My wife has expressed a desire to replace our gas cooktop with a full-on range. She’s pretty good about putting up with me, and this would be a good way to make her think there is a benefit to keeping me around, so I’d like to do this. Should be easy, right?
Right now we have a cooktop that drops into a cutout in the formica countertop. This sits over a 30″ base cabinet. Just pull out the 30″ cabinet and roll in a 30″ range. My question is: how do I remove just the section of countertop that sits over the cabinet I want to remove without making a complete mess of everything? We plan to replace the formica countertop with something else, but that project is down the road a bit.
I can see running the 7-1/4″ circular saw right across the formica (or maybe a router, get a cleaner cut without the upcut from a saw blade) but in either case I’m going to hit the base of the tool against the wall at the back of the countertop. How do I cleanly finish the last 3″ or so of the cut right up to the wall? The wall at the back of the countertop is tiled from the counter surface up to the upper cabinets to create a backsplash. Any hints on separating the formica from the bottom row of tiles without making a mess would also be welcome.
Thanks much for your assistance.
Replies
Hubert,
I would post this over at Breaktime--it's the forum for Fine Homebuilding, and has lots of experts on this kind of thing.
This forum is used more for design and decorating decisions, so it might take a while to get an answer here.
Leigh
I thought something looked different. Thanks, I'll do that.
I am a kitchen remodeler/cabinetmaker/designer and I've had to do this job more than once. To keep the formica edge clean, use a straightedge and sharp blades in a utility knife. Patiently, make multiple light passes tocut thru the laminate layer. Once you do that you can lift the section with lacquer thinner at the outside edge and a thin wide putty knife to seperate. Next is a reciprocating saw (tiger saw, sawzall), a steady hand and you can cut as close to the final edge as you dare. Finish off with a belt sander and/or file.
thanks for that suggestion. I would not have thought that you could cut through laminate with a utility blade, but I have plenty of them. I've got some scrap formica, I'll make a test board and try it out.
there are down cutting blades available for jigsaws also that will avoid chipping, but it takes a strong hand to control one.
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Hi, yes, there are down cutting blades, but how do you deal with the last 1 1/2" or so? I've got a GREAT little pnuematic reciprocating saw that is down scaled for those tough tight situations. Not every home owner or even the handy neighbor has one of these. Sometimes, it's about getting basic simple instructions on the low tech methods that can help.