How can I repair our new kitchen laminate worktop?

This is for anyone who experiences a worktop that gets swollen from moisture. If it's at the edge.... Get two flat pieces of wood & clamp them over the swell. Leave it for hours over night works best. The wood will be compressed when you remove the clamp & wood. Repeat till fully flattened

Chi pixy
February 2016

Just thought I would post this as a tip for anyone who has this problem with a laminated plastic worktop that is flush joined with no metal strip between.

Typically what happens is that when the worktop is joined at a corner, no sealant is used, or perhaps the wrong sealant or not enough sealant is used.
Then in the course of time, water seeps into the joint and suddenly you have a nice big raised bubble at the joint line which gets worse and worse because it lets in more and more water. I searched for a solution online but everyone said the same thing - only solution is to replace the entire worktop.

I decided to try my own remedy and I'm very happy with the results.
First you need some epoxy. I had some West systems epoxy left over from a boat project, but a few tubes of araldite precision (slow setting) would do the job as well. Then you need some way of colour matching the epoxy. In my case my worktop was black, so I got some artists black chalk pastels and ground em up into powder (inside a freezer bag) and mixed it with the epoxy.

Next you need a router with a straight cutting bit. Clamp some kind of straight edge to the worktop and cut out a rectangle with rounded corners to remove the offending area until you are sure you have cut back to "flat" worktop.
Set the router bit depth to about 6mm or so.

Then get a bit of old matching worktop (lets hope you kept some offcuts somewhere), hold it in a vice and with a handsaw, cut sideways into it so that you have cut a 5mm slice of worktop. If you like you can easily make a paper template by putting the paper over the hole and gently rubbing the edges to create a slight crease in the paper. Then just masking tape it to your new piece and cut it to shape. I used a scrollsaw, but you could use a handsaw if you're careful and you put masking tape on the laminate to prevent chipping. Then the fit can be fine tuned with some sandpaper and a sanding block.

Then when you are sure that it fits perfectly, mix up your epoxy and add some of your artists chalk to colour it. Then butter the sides and bottom of the hole with the epoxy, as well as the sides and bottom of the new piece. Push it into place and push it down to make sure it is perfectly flush with the worktop. You may have to put more or less epoxy under there to get it at the right height.

Then clean up any epoxy "squeeze-out" with methanol and a clean cloth. You can get methanol in paint shops, its usually purple in colour and must be used as thinners for something....it says "contains methanol" on the label. Wear gloves as you're doing all this...black epoxy is messy.

Anyhow, it worked for me and the repair is almost invisible.

boatbuilder
February 2010

Agreed, this can be repaired by cutting away damaged area and rebuilding.

www.bathfix.co.uk

Darren
December 2009

MY18 MONTH OLD LAMINTE BLACK GLOSSY WORKTOP HAS STARTED TO BULGE 3 INCHES FROM THE ROLL EDGE .IT IS APPROX 2-3 INCHES LONG AND GETTING WORSE.CAN YOU PLEASE ASSIST WITH HELP

TERRY LEWIS
October 2008

yes there are ways to repar this. depending on your artistic skills.
But the easy way to approach this is with that big blister you mention. is to cut it out just outside the circumfrence of the area of the blister with a sharp stanely knife. and remove the damage part completly. back to the healthy part of the stuck down bit of the laminate.
Next fill it with a two pack filler simalar to P. 38 from halfords. this will do nicely. MIX IT TOGEATHER IN A SMALL QUANTIY LET DRY FOR TEN MINS.FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS ON THE CAN..
Then sand it within the area of repair and not outside THIS WILL REQUIRE SOME ELBOW WORK. BUT TO AVOID ALOT OF HARD WORK DONOT BUILD THE FILLER TO HIGH ABOVE THE LAMINATE AREA USE THE SPREADER THAT COMES WITH THE P.38 TO SPREAD CAREFULL IN A COUPLE OF DRAGS ACROSS THE SURFACE LIKE BUTTER. BUT BE CAREFUL NOT TO SPREAD IT ALL OVER THE KICTHEN WORK TOP. REPAIR ONLY THE HOLE IF YOU CAN .then sand the area with different grades of sand paper. from rough to the smooth paper. UNTIL SMOOTH..
Then get the nearest colour to the overall dominate colour in the laminate. in a car spray format. mat or gloss or satin depending on your finish..
Then get a peice of card board cut a hole in it a bit bigger then the size of the damage.
make sure the cardboard is alot bigger then the hole you have cut to allow for holding with your hands in place.
Next shake the can for a minute. hold the cardboard a few inches away from the damaged area and spray through the cardboard hole a few inches from the surface of the cardboard it- self in very light coats maybe for light coats. let each coat dry for five minutes. in between..
This you will find will acheive a colour repair without a hard edge of paint. and create a fade out.. and not a hard edge like masking tape.. practice run first on paper would be wise before the actual real job..
on the real job let that dry for a hour. when sprayed and finished.
Then buy some cheap acylics tube paints from the pound shop. it must say acylic on the tubes or box. dont want water colours to washey and not for this job.
acylics are water based paints that can be mixed with water but can be used in a thicker consistence if desired.or other- wise also.
Then with a peice of sponge gently emerse the sponge in the paint and gently texture it do this with a gentle stabbing motion.. leave the lightest colours to the last.
Remember light over dark regarding this method with colours. were you can add the detail with a small pointed artist brush. or depending on the pattern if there is some...Then use your own imagination. the above ideas are not law.. they are simply as a guide. for effects acheived, you may find a different tool to stimulate texture and overall effect..
let dry and finish with a light coating of satin clear lacquer or mat or gloss from a good diy store or car shop again.
the smaller blisters sometimes can be ironed out with a thin towl and warm pressure from the iron that sometimes reinstates the glue to life again thus the pressure from the iron will stick it down again.
if this does not work do the above....
but most of all be paitent it will work if you apply the rules..and hopefully save you a new work top and broken tiles to boot ect. GIVE IT A GO

chris may
July 2008

Hi i am a repair specialist please contact me for further information jasenj_no1@yahoo.co.uk i repair worktops, upvc, laminates all ceramics and much more, thanks I'll prove you wrong haha

Jasen
June 2008

Gonna be a difficult one this - the fact that the laminate has bubbled means that water has got in and the chipboard beneath has swollen up - this shouldn't happen in the first place if the thing was correctly sealed. I don't think any repair would be very satisfactory here, unfortunately but I'd love to be proved wrong!

John
December 2007