How to install your Southside top.
Every Southside countertop ships with a printed installation guide. This is the same process — five steps, the tools you'll need, and the mistakes to avoid.
Five steps from crate to installed.
Make sure your cabinets are flat and level before the top goes on. Secure any corbels, decorative legs, or brackets first — anything that the top will rest on or be supported by.
Drill 3/4″ to 1″ holes in your cabinet stretchers — at the front and rear stretchers, every 24″, and within 4″ of all sides. These oversized holes are intentional: they let the wood expand and contract with the seasons.
Set the countertop in place. Verify overhangs are even, check fit against walls (walls are never perfectly straight — scribe if needed). Test-fit before driving any fasteners.
Using a 1/8″ drill bit, pre-drill fastener holes into the wood countertop, going through the cabinet stretcher holes from below. Penetrate at least 3/4″ into the top — but not too deep. Don't break through the surface.
Add washers to your wood screws. Tighten until snug — and stop. Don't over-tighten. The top needs room to expand and contract through the seasons. A washer with a tiny bit of wiggle room is exactly what you want.
Tools and materials.
- Drill with 3/4″–1″ bits (for cabinet stretchers) and a 1/8″ bit (for pre-drilling the top)
- Wood screws sized for your install + washers
- Heat shield — aluminum sheet, trim coil, or Reflectix® — required if the top sits over a dishwasher, microwave, warming drawer, or wine fridge
- 100% silicone caulk (no latex) — optional, for dabs where screws can't reach
Five mistakes that void the warranty.
Never use glue or liquid nails.
Adhesive locks the top in place and prevents the seasonal expansion and contraction that wood naturally does. Locked-down wood cracks. Mechanical fasteners only.
Don't over-tighten the screws.
Same reason. The oversized stretcher holes and a tiny bit of wiggle on the washer let the top move with the seasons. Snug — not crushed.
Don't pre-drill too deeply.
A 1/8″ bit through the cabinet stretcher and into the bottom of the top — at least 3/4″ but not all the way through. The last thing you want is a fastener-head poking up through your new surface.
Don't run a continuous bead of caulk.
A continuous caulk line glues the top to the cabinet underneath. Dabs are fine where they're needed. A bead is not.
Don't skip the heat shield over heat-generating appliances.
Dishwashers, microwaves, warming drawers, wine fridges — all of them throw enough heat to dry out and crack a wood top from below. Aluminum sheet, trim coil, or Reflectix® takes the heat instead.
About seasonal movement.
Hardwood expands and contracts with humidity. Across a year, a 36″-wide top can move 1/8″ to 1/4″. This is not a defect — it's how wood works. The installation procedure above is built around this fact: oversized mounting holes, mechanical-only fasteners, washers that allow wiggle.
If your top arrived with slight warping after transport, it usually settles out during installation. Give it 2-3 days to acclimate to your room's humidity before driving the final fasteners.
Want one of us to install it?
We don't typically travel to install — but for commercial projects, large bar tops, or anything tricky, we can recommend installers in your region or coordinate with your contractor. Ask.
