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    • #13892
      Judy
      Guest

      My husband and I are renovating our kitchen. We’re to the point that we’re about to start installing the lower cabinets. After that, it will be the counters. We have heard that it is difficult to install counter tops as do-it-yourselfers because you need a special blade or type of saw. The estimate we got for counters alone was $600 (not including installation) and we’ve seen them in home stores for low prices so we’re wondering what’s really involved in cutting them. You can buy them already mitre cut which would make it a lot easier. Has anyone done this or do you know what’s involved to do it right?

    • #81841
      Henry in MI
      Guest

      Hi, Judy. The problem is that laminate ends to chip during the cutting and sometimes scratch. The scratching is easily handled with a few strips of masking tape on the tool or the part but the chipping is another matter. Bonded laminate can be cut pretty easily with the right saw blade and a router is even better. Really, the best way is to build all the substrate to exact size, then apply the laminate and trim it with a router. Next best, and not nearly as good is to apply the laminate and trim to exact size with a portable handsaw with a special carbide blade with about 6o teeth. Be sure to solidly mount/clamp a straight edge to guide the saw for this. If you need to lightly trim the back edge, you can scribe and use a belt sander, but a backsplash will hide a little mismatch with the wall.

      The pre-laminated material is OK if you can get it in a size and pattern that fits your needs. The problem is that most people usually need some custom sizes or want to take advantage of the many colors and patterns that are available in laminate. Custom work always costs more than using off-the-shelf items.

      Hope this helps.
      Henry in MI

    • #96362
      Blake
      Guest

      I am redoing the walls in my kitchen and have formica glued to wall between my counter tops and below my cabinets. I would like to remove the formica and paint the wall. After removing the formica,what is the best way to remove the adhesive from the wall.

    • #247675
      Sheila Martin
      Guest

      How can I renovate my formica countertop

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