Q. I lit a candle that melted through the aluminum foil I placed under it, burning a 1/4-inch hole in the Formica countertop. It goes to the undersurface and the edges are frayed or rough. The color of the countertop is a light gray to white pattern. Is it repairable?
Tony Prava, Chicago
A. There are several options with Formica, said Daryl Michaels of Chicago’s Interior Design Concepts Inc. You can try to touch up the hole if it’s small enough. You can replace the entire counter. You can glue a whole new sheet of laminate over the existing laminate. Or you can cut out part of the laminate around the hole and install a cutting board on the counter, he said.
The first option is the least expensive. You’ll need to buy a colorseam fill, which comes in a tube and is used for Formica. It is like a patching or caulking material. Just sand lightly, fill in with the matching color fill and sand it smooth. If this burn is in a high-wear area of the counter, this is not likely to last long, Michaels said.
If you choose to laminate over the existing counter, simply rough up the surface, apply glue and lay the laminate. Just remember that the contact cement that is used for laminate is “very unforgiving,” Michaels said. “Once you touch it down, that’s the end of it.”
An experienced contractor may be worth the cost if this is the option you choose, he said.
Laminate is inexpensive–you can buy a whole replacement counter for about $70. Or a creative solution to covering up a burn is to drop in a cutting board or tile in the area, Michaels suggested.
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Several weeks ago, this column discussed ways to add a ventilating section to a door. A contractor said it was not a good idea to try that with a hollow core door, but reader Douglas Ploss of Antioch wrote to say he has added vents or louvers a hollow core door “with no problem.”
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Ploss said he creates ventilated doors because solid-faced doors create an air cushion as they are closed and those that are hollow core have a penchant to blow open from that air cushion.
To transform a solid-faced door into a ventilated one, Ploss said he buys an 18-inch wide upper and lower louvered door, which costs $24 at his local home improvement store. The door is 1 1/8-inch thick. He cuts it into two pieces. Each will be used in the upper or lower part of a solid-faced door. He starts by tracing the outline of one piece on a door. Then he cuts an opening, using a saber saw. He said you can also drill a hole in one corner of the outline and use a pointed hand saw.
If the door has a hollow core, you’ll need to clear out the paper honeycomb with a knife or chisel. Then glue a filler material, such as a 3/4-inch board, into the space. Set the louvered insert into the opening and glue using a wood glue or panel adhesive. Four pieces of 1-inch molding can be nailed onto the edge of the opening. Do the same to the other side of the door.
Sand, stain and varnish.
Have a question about home repair or maintenance? Write to Home Remedies, Your Place, baiduhai, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago IL 60611, or e-mail [email protected]. Be sure to include your name, address and daytime phone number. Questions of general interest will be answered in future columns. Unpublished letters cannot be answered individually.