Coffee Maker Protection

Before

If you work in a large office you generally have one of the large commercial coffee makers such as a Bunn or a Bloomfield as shown here.  If you’ve been around these then you know they put out a lot of excess heat.  In the case of this unit, the heat was sufficient that it was actually causing the counter top laminate to delaminate.  As you can see here, there was not a lot of distance between the top of the unit and the upper cabinet to add protection.  The solution?  An 18″ x 18″ floor tile.  Durable, heat resistant and not thick enough to cause any problems with the upper cabinet.

After

The tile was selected in a color similar to the counter top, though it is close enough to the coffee maker size that this wasn’t critical.  The tile has ridges on the back designed to help with grout adhesion.  In this case, those ridges help by creating additional air space and surface area to dissipate heat. Self-adhesive furniture pads were used on the bottom of the tile to create additional air space and prevent the tile from scratching the laminate when it is moved for cleaning.  All in all, a simple, economical solution to a common problem.