Refinishing Formica Countertops-Tips for Formica countertop Refinishing-How to Effectivelly Refinish Your Countertop
Formica countertops are common and affordable, but they can be hard to install. If you already have a laminate countertop, but you are tired of it or it does not match the furniture anymore, then refinishing your Formica countertop is a good option.
You can save a lot of money, because you do not have to tear out the countertop and install a new one. You just repaint the old Formica countertop and it will look like new, plus it will still fit perfectly on the counter.
The correct way to refinish your Formica countertop goes like this. First of all, you should take your time to clean your countertop as much as possible. Use water and detergent to achieve maximum cleanliness. After that remove any possible oil or grease stains with denatured alcohol.
When you are finished with cleaning, you should get the 120 grit sandpaper and use it to sand the whole surface. Make sure you sand off all of the paint and keep a flat surface. Be careful not to make holes in the countertop.
If you still manage to damage the countertop or if it was damaged before and repair is needed, now would be the best time to do this. Use a wood filler to fill any holes or damaged areas in the countertop and then also sand over these areas, to create an even surface all over the countertop. After you have done sanding wipe it again with denatured alcohol, to get rid of the dust.
Before you start with applying the primer and the colors, you should protect the areas you do not want to paint with masking tape. When you have done this paint the Formica countertop with one coat of primer. The primer will cover the previous color and allow new color to stick better.
After the primer is dried up completely, you can start applying the paint. Apply 2 -3 thin coats of paint, which will stick and look much better, than just one thick coat. The paint should be oil-based and you should apply it evenly across the countertop surface. Oil-based paint is better, because you can sand chipped and nicked surface if it occurs. It will then be easier to refinish the color if it is necessary. Also do not touch the refinished countertops before the paint dries.
If you followed the procedure described in this article you probably have good looking and refinished Formica countertops.