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I want to repair and properly seal the back of my worktop laminate/melamine because I observed that there where some minor swelling on its backside due to water coming from the kitchen sink or from when I clean it.

worktop-laminate-backside-water-damanage

Note that I am not sure if the worktop is melamine or laminate, I was not able to find enough info online on how to distinguish them.

What is the best action I can do to protect it and maximize its life? Based on how it looks I doubt that the sanitary silicone sealer would be of any help as it is close to the edge and it will likely not stick well as it would be to thin.

Should I try to sand it a little bit being careful not to sand the corner? What grits? What would be the optimal thing to put on top after that?

Update

Photo is taken from below. The shiny part is the countertop side trim, which is standard heat based adhesