LESLIE: Kim in North Carolina has a countertop that is just not standing up to the test of time. Tell us about the problem.
KIM: About five or six years ago, we put in another countertop and it’s – the countertop is in two pieces. Where the two pieces of countertop butt together, some water seeped down in.
LESLIE: Kim, this is one of those laminated sort of countertops that you buy – the ready-made pieces at the home center, right?
KIM: Yes.
LESLIE: OK.
KIM: Some water got down in on the one side and it’s formed a little bubble.
TOM: Here’s what you’re going to want to use. Laminate is adhered with a contact cement …
KIM: Uh-huh.
TOM: … and there is a contact cement release agent that’s sort of like a contact cement remover.
KIM: OK.
TOM: What you’re going to want to do is peel up gently the edge of that laminate and, probably with something that’s like a syringe or a turkey baster or something like that, where you can work some of this into that space, very slowly but surely saturate that to be able to peel back the laminate until you get to the place where the air bubble is.
Once you get to that spot, then what I want you to do is to let it dry. Then, you’re going to apply new contact cement, a couple of coats to the bottom and the top of that piece and then, after that gets tacky – and you may have to stick like a little wood block in there or something to hold it apart – after it gets tacky, you can re-adhere it and then press that down. You’re going to essentially roll that down. You can use a rolling pin; you can use a towel. You want to press it in place really, really well and that will fix it.
So, in order to repair the gap and the bubble, you have to take it apart first and then press it back together again.
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