using a circular saw
Once I had all of my custom bowling lane countertops cut to size, I made a cardboard template from my old Formica countertop to make another cut for the kitchen sink
Finishing the custom bowling lane countertops
All the pieces were cut to size. Now I had to sand the layers and layers of varnish off the lane to reveal the original maple wood planks. Once the lane pieces were smooth, I cut walnut trim for the sides that would be overhanging the sides of the cabinets. I installed the smooth bowling lane countertop pieces onto the base cabinets using plywood as a substrate. I screwed the pieces from the bottom through the plywood substrate. Then I added the walnut trim. I used 1×4’s which are actually only 3.5″ wide, and let it overhand the bottom of the bowling lane, over the edge of the cabinet.
Once fully assembled, I used polyurethane to seal the whole counter. I did this in place. It was smelly and messy, but I had the windows open and ventilated the area. The result was bowling land smooth custom countertops.
A Handy Father is willing and excited to share his knowledge and experience, so if you have any questions lat me know in the comments below. DIY custom bowling lane countertops were one of the most rewarding projects I’ve been part of and would be happy to share any information I can.
Hello,
I'm about to start this same process and was wondering why you didn't get a heavy duty floor sander and sand the lane first?
I used a uni-directional belt sander because it is what I had, and I had rented a floor sander when I redid my floor. I really hated using it. If I do it again, I will do the hand-held belt sander the same as last time. Thank you for the question!
Hello,
I'm about to start this same process and was wondering why you didn't get a heavy duty floor sander and sand the lane first?
Hi! you still reading this thread? We purchased a house with bowling lane countertops in the kitchen and unfortunately, they're showing some wear & tear (next to the sink, of course). I was hoping to get your take on refinishing and repairing them. There are a few spots where cracks are appearing between the panes. I don't even know where to begin. (I'm a novice at home repair)
Sarah, I am so sorry I didn’t see this comment until now!! If the lanes can be removed and sanded down, I’d recommend doing that, but if not, you could get by with a hand sander. Then do several thin coats of a urethane to make it shiny and water-proof again. One of the other benefits to removing the lane and refinishing would be that you could get some glue in the cracks and clamp it together again, and it would be much stronger.
Thank you for the comment!
I wouldn’t use a polyurethane finish as it will be difficult to repair as it begins to wear down. I was finishing my own countertop and found that Tongue oil has very interesting advantages. I use a product called Waterlox. It behaves very differently in that becomes infused into the wood and is also food grade and comes in both a satin and a gloss finish. The best part of this product is that it can be tinted and unlike polyurethane, if it gets scuffed up or develop cut marks you simply sand the area in question and re-apply more waterlox. The new coat chemically bonds with the older application. You don’t have to resurface the entire surface!
Did you consider the pourable epoxy? Would that not give a more solid seal?
Definitely would have worked!
Poly Breaks down quite easy Varnish is what I use. Have done multiple bowling lane countertops and I route Chanel’s in the underside of lane and attach 2 inch wide steel by 1/4 in thick steel 237/8 long this keeps them stable and you won’t gain thickness by using a substrate 3 coats of varnish and sand in between each coat The toughest thing I have had to deal with is they do not stain evenly.
Hi there. Curious what you attached the lanes to the plywood with and then what you used to attach those to the cabinets? Screws? Glue?
Robin, The plywood was attached with brackets placed in the cabinets while it was open. PL brand construction adhesive and a few screws through the bottom of the plywood held the final counters on. Be sure to pre-drill, as the lanes are old hard maple and will split or even break your screws otherwise!
I just got some pieces to do my countertop. Will the “lane” hold together once the brackets are removed?
And why the plywood substrate?
Thank you!
In my case, when the brackets were removed it didn’t hold together. With years more experience under my belt, I’d have done a glue up on it and made sure it was stable instead of the plywood I used back then. Hope this helps, and would love to see photos of your process when it’s done!