Contact cement and Formica

[Darrell Baschak]

I have a question for anyone out there with respect to contact cementing a sheet of Formica to an existing countertop that has Formica on it already. Do you think it is OK to glue one to the other or should a fellow strip off the old layer and start from scratch? Any comments welcome.

[Paul Girouard]

It's best to not do a lay-over. It can be done but ..........

If you do lay over I'd recommend sanding the existing top with a random orbit sander with 80 grit paper. This makes "grooves" that the glue can "grab".

There a long list of "why not's" to doing this. To long to list , as they become to specific for most to follow along.

BTW not all Plastic laminate is Formica brand. There are other brands Formica being just one of many. Wilson Art , Nevermar(sp) , are a couple of other brands , they all are plastic laminate.

[Tony Bilello]

all you have to do is power sand the laminate to break through the surface layer without having to sand it all off. I have laid acres of new laminate but never over old laminate. So keep that in mind.
This is an important issue so I would ask that other replies specify whether they have done it before, to what extent and have you looked at it lately.

[george wilson]

What about the edges of counters you are re-covering? Won't there be an unsupported gap where the laminate was beveled? I haven't tried this.

You COULD use a counter jack: Jack the counter up,and put a new counter under it !!!!

[Rob Cooper]

You can do it, but make sure the old laminate is holding strong. I have laminated over old stuff on two countertops with no problems. What I did was:
1. 80 grit belt sander to flat surafce
2. I did remove the old laminate from the edges ( I highly recommend this step)
3. Clean sanded surface with minersal spirits and steel wool
4. Lay the new stuff with "real" contact cement - no spray cans here!

[Darrell Baschak]

Thanks for your replies to my query about glueing new laminate over existing. I confess that I am somewhat hesitant to try glueing over the existing layer as I really want to avoid callbacks. It makes alot of sense to sand down the surface with 80 grit paper, probably much easier than stripping off the existing laminate. My top is edged with Oak, the laminate is layed on top of it and set back an 1/8 of an inch all around. It is true that you do not see much info on this topic, even at the glue manufacturers sites.

[Joe Chritz]

For as much as the substrate costs I would just cut a new one and be done with it. Is there some reason the counter can't be removed?

I haven't done it either but have heard that by sanding first and cleaning well it works fine. The edges could still be an issue and that all assumes it had a square laminated edge to start. Most of my new ones are wood edged which would be pretty hard to put new laminate on.

Joe

[hank dekeyser]

If it's for a customer - peel it up - period. If it's for your home ???? Do you want to have to do it over, or do it once and be done ?

It is possible yes - I dont advise it - anytime we tried this , there was always a call back- EXCEPT - when we used the old flamable contact cement !! IF you are going to do it - scuff w/ a belt sander (60grit) then wipe down w/ LAQUER thinner -(mineral spirits leaves a residue) glue and set.

If you make one call-back on this job, you'll wish you pulled the old crap first -- remember this, not only do you need to stand behind your work, but also whoever initially did the top- since THAT is what your work is attached to !

[Mark Boyette]

How big is the top? if it's not too large I'd just change it out completely. As noted here.. big thing is how well the old lam is holding. Scuff up with 80G and reglue. I would not try this with the crappy latex stuff though.

Mark.

[george wilson]

Could he cause the cement underneath the 1st. covering to come loose in spots by the heat of belt sanding? I'm not a formica user.

[Darrell Baschak]

Once again, thanks for all the input, I can see that everyone has a practical side to them. I decided not to glue over the existing laminate, I peeled off the existing layer, re-prepped the surface and applied the new Formica. It all went off without a hitch and I feel much better about the whole affair. One word of caution, don't get caught using the wifes iron, you will end up buying her a new one and ironing your own shirts!!