Formica Restoration

April 15th, 2009 Leave a comment Go to comments

If you’re planning to do a Formica restoration project, on your cabinets or counters, your best option is to do an overlay on top of the existing plastic laminate. A good starting place for getting educated about what all is involved in the process would be to review our section titled, Cabinet Refacing/Resurfacing Countertops.  Covering existing plastic laminate countertops with new mica is a popular way to update your kitchen or vanities without spending a ton of money. Every situation will present a different approach by the cabinet recovering specialist when he or she is assembling the estimate. It is not likely that you will be able to get an over the phone quote if you’re seeking a lineal foot price or cost per square foot.

Formica Overlay Estimates

Cabinet specialists generally need to see the area where the Formica restoration will occur. The calculations of the overlay estimates can be effected by several things. Here is a list of possible things that will affect the cost of the plastic laminate restoration.

  1. If your countertop has several seams this will affect the cost of the resurfacing estimate.
  2. The size of your counters if they are angled or L-shaped has an effect on the price. Oftentimes, in order to put Formica on top of  Formica correctly, the professional will need to order a five foot by twelve foot piece of plastic laminate. If your counter is four and a half feet wide by six feet long the company that you hire will need to purchase a 5′ x 12′ piece of mica. This means that there is a lot of material that gets paid for but never used.
  3. Water damaged areas around sinks and dishwashers are repairable when you are getting your old Formica recovered with new. The extent of the water damage and the techniques that will need to be implemented to fix the damaged areas will affect the estimate.
  4. What floor of the house is the area that the new Formica will cover the old on? In other words, how accessible is the work area. Where is the location of the space within the house?
  5. Is there furniture that will need to be covered with protective clothes? Does the area where the plastic laminate recovering will occur have tile, terrazzo, carpet, vinyl, laminate or wood flooring?
  6. Will there need to be any plastic put up to seal off the work area so that the dust and odors do not spread into other areas of the house?

All of the above can affect the cost of having new Formica placed on top of old Formica.

Formica on top of Formica what you should know

When you are having Formica placed on top of existing Formica you should understand that this will be a stinky, dusty mess of a job. There is no way around it and absolutely no way to avoid it. So with that being said, plan on eating out if you’re having a large areas recovered.

In conclusion, there are not many ways of accomplishing Formica restoration. Many people have tried to put wax on counters and cabinetry to restore the finish of the plastic laminate, but this really is not an effective way to restore them. If you’re trying to fill chips or nicks with seam filler or colored caulking this will never yield an acceptable result. Really the most effective way is to overlay old Formica with new. The cost will be cheaper than if you replaced your existing cabinets or counters with new ones. If the project is done properly when the laminate is placed on top of the old the new plastic should last another ten years or more before it will need to be restored again. Read this article about important things to know about resurfacing cabinets to get better educated about this Formica restoration process.

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