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How to Install Plastic laminate on Cabinets

February 2nd, 2010 Leave a comment Go to comments

There are two options as to how one can install Formica brand plastic laminate on kitchen or bathroom vanity cabinets. Are you interested in re-surfacing existing cupboards or are you building new ones? This article will teach you how to apply the material onto a new cabinet that you have built or purchased.

You are going to need a few tools for the project. Use the list below as a reference guide for the plastic lamination tools that will be required in order for you to do the job properly.

Tools need for installing plastic laminate on cabinets:

1) Glue gun, paint roller or paint brush
2) Belt sander
3) Plastic laminate roller
4) Laminate file
5) Router with flush trim bit
6) Formica cabinet laminate roller
7) Lacquer thinner and rags
8) Table saw or straight edge for cutting the laminate

Applying plastic laminate on cabinets

These steps that I am about to give you for applying plastic mica to your kitchen, office, bathroom-vanity, or storage cabinetry can be repeated throughout your entire lamination process.

1) Cut the plastic laminate for the cabinets over sized. I like to use a one inch increment as a standard measurement for adding extra to the sides tops or bottoms. When I am figuring the edges, I generally only add a half inch.

2) Sand the surface that you are going to install the cabinet laminate on.

3) Wipe off both the cabinet and the plastic laminate to ensure that there are no chips or dust particles that will interfere with the final product’s appearance. If chips get covered over, they will leave a hump underneath the cabinet’s plastic laminate covering.

4) Glue the laminate and the cabinet side, top, bottom or edge. Allow the glue to cure the recommended time from the manufacture of the adhesive.

5) How you install the plastic laminate onto the board at this point will depend upon the size of the laminate piece that you are installing. If it is small, you can gauge the distance of the overlap by viewing the work area as you stick the Formica to the cabinet. If you are working with a large piece such as twenty four and a half inches wide and thirty one inches tall, you want to lay several dowel rods onto the cabinet surface and lay the laminate on top of the sticks. This will create a barrier so that you can get the Formica positioned correctly just prior to sticking the plastic laminate.

6) Stick the laminate. If you are using the dowel rods as a barrier, remove the one from the center first. Once all of the dowel rods have been removed, roll the plastic laminate with the roller.

7) Route the laminate off. When you are running the router bit against a finished surface (previously laminated with new plastic) always use some sort of lubricant to protect the new mica from getting damaged by the heat friction of the turning router bit. This material can be Gulf Wax, petroleum jelly, or any type of slippery substance.

8) File off any overhanging laminate on the cabinet part.

9) When all of the new plastic laminate has been installed on the cabinets, clean the surfaces with the lacquer thinner.

How you apply the glue is going to affect how well the final bond turns out. The adhesive must be applied in the correct amount. This means that it cannot be put on really thick or too thin. In order to install Formica plastic properly on cabinets this is one of the most important keys to doing a successful install of the cabinet laminate.

Categories: Cabinet Resurfacing
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