Installing Laminate on Countertops

If you decide that you want to add a laminate countertop in your kitchen you have several options. First, you can have a professional fabricate the tops for you or him to install. Second, you can purchase pre-fabricated countertops which come in basic colors and install them. Third, you can choose any laminate and fabricate the top yourself. Not surprisingly the expense drops with each consecutive choice with DIY fabrication being the cheapest.

Countertops are usually fabricated out of one piece of compressed fiberboard and if you want you can purchase this type of material. The typical DIY countertop is fabricated out of two layers of three quarter inch plywood laminated one on top of the other. Build the first layer making sure that the laps hit on the supports of your cabinets. Next install the second layer using wood glue or sub-floor adhesive between the two layers. The second layer should lap over the joints of the first layer making the top stronger. Screw the layers together with inch and a quarter drywall screws on eight inch centers both ways. Be sure that the screws are flush or countersunk or the distortion will show through your laminate. If a screw snaps or doesn't pull down flush remove it.

Now that you have the structure of your top built, use filler material to fill the indentions left by the screws as well as filling the joints where the plywood has met. Once the filler has dried sand to flush so that you have one solid slick surface to accept the laminate. Any imperfections will show through the laminate as it is fairly thin. Your laminate should come with a protective layer of plastic over it, do not remove until your finished installing the material. You can cut the openings for your sink etc. at this time.

If your cabinets happen to turn around a wall leaving you with an inside corner, you have two options. The first is to butt to a straight cut or you can cut the laminate on a forty five degree and meet them as a miter. Very few inside corners are perfectly square, more than likely the corner will be more or less than ninety degrees. Take two pieces of scrap one by two and lay them into each corner and screw them together making a pattern of the inside corner. Split the difference of the angle and add a third piece of scrap to mark the miter. Now you can lay out the two pieces of laminate on top of each other to the angle of the corner and mark the miter. Using a straight edge clamped in place and a skil saw with a blade with as many teeth as possible (Irwin makes a standard blade with 150 teeth) to cut the angle.

Clean the cut edge by hand sanding, use a long flat wooden block to keep from altering the straight edge. Now that you have your angle, you can measure out the overall length of the laminate. If your countertop is longer than the laminate then you will have a joint, use the factory edges whenever possible to make these joints. Cut excess laminate off leaving at least two inches of overhang past the ends and the side. Odds are that the laminate will be four feet wide unless you special order it, if your top is twenty eight inches or whatever, cut the laminate to overhang the top before you begin the gluing process. You want as little extra material in your way as possible when you begin gluing.

If you have done everything correctly so far you are ready to begin gluing. Using your scrap you should have cut small pieces for the front edge and this piece will glue on first. Use contact cement and coat each surface to be glued with a liberal amount of glue. Cover the floor etc. to prevent getting this glue where you don't want it. Once the glue is dry to the touch the pieces are ready to be installed. For the front edge use spring clamps with wooden blocks to hold in place until the glue dries. Now that the front piece is dry (you should have extra material all around the sides so that it can be routed off) route off the excess. We can now prepare for the main sections of the top.

When working with more than one piece of laminate, lay down the first piece to be glued (do not glue just yet) and draw a pencil line to mark where the glue should stop. It is better to work from left to right or visa versa depending on your preference. You should have enough quarter inch thick slats (much like a yard stick or as I prefer three eighths inch round dowels) to place them every twelve inches to keep the two pieces of material from touching until your ready for them to touch. Glue both sides of the material and keep them separated for now, lay down your dowels or slates every twelve inches or closer. The thinner the slates or dowels the easier it is to align each piece of laminate.

Once the glue is dry to the touch lay down the laminate on top of the slates or dowels. Carefully remove the first dowel on the end where your starting and push the laminate down exactly where you want it to start. If you have an inside mitered corner, this is where you should start and go both ways from there. It is good to have a helper while doing this step to keep the other end of the laminate from walking away from the wall causing the laminate to misalign which will cause huge problems on a long counter especially where there are joints. Work your way across the laminate pushing down with a roller to keep air bubbles from forming. If you let an air bubble form you wont be able to get it out.

Keep working across and repeat the process with each consecutive piece. Once all of the top pieces are down you can route the edge removing the excess material. Use a lubricant on the laminated edge to keep the router from burning the finished material. Use the same process to make your back splash if you want one, these are usually made from the scrap left over from the original cutting. Once you have all of the laminate down and routed use a number eight file to "work" the edge. Holding the file at a forty five degree angle from the outside edge file across using medium pressure. This will give you that finished black edge and will prevent sharp edges. Do this on all of your outside corners. Now that this is done use the appropriate chemical to remove excess glue from the top.

If you followed all of the directions as laid out you should now have a very nice countertop. It really sounds more complicated than it really is. What is important to remember is that contact cement is just that, once it makes contact with itself, it is there. There is no moving it, there are no do-overs in laminates. Once you get the hang of it you will be laminating everything in site. I have made "building blocks" six inches square with shapes cut out of one side, they are really popular items. Anyway, if you have any questions, there is plenty of literature on the subject. Do your homework and you can do anything....