Replies

1. 
   Sphere | Jan 08, 2004 03:38am | #1

   1/8'' thick?..ok.  I degrease first, used orange clean last time..but any good cleaner works..then scuff like ya said , but 60 grit is excessive..120 is enough. Make doubly sure the original is stuck good..if not, out comes the haet gun...pull it up.  have fun, it is not a simple task.

2. 
   steve | Jan 09, 2004 03:24am | #2

   best solution is rip up old laminate and substrate and fabricate new

   the cost of substrate material is minor compared to the laminate and your labour

   i do this everyday and refuse to install new laminate over old

   caulking is not a piece of trim

3. 
   RW | Jan 09, 2004 06:49am | #3

   I'm going to agree with steve - it's not so much a can you question as a should you. There's a lot of things you could do, but they aren't all right. In the time it takes you to change those fifty disks off your sander and get the gloss off the original, you could have a new substrate made up. I don't care which you do, it just seems like a gawd awful hassle to go over the old unless getting it out is a near impossible feat (i.e. the homeowner mandates you don't touch the tile backsplash). The risk you run with going over the old is adhesion problems, and doubly so if the old has been there a long time - it could be getting ready to come loose too, which kind of makes the new layer moot.

   "The child is grown / The dream is gone / And I have become / Comfortably numb "      lyrics by Roger Waters

4. 
   geoffmurray | Jan 09, 2004 08:18am | #4

   Often on old counter tops the edges are worn, especially around the sink and high work areas. Getting the new p.lam to stick in these depressions is tough and bound to lead to a air bubble, gap. I have laid 1/4 inch G1S plywood, screwed every 6" over old countertops, with a new wooden edging, and used the scribed ply as a template for the p.lam. Worked great.

1. 
   poetwithhammer | Jan 10, 2004 06:04pm | #5

   Hey, Goeff, thanks, now what is G15 plywood? Is that they stuff installers put under new linoloum...? So screw down the Plywood, attach the new wooden edgeing, and then put down the new formica. You know I fabricated my own solid surface Surrel kitchen but I never worked with the firmica thin stuff. thanks. dennis

1. 
   geoffmurray | Jan 10, 2004 07:04pm | #6

   G1S is Good One Side. Just 1/4 or 3/8 ply that is smooth. You have to fill the screw holes with a hard filler like autobody filler (bondo). Any imperfections will 'read' through.

   As you say the stuff is flimsy. A helper is useful. Do a dry fit, practise run. Use spacers such as shelf bracket supports of venetian blind strips, that are removed as you roll out the p.lam.

1. 
   briankeith | Jan 10, 2004 10:35pm | #7

   Another great product to use for spacers are short lengths of 1/2" cpvc.

   When you apply the glue you will want it dry to the touch before putting the two surfaces together.

   Feel it with the back of your hand, less oil, and the glue should not pull the hair on your knuckles.

   Another reason not to apply directly onto the old laminate, is that the moisture has to go someplace for the glue to cure correctly. I can't see it soaking into the old laminate.

   Is G1S just a Breaktime term? Never heard it before either.

   We are talking something like 1/4" AC ply. Right?

   He could shoot the plywood down with a medium wire staple, with a 1/4 or 3/16 crown.

   and buffing it up with a belt sander is an easy way to make sure nothing is sticking up.View Image

1. 
   Sphere | Jan 11, 2004 12:07am | #8

   YUP  A/C is G1S..sorta like S4S or R1E surfaced 4 sides or ripped one edge..not particular to BT., fairly common use. Unless you are a veternarian or sumptin like that <G>..