# Laminating HPL with water base contact cement



## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

I put together a very basic vanity counter top the other day and tried a few new different tricks which seemed to work quite well so I thought I would share them. I've been making counter tops for about 40 years as needed and when I started there was only solvent based contact cement which worked not perfectly, but reasonably well and with fair reliability. Then I tried water based when it came along, the green LePage's stuff and it worked beautifully the first time I tried it. The last time I tried it it was a dismal failure, so bad that I was able to peel the laminate back up without breaking it and reusing it after I cleaned the failed water based off.

I don't know why it failed so badly as I followed the directions implicitly. One of the issues every time I tried it was that I needed to put on more than one coat which is a problem when you brush it on. Some of the first coat tends to ball up when you brush over it with additional coats and I didn't want to risk ruining a spray gun which might have solved that problem.

When I went to laminate the top on my vanity I found a can of LePage's water based in my shop (don't remember how it got there) but this stuff is white instead of green so they may have changed the formula. Instructions were similar. If it doesn't dry glossy then you need another coat. 

So this time I started by giving all the surfaces a seal coat of wood glue. I diluted the glue with a little water to get it to the consistency of average latex paint. I made sure the edges (MDF) got a heavy coat. This left all the surfaces a little glossy looking to start with. When it came time to spread the contact cement I just poured it on and used a brush to spread it. There was very little time for brushing before the rubber in it would start to ball up so you have to be quick. Some areas were quite wet while others looked a little dry. Any areas that looked like they didn't get covered well enough I poured more contact cement close to and used the brush to take that and dab it onto the dry looking areas without any brush strokes. Dabbing avoided rolling up balls of the rubber in the cement. 

This method worked near perfectly. The only issue I had was with one of the first pieces, the face of a splash board, before I started dabbing more cement onto the dry looking areas. After I did that there were no more issues. The can of cement said that you can use a rubber mallet to stick the HPL down instead of rolling it. I tried that and that worked well too so if you have arthritic hands like I do you may find that easier. If you've had poor results using the latex based contact cement before there may be hope yet.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

The newest versions of non-flammable contact cement are Neoprene rather than latex.
https://www.windsorplywood.com/product/titebond-neoprene-plus-contact-cement/


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

Chuck,and Dan, that is good to know,I have never heard of the white. Just the green. And I have had good luck with the green except a few times it did like Chuck said and I attributed it to not stirring up the can or letting it get completely dry, and being my fault.
I am glad you posted that. I have not seen Lepages either, I think I was using Dap or Weldwood.

Herb


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## jj777746 (Jan 17, 2015)

I have a small can of the green contact & a tube or two of the white but have no faith in the white stuff. Had varying success with white but the green works 100% every time,simple as that. James.


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## hawkeye10 (Jul 28, 2015)

I thought Lepages only made glue for grammer school kids. I have seen the white but not the green, but I haven't been looking for it either. :smile:


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

LePage's makes a wide variety of adhesives and caulks: Subfloor Adhesive | LePage® PL® 400


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

More info...it's raining...still, and I'm procrastinating.

https://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/207939O/3mtm-neoprene-contact-adhesive-10.pdf
The price on this next one is obscene! I'd be checking that one out at retail outlets...
https://www.amazon.ca/25336-Weldwoo...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=5Y97RPNRXR3H43D1MBRS
http://www.franklinadhesivesandpolymers.com/Home/press-room/Multibond_Contact_Cement.aspx

https://www.bestconsumerreviews.com/contact-cement-reviews/


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

It stopped snowing here but I'm not sure for how long. Three days ago it rained almost all day.

The expensive one says a gallon but shows a quart can. The Franklin's water based is neoprene. Maybe LePage's is too. I don't think it says on the can but it's a small can with very small writing. The solvent based one says to recoat if it doesn't look shiny enough too and that has always been a problem. Unless you are really fast the first coat doesn't always go on that well, more coats even more trouble. The coat of glue seems to eliminate the second coat problem. One coat of the cement was enough provided it went on heavy.

I'm curious if anyone has tried spraying the water based on and what it did to the spray gun because water doesn't completely clean a brush. I cleaned out the water carrier but I still had to wire brush bits of rubber out of the brush bristles so that I could reuse it for successive strips on the splash boards and the banding for the top.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

It's available in a sprayable formulation, but who needs a 5gallon container, other than a cabinet or countertop shop(?)...


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

Snowing again. Getting old. At least you don't have to shovel rain.

I haven't used 5 gallons on all the tops I've ever built I don't think. The water based goes a lot farther than the solvent based does. This top was only 40" long and I used maybe 1/2 of the smallest can you can buy.


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

Dap has Spray cans.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/DAP-Weldwood-16-oz-Contact-Cement-Spray-00122/205468802

Weldwood Contact Cement Spray Adhesive - DAP

Here is Industrial Spray 90,

https://www.homedepot.com/p/3M-17-6-oz-High-Strength-90-Spray-Adhesive-90-24/100151277

I think I would use spraycans, less work on clean up.
Herb


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

I keep saying I'm going to try the spray cans Herb. Maybe next time. I see the Dap one got a terrible review and I've had mediocre to poor experience using the solvent based Dap too so it's on my do not buy list.


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## Jontaylor (Jul 12, 2019)

This method worked near perfectly.


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