"John W. Wells" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 23 Jun 2003 21:58:27 -0500, "D'Olier" wrote:

We have one of those kitchen counters with what looks like a laminate top
stuck onto some wood. Part of it was damaged a few months ago and I went
to
HD and Lowes to ask about getting a replacement 'patch'. They said I can
only buy it with the wood attached and I'd have to replace the whole
counter - or at least a good section of it. The damage is only about
3"x3".
There must be a way to buy just the surface part and stick it on without
having to replace the whole wooden piece.

Anybody know where I can buy the piece I need?

Some 15 years ago I had an electric coffee maker go south and burn a 3
inch patch in the Formica laminate of my kitchen counter--the intense
heat caused the laminate to bubble up and crack.

I managed to find a scrap of the very same pattern (whatta
surprise--the counter was 20 years old by that time) at a store. I
think it was the sort of store that sold resilient floor
covering--don't remember for sure.

So I cut out a 3" disk from the scrap, laid it on the burned area,
traced around it with a pen, and then carefully routed out the bad
stuff with my rarely-used-but-at-times-indispensible Dremel tool (I
don't own a real router). I used epoxy to glue in the patch.

Of course it's noticeable, but hardly so. Just a thin gray line
around the periphery of the patch. And completely water-tight. It
was holding just fine when I sold the house a year ago.

--John W. Wells

Now this is what I want to do. I could live with a barely noticeable line
around the patch. The thing is, where do I get the laminate. The house is
only three years old so it should be available but as I've mentioned the big
two (Lowes and HD) have said das ist verboten.