Laminate Application Trouble

[Wimbley]

Hi, I'm laying laminate for the first time and I'm having trouble.

I'm trying to apply laminate to a 4x8' sheet of cheap plywood. We dusted off each surface, spread out a quart of contact cement total, and waited 20 min. The cement felt just slightly tacky, just enough to even notice, so we lined up the sheets, pulled out the dowels, went over it all with a rolling pin, and waited an hour. We discovered the corners peeled up afterwards, so we pulled it apart, put on another quart of cement, waited an hour, and did the whole thing again. Which seemed to work fine. The next day we leaned the board up against the wall to make some space, and 6 hours later I discovered I could lift up the corners again. For what it's worth, the work was done in the garage at night, and it has been chilly lately. Anyway, I was hoping to get some suggestions for smarter ways to do things.

Thanks.

[HayZee518]

you mentioned putting the adhesive on the plywood. did you also apply it to the laminate? if you didn't then the laminate will always come up. it must be applied to both surfaces. weldwood solvent based contact adhesive bonds like gangbusters and for this you must be very careful. use dowels and work from the center outwards.

[Wimbley]

We applied it to both surfaces and used solvent cement. We used 3/8" dowels about 10" apart just like you said. I have a feeling I need to wait for warmer weather before trying again. Thanks for your response.

[pushkins]

The contact adhesive should also be almost dry to the touch on both surfaces, usually it takes 20-30 minutes under good conditions for the adhesive to be ready for contact.

[Paul808]

Use dowels and let it dry properly.