Laminate Countertops

[HayZee518]

Illustration shows basic laminate countertop tools. Stuff not shown is a block of wood, rubber mallet, razor knife etc.

[Annie]

Illustration shows basic laminate countertop tools. Stuff not shown is a block of wood, rubber mallet, razor knife etc.

Does installing laminate take enormous practice. I mean, would a beginner likely install it on their first try or go through several sheets of laminate?

[HayZee518]

The only thing you need to worruy about is NOT to make contact with the laminate until you are absolutely positive its where you want it. Once you make contact with the countertop you'll never be able to move the laminate, short of destroying the laminate.

[jackmcmanus21]

I've always had problem with laminate

[HayZee518]

I've put down laminate on all my kitchen counter tops with no problems. I mean we're talking 21 feet for one counter top, so I used two pieces 26 inches wide by 8 feet long and another piece 26 wide by 5 feet long. I used round dowels to "carry" the laminate above the counter top "board" when I was absolutely certain where I was gonna drop it, I removed the dowels one at a time from the center of the sheet out to the ends. I rolled each sheet one at a time, then aligned the back and the butt edge and removed the dowels from the butt edge first out to the end. and did the last sheet same way as sheet #2.

[TransformStuff]

Yeah I've done this a few times and it's fairly tedious. A layman could do it but it is just tedious and takes caution. Like they said, once it touches, it's done.

[Janeofalltrades]

I agree that laminate is not difficult to use, however, it is a measure once and place carefully sort of deal because it sticks well and it really is near impossible to remove with out destroying it. Anyone have any funny misplace or mismeasured laminate stories?

[knowitall]

I never have much success with laminate. Heck I cant even put a sticker on correctly.

[ItsFixed]

Hi,
I am new to this forum community. Hope I will learn new things from this. I have problem with laminate from last some time.

[BradStan]

Well, I am not good at laminate as well. I have tried it 3 to 5 times, I never succeeded in it. It really ruins my day if I remembered that.

[allblueskys]

I was very scared to start chopping up the sheet of laminate I bought. I watched a ton of youtube videos on it but the sheet is still sitting in my basement because I dont wat to destroy it!

[HayZee518]

you are eventually gonna hafta do it yourself or hire a professional to do it.
it is really easy if you are careful. for a countertop, measure the width and add a quarter inch. use a fine toothed circular saw blade and cut from the back side to avoid splinters. go very slow with the saw. a tablesaw is better to use because you have a fixed rip fence that don't move.
coat your countertop with a water based or solvent based contact cement. use two coats and allow to dry. coat your laminate with two coats and allow to dry. both surfaces will be tacky to the touch. place quarter inch dowels on the counter about 12 inches apart. place the laminate on the dowels but don't let it touch the countertop. if you do you will be sorry. when you figure you have the laminate positioned just right, remove the dowels starting from the center. press the laminate down from the center outward, removing the dowels as you go. lastly use a laminate roller and smooth out from the center to the ends. you want to get as much air bubbles out as possible. when you are done you will be using a router with a straight cutter and a 45 degree cutter.

[JDal]

true, very problematic