I have just put formica on a counter top. It measures about 25" x 48". For some reason one edge is not holding down. I have tried putting additional contact cement under the edge and then clamping it but it just wont grab. I do not even want to think about trying to lift the entire piece up and starting over again. i would appreciate any help and/or advice you may have. Thanks;.
Taking off the old isn't that bad. Remove the top and set in on edge.Slowly pour in a bit of lacquer thinner in between the laminate and the substrate...... and peel....slowly. Kepp adding a little bit of fluid at the time. Do this away from open flame...like outside.
Then clean off both sides of the old glue joint and start over. Allow the contact adhesive to dry till tacky on both laminate and substrate. The re-adhere the two pieces.
If you are sure that you applied the proper amount of adhesive per directions, you might try using a clothes iron. Lay a paper grocery bag on the laminate and heat. It takes a great deal of heat to reactivate the adhesive, but you must be careful not to scorch the laminate.
Robatoy wrote: ...
The surfaces should actually be past "tacky" to "dry to the touch" before bonding for best results...
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When you tap your finger onto the contact cement, your finger should come back clean. If cement comes off on your finger, it is not ready. Check in several places. If you place the two surfaces together before it is ready, it will not adhere and will not cure properly.
Ayup...isn't that "dry to the touch"??? :)
Contact adhesives do not actually cure - they only dry out all the solvent present in the film.
It is possible to overdry the films before you put them together - if you do that you will get a weak bond. There is an optimum point for adhesion between the films to ensure you get the maximum grab between the two films.
A number of contact adhesives can be used to bond whilst still wet as long as one surface is porous to allow the solvent be removed from the film. It does not give instant grab, but still sticks.
Regards,
Bryan
Tacky mean a little tacky, one should be able to move your finger across the adhesive without it sticking but still offering up some resistance... feel your finger 'drag' a little. Never should the adhesive stick to your finger...that would make it 'wet'. Dry to the touch and TOO dry are indistinguishable from each other and it should never be TOO dry. How do you tell if it is TOO dry? Tacky is what the professionals, like myself, want.
r-----> who has literally laid up thousands of sheets of laminate in the last 30 years and hasn't had one lift in the last 29 years...and that is laminate on doors, shelves, bathroom partitions, elevator interiors, service counters and a thousand or so restaurant tables. The word and concept is 'tacky'. Dust should be able to stick to it, but not your finger.
*off my soap box*
It is to you and I, but may not be to the OP. I had to replace countertops for a guy that was letting the contact cement dry OVERNIGHT before putting the laminate in place. His was dry to the touch, but not tacky.
As for the other point about curing, when the solvent has evaporated, it is cured. Maybe that is the wrong terminology, but I am sticking to it.
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