Literally over night the front of our kitchen work top has blown, how would you best repair it, I was going to glue and clamp it (hoping it will go back flat!) but I’m not sure this will provide a good enough seal to stop it happening again, maybe araldite or something similar?

Thanks

Possibly water or moisture ingress,new worktop time

I’m afraid nothing’s going to fix that permanently. Sorry, new workrooms time.

I want to try a repair first, it’s only 3 1/2 yrs old, was far from cheap and as it’s thicker than normal it’s going be a pain to replace and not mess with the tiling etc.

Gubbed, replace.

chipboard worktops are made from CHIPS OF DRY WOOD,stuck together with glue under high presue, many tons,when moisture or any liquid gets under the laminate, they de glue, and swell.

so like we have all said knackered.

Ouch!

You can see what looks like a split where the chip board is breaking apart. I guess water has got in and it’s expanded.

Replace with solid wood, will last decades and you can just re-sand it if it gets damaged.

Fixing a swollen worktop is very much like making love to a beautiful woman.

You squeeze the particles together,
apply a heatgun,
and then when it’s all hot, steamy and sweaty:
empty sticky glue all over the surface.

[No, that’s total BS, but totally worth it 😆 ]

I want to try a repair first, it’s only 3 1/2 yrs old, was far from cheap and as it’s thicker than normal it’s going be a pain to replace and not mess with the tiling etc.

Next time use the drainer, or isn’t there one?

Fecked !

Oh well, I better start looking for a replacement then.

Thanks all

(The drainers on the other side by the way)

I like the duct tape idea but I’m not sure the wife will be so enthusiastic!

warranty? insurance?

If you can’t afford to replace now then I would go ahead with the Araldite, forcing it into the crack/swell and leaving it bridging the crack and smoothing it off.

If it is possible to get some force onto it(which is fairly unlikely), then you may have a small degree of success with resin holding it. If not, then for now I’d just wang loads of epoxy into it, sculpt it to bridge the gap smoothly and start saving…

Kitchens – made from substrate that is highly intolerant to water. Madness.

To be fair it’s probably more down to fitting or damage when worktops blow.
The substrate is generally melamine laminated after all. It’s usually at poor joints in corners, bad sealing around sinks or where damage occurs.
Some folks have worktop for twenty odd years with no issues..

That above looks almost like a lipping join, which if it is, is much more susceptible to water ingress than a normal rollover type.

That will sand out. start with 80 grit.

If you can get a router along all the damaged length then try routing a 15mm square channel and inlaying a piece of hardwood using lots of sealant.

Holy moly, that’s not a bad idea!

If you could get screw-down versions of these then they might help to hold things together. Could also perhaps rout out a larger area of the top of the failed worktop and inset a nice wooden clopping block.

thanks all, i like the routing out idea but the work top is a grained really high gloss finish so i’ll never get a good match.

repairing as best i can then hiding it seems the best option, on the other side we have a big chopping block with a lip on the front so i’ll get another ones of those

I think he means remove the edging strip, route out the damaged chipboard underneath the melamine (ie. surface remains untouched) and replace with hardwood and then reattach the edging strip.

As above, that is a really good idea. But I am surprised the worktop has been fitted with the bare chipboard edge to the front. The edge must be sharp and will always be susceptible to water ingress, that’s why laminated worktops usually have a rolled edge to the front where the laminate gives full coverage.

If you do go for a repair, you will need a new matching edging strip anyway, so it would be worth sealing the whole front edge of the chipboard before putting the edging strip back on. It’s good practise around the holes cut for the sink, hobs and so on, for when the silicone gives up, but isn’t always done by fitters.

I would set up a mini vacuum bag with a vacuum cleaner (or a vacuum pump if you have one) and some strong plastic and duct tape (or if you have the right stuff tacky tape and composite bagging film). Then heat gently with a hair drier while under vacuum to extract all the moisture.

Then find some low viscosity epoxy and inject it into the crack and set up a clamp with some stiff bits of wood to push the top back down and wipe away the excess (use a small amount of acetone on a cloth if need be but don’t let it get into the crack).

You could vacuum bag it again but I would be worried about trying to clean up the cured resin that will escape under vacuum. This could be removed by polishing though but getting the shiny finish back would need cutting compounds.

Similar to the the idea of a wooden chopping baord. How about a bespoke worktop drainer e.g.http://worktopdrainers.co.uk/about.html. I dare say you could get something made up that has a lip on the front edge which would hook on to the front of the worktop.