Robatoy wrote in
:

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


Thanks Robotoy, Owen and Robert. I was choosing waterborne because of the
lack of odor. The lady I'm doing the job for has a very acute sense of
smell (I sometimes refer to her as the 'beagle', though she is far from a
dog. Her sense of smell is so acute that I make all my girlfriends wear
Old Spice aftershave. It ****es them off, but saves my parts.
Thanks again,
Hank