Some projects test your skills. Others test your patience. And then there are those that feel like they’re actively trying to break you. This live edge countertop? Yeah… it was that kind of project.

It All Started With a Slab…

Step one: Get your hands on a giant 3-inch thick live edge slab. This thing was beautiful—and heavy. Like, you-better-call-a-buddy heavy.

Step two: Cut it carefully, knowing full well you only get one shot. You can’t just run down to the store and grab another 3" slab if you mess it up.

Step three: Install it. And admire how good it looks. For a minute.

Then the Countertop Started Fighting Back

Step four: Slowly watch your gorgeous slab start to twist and warp, like it's trying to return to the tree it came from. It doesn't just move—it takes the cupboards with it, pulling them off the floor.

Step five: Bust out some good old-fashioned redneck ingenuity to fix the twist. Think clamps, wedges, maybe some questionable decisions. It ain’t pretty, but it works.

Step six: Pour the finish coat. Breathe. Relax.

Step seven: Watch in horror as the top coat has a chemical reaction and delaminates, forcing you to sand everything back down to raw wood. Yes, again.

Step eight: Try a different finish coat. This one will work, right?

Step nine: Wrong. The second finish fails to bond, and peels away like it’s shedding its skin. Time to peel that off too.

Step ten: Start all over. Again. Sand it back. Choose a different product. Pour a new coat and pray this is finally the end of the madness.

Finally… a Finish That Stuck

After two failed finishes, endless sanding, and way too much patience, the final coat actually held. And we gotta say—it looks amazing now. But this project will go down as one of the most stubborn, time-consuming builds we’ve ever taken on.

Your Turn—Ever Had a Project Fight You?

Have you ever had a job that seemed cursed from the start? One of those “everything that can go wrong, will go wrong” kind of projects?

Tell us your story in the comments—we’d love to hear it.