In article 42,
"Henry St.Pierre" wrote:

Greetings,
Does anyone have experience applying new Formica/Wilsonart laminate over
old laminate using waterborne contact cement? I've only done new work and
haven't much experience with waterborne contact cement. I assume the old
surface should be sanded with a coarse grit to allow the contact cement to
grip. I would like to use Wilsonart H2O contact cement
Any experiences, good or bad, tips, watchout fors etc. installing new
laminate over old (especially using water base cement) would be
appreciated.
Thanks and regards,
Hank

I do countertops for a living^H^H^H^H^support my tool habit.
The problem with roughing up (36-grit belt sander) laminate, is that you
will get 'tooth' but whatever adhesive you use, won't have an efficient
place for the solvent to vent to. Water based contact cement, like its
solvent based mate, needs at least one surface to be porous enough to
absorb the liquid from the adhesive after flash-off. The bulk will flash
off whilst getting it ready before the 'contact', but the usual
absorption by the substrate won't be nearly as effective with old
laminate in the way... The solvent based cement will do a better job in
your application. (Because you can flash off way more solvent, to the
point that the cement is dry to the touch, and still have excellent
'stick'. The water based cement doesn't have as long an open time.

On fresh PB or MDF, the water based products work great.

Wilsonart WA3000
(http://www.wilsonart.com/productlib/...es/3000_TD.pdf) is
a PVA adhesive which is not a contact cement but might be a better
choice if your heart is set on water based. You apply it to the
substrate only and you have a very narrow window to apply your
laminate..and then you roll it with all your might/weight. That stuff is
phenomenal. 5 gallon is the smallest qty you can buy so maybe calling
the distributor in your area might be the way to go. Hopefully they will
know who uses that adhesive in your area...and they might sell you what
you need.

Good luck!

HTH

r