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When I had a day job, we had a conference room full of tables to resurface. The laminate that was on them was an unacceptable color (!). Anyway, being a big company we hired it out. The pros chose to just glue the new stuff on top of the old. When I asked about it, they said they could remove the old laminate, but then the surface would be so rough with the contact cement that it would take forever to get it smooth enough for the replacement. It may have been they just wanted to get it over with, and still charge a huge fee....but that's something to consider. I'm pretty sure a heat gun will break the contact cement bond.
I started with absolutely nothing. Now, thanks to years of hard work, careful planning, and perseverance, I find I still have most of it left.
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Inject lacquer thinner between the formica and substrate???
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Done it a couple times, years and years ago. Clean the surface, rough it up with an orbital sander. Proceed. That was with the original (smelly) contact cement.
Obviously the existing surface must be well adhered.
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One of these days I will get around to mine... I am just going to Formica over the old.
If it can't kill you it probably ain't no good. Better living through chemicals.
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Sand the old formica and the glue new over it
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02-04-2021, 10:00 AM
(This post was last modified: 02-04-2021, 10:00 AM by Stwood_.)
Glueing new over old doesn't work well over time.
Buy a new top, then cut it down to fit. Or just make a new one.
Steve
Mo.
I miss the days of using my dinghy with a girlfriend too. Zack Butler-4/18/24
The Revos apparently are designed to clamp railroad ties and pull together horrifically prepared joints
WaterlooMark 02/9/2020
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(02-04-2021, 10:00 AM)Stwood_ Wrote: Glueing new over old doesn't work well over time.
Buy a new top, then cut it down to fit. Or just make a new one.
Sorry to disagree. I glued new over old in my house over 35 years ago. It held up great and was replaced only recently with one of the man made marble like materials.
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(02-04-2021, 01:02 AM)Wild Turkey Wrote: LOML's best friend has a Formica counter-top she wants to resurface. It's smaller than usual so she can't just replace it with one from the Borg.
How hard is it to remove Formica from a counter top? I'd be glad to do it for her if it's not too difficult to strip the old off.
Anyone done it?
Does it have a formed edge? I doubt you can replace the laminate then. I've seen it removed by using a heat gun and a putty knife.
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