How were Kitchen Counter Tops Attached?
 

I've signed a contract with Home Depot for them to install a new
Quartz countertop to replace the nearly 50-year old formica one I now
have. I think the sales lady at HD told me if I removed the old sink
& countertop myself I wouldn't have to pay an extra removal/disposal
charge.

I have an L shaped countertop. Was it customary in the late 50s to
simply nail the plywood top down to the cabinet, or would they have
used an adhesive.....or both?

Anyway, I would welcome suggestions as to how to get the top loose.
My guess would be upward strokes at the overhangs with a hammer,
followed by a pry bar. But if anyone has a better idea, please share.

How were Kitchen Counter Tops Attached?
 

Josh wrote:
I've signed a contract with Home Depot for them to install a new
Quartz countertop to replace the nearly 50-year old formica one I now
have. I think the sales lady at HD told me if I removed the old sink
& countertop myself I wouldn't have to pay an extra removal/disposal
charge.

I have an L shaped countertop. Was it customary in the late 50s to
simply nail the plywood top down to the cabinet, or would they have
used an adhesive.....or both?

Anyway, I would welcome suggestions as to how to get the top loose.
My guess would be upward strokes at the overhangs with a hammer,
followed by a pry bar. But if anyone has a better idea, please share.

If it was a post formed top or pre-made one installed over the cabinets then
it would be screwed through the top rail of the cabinets into the bottom of
the countertop. If it was made in place, then anything could be used. I
would doubt that glue was used but who knows. First thing I would check is
for screws from below or evidence of any glue squeeze-out. If there is no
obvious signs of it being attached from below, I would use a heat gun to try
to peel up the laminate and look for fasteners under the laminate. Hammers,
pry bars, etc. could cause a lot of damage to the cabinets so go slow and
carefull.

How were Kitchen Counter Tops Attached?
 

"Josh" wrote in message
...
I've signed a contract with Home Depot for them to install a new
Quartz countertop to replace the nearly 50-year old formica one I now
have. I think the sales lady at HD told me if I removed the old sink
& countertop myself I wouldn't have to pay an extra removal/disposal
charge.

I have an L shaped countertop. Was it customary in the late 50s to
simply nail the plywood top down to the cabinet, or would they have
used an adhesive.....or both?

Anyway, I would welcome suggestions as to how to get the top loose.
My guess would be upward strokes at the overhangs with a hammer,
followed by a pry bar. But if anyone has a better idea, please share.

"Normal" for all modern counter tops is screws up into the bottom of the
top.

These are usually located in the corners of the base cabinets. Kinda hard
to get to but there usually aren't that many of them.


Colbyt

How were Kitchen Counter Tops Attached?
 

Josh wrote:
I've signed a contract with Home Depot for them to install a new
Quartz countertop to replace the nearly 50-year old formica one I now
have. I think the sales lady at HD told me if I removed the old sink
& countertop myself I wouldn't have to pay an extra removal/disposal
charge.

I have an L shaped countertop. Was it customary in the late 50s to
simply nail the plywood top down to the cabinet, or would they have
used an adhesive.....or both?

Anyway, I would welcome suggestions as to how to get the top loose.
My guess would be upward strokes at the overhangs with a hammer,
followed by a pry bar. But if anyone has a better idea, please share.

In that time frame assuming it was a substrate and laminate laid in
place which was quite common it would be quite likely they did nail it
in place first.

And, if it was my dad who did it, it'll have a nail about every 6-8"
along every vertical section including the back and those will be so
close to the wall the backsplash tile will overlay them (damhikt :) ).

What I typically do is take a circular saw and set its depth to just the
thickness of the countertop and saw it up into 3-ft sections or so if do
run into such an instance. The fronts will typically not be fastened
down too badly as the rails over drawer and cabinet openings are thin
enough generally you won't find them nailed into.

The way to start to find out what the situation is is w/ a mallet from
the bottom at an end or in a middle w/ as large a span as possible to
see if you can raise it at all to get a thin-blade putty knife between
top rails and the bottom of the top. Then you can begin to see about
finding fasteners and so on. Hacksaw blades, etc., can be invaluable.

