How to repair lifting laminate benchtop?

[AnnaH1]

Hi there,

I've had a bit of a disaster with my laundry benchtop! 

The house is on the market, and unfortunately this has just happened overnight!  I guess water must have been sitting on edge unnoticed.  

Is there anyway to salvage this situation without having to replace the benchtop?

Thanks!

[JacobZ]

Hi @AnnaH1,

While there is certainly some expansion there, it is not massive, so I'd say we can take some steps to reduce it and make it less noticeable.

I'd suggest you start by using a utility knife to scrape out the openings to remove some of the expanded chipboard and free up some space. Make sure you wear some gloves and long protective clothing while doing this to reduce the risk of lacerations.

I'd then suggest applying some lightly watered-down PVA glue inside the gap on the exposed chipboard core, then using some clamps and two blocks of timber, clamp it tight while the glue dries. Make sure you wipe away any excess glue that squeezes out while it is still wet. This should compress the chipboard to remove some of the expansion, as well as glue the coating back in place. 

It is not a perfect solution, but it should certainly make it less noticeable.

Let me know what you think.

Jacob

[AnnaH1]

Thanks Jacob, sounds good!

[AnnaH1]

Hi Jacob,

I’ve got to this stage with your advice and the PVA glue, but now I’m wondering how I can minimise the appearance of the dark line where it joins… is there a glue that dries white rather than clear, or any other suggestions? 
Thanks, Anna

 

[JacobZ]

Hi @AnnaH1,

Unfortunately, I am not aware of a glue that would dry white in this situation.

Before applying the glue, did you scrape out much material?

I had hoped that by scraping out the material, you would be able to get the coating to sit flush without a gap. If you could scrape out some more material and then reapply the glue, you might be able to get the gap to close up a bit better.

Failing this, you could always just apply some white paint to the gap using a craft brush to help conceal it a bit better.

Let me know what you think.

Jacob