Installing Pre-Formed Laminate Counter Tops: The Pitfalls

The installation of pre-formed laminate kitchen counters can be both simple and difficult. If you are working with a particular piece, the type with the backsplash already attached to the counter top, and the piece is right and does not need to be forced between two walls, the task is commonly fairly easy. If the counter has to be assembled, on the other hand, or must be fit into a tight or an awkward space, the situation can be challenging, and even frustrating.

The first step is to use a framing quadrate to check how right the walls are. If the walls are not straight, the laminate counter material will not fit into the space the way you hoped it would. The first time we installed a laminate counter top, the mitered end had a 3/8" gap when pushed against the wall, which was going to need quite a bit of work. Poor fits like this are often caused by poor framing, which can cause bulges in the surface walls, or by the natural warping and twisting of lumber over time.

Carpentry Framing

Finish carpentry can involve many extra techniques that work colse to common situations such as this, or when seemingly quadrate rooms are not, or when floors are not level. Nothing ever works quite the way it was improbable to, and thusly, expecting to fit 100" of cabinetry into 100" of blue-print space is like expecting pigs to fly, or hell to ice over.

In the case of our ill-fitted pre-formed laminate counter top, the best thing to do is to use a power sander, in order to take off some of the backsplash to make the counter fit flush against the wall. Someone else choice is to cut away the bowing drywall, but both options appear in the same way; as a narrow spot along the backsplash, which is only commonly about 1" thick.

If your pre-formed laminate counter top material is going in the kitchen, you will more than likely have to cut yourself a sink hole, which involves marking the town of the piece with masking tape, checking the front-to-back position, and finally, cutting. If the hole is too far forward, sink installation will be interfered with. On the other hand, if the hole is too far back, the backsplash and the edge of the sink will interfere. It is leading to check and double check all measurements and markings before cutting, as once you have made a mistake, the whole sheet of laminate is wasted.

Installing Pre-Formed Laminate Counter Tops: The Pitfalls

The installation of pre-formed laminate kitchen counters can be both simple and difficult. If you are working with a particular piece, the type with the backsplash already attached to the counter top, and the piece is right and does not need to be forced between two walls, the task is commonly fairly easy. If the counter has to be assembled, on the other hand, or must be fit into a tight or an awkward space, the situation can be challenging, and even frustrating.

The first step is to use a framing quadrate to check how right the walls are. If the walls are not straight, the laminate counter material will not fit into the space the way you hoped it would. The first time we installed a laminate counter top, the mitered end had a 3/8" gap when pushed against the wall, which was going to need quite a bit of work. Poor fits like this are often caused by poor framing, which can cause bulges in the surface walls, or by the natural warping and twisting of lumber over time.

Carpentry Framing

Finish carpentry can involve many extra techniques that work colse to common situations such as this, or when seemingly quadrate rooms are not, or when floors are not level. Nothing ever works quite the way it was improbable to, and thusly, expecting to fit 100" of cabinetry into 100" of blue-print space is like expecting pigs to fly, or hell to ice over.

In the case of our ill-fitted pre-formed laminate counter top, the best thing to do is to use a power sander, in order to take off some of the backsplash to make the counter fit flush against the wall. Someone else choice is to cut away the bowing drywall, but both options appear in the same way; as a narrow spot along the backsplash, which is only commonly about 1" thick.

If your pre-formed laminate counter top material is going in the kitchen, you will more than likely have to cut yourself a sink hole, which involves marking the town of the piece with masking tape, checking the front-to-back position, and finally, cutting. If the hole is too far forward, sink installation will be interfered with. On the other hand, if the hole is too far back, the backsplash and the edge of the sink will interfere. It is leading to check and double check all measurements and markings before cutting, as once you have made a mistake, the whole sheet of laminate is wasted.

Installing Pre-Formed Laminate Counter Tops: The Pitfalls