'Tis a joy, I assure you... :)

--

How were Kitchen Counter Tops Attached?
 

dpb wrote:
Josh wrote:
I've signed a contract with Home Depot for them to install a new
Quartz countertop to replace the nearly 50-year old formica one I now
have. I think the sales lady at HD told me if I removed the old sink
& countertop myself I wouldn't have to pay an extra removal/disposal
charge.

I have an L shaped countertop. Was it customary in the late 50s to
simply nail the plywood top down to the cabinet, or would they have
used an adhesive.....or both?

Anyway, I would welcome suggestions as to how to get the top loose.
My guess would be upward strokes at the overhangs with a hammer,
followed by a pry bar. But if anyone has a better idea, please share.

In that time frame assuming it was a substrate and laminate laid in
place which was quite common it would be quite likely they did nail it
in place first.

And, if it was my dad who did it, it'll have a nail about every 6-8"
along every vertical section including the back and those will be so
close to the wall the backsplash tile will overlay them (damhikt :) ).

What I typically do is take a circular saw and set its depth to just the
thickness of the countertop and saw it up into 3-ft sections or so if do
run into such an instance. The fronts will typically not be fastened
down too badly as the rails over drawer and cabinet openings are thin
enough generally you won't find them nailed into.

The way to start to find out what the situation is is w/ a mallet from
the bottom at an end or in a middle w/ as large a span as possible to
see if you can raise it at all to get a thin-blade putty knife between
top rails and the bottom of the top. Then you can begin to see about
finding fasteners and so on. Hacksaw blades, etc., can be invaluable.

'Tis a joy, I assure you... :)

--

In the part of the country I come from, 50 years ago, site-built was
pretty rare. No big boxes or continuous-edge back then- the local
Formica guy came buy with the set of blueprints builder had provided
him, to verify all the walls were where they were supposed to be, and
double checked the measurements. Actual counters were still
shop-fabricated, for pickup and installation by builder. In a small
town, like ours was, it helped if Formica guy knew and trusted your
builder and his finish carpentry crew. The guys my old man had built
nice square kitchens and bathrooms, so the counters were easy to make.
Counters went in almost last, so none of the trades would have a chance
to drop anything on them and chip an edge.

Only site-built counters I ever saw as a wee lad were a little older
than that, and had that nifty metal edging and backsplash joint. If it
had glued edging, it was shop-built. IIRC, Formica, et al, were thicker
and fussier and more expensive, back then- you had to know what you were
doing to cut and edge them, and get a good glue-down and crisp joints.

Oh, yeah- back then, the counter shop put a plywood rail to double up
the edge, and counters were screwed from below via the pre-drilled
triangular blocks in the top corners of each Real Wood carcass. Cabinets
and counter substrates were so stiff back then, you only needed a few
screws. (not to mention sinks were still heavy.) Construction adhesive
didn't come in caulking tubes back then, at least that I ever saw.

--
aem sends...

How were Kitchen Counter Tops Attached?
 

On Jul 10, 10:23*am, Josh wrote:
I've signed a contract with Home Depot for them to install a new
Quartz countertop to replace the nearly 50-year old formica one I now
have. *I think the sales lady at HD told me if I removed the old sink
& countertop myself I wouldn't have to pay an extra removal/disposal
charge

I hope you're not suggesting putting Quartz ($$$) on 50 year old
cabinets. Are you suuuure you wanna do that? I don't see many 50
year old cabinets in great shape, either functionally or aesthetically
speaking.

How were Kitchen Counter Tops Attached?
 

On Jul 13, 3:17*pm, mike wrote:
On Jul 10, 10:23*am, Josh wrote:

I've signed a contract with Home Depot for them to install a new
Quartz countertop to replace the nearly 50-year old formica one I now
have. *I think the sales lady at HD told me if I removed the old sink
& countertop myself I wouldn't have to pay an extra removal/disposal
charge

I hope you're not suggesting putting Quartz ($$$) on 50 year old
cabinets. * Are you suuuure you wanna do that? *I don't see many 50
year old cabinets in great shape, either functionally or aesthetically
speaking.

My 54 YO *stick-builts* are worthy of a Quartz top, as long as I add
new doors too.

There's nothing like the uninterrupted space of stick-builts that have
no partitions within. e.g. Four doors wide on the outside, one big box
on the inside. It's amazing how much more room you have when you don't
have to fit round objects into small rectangular boxes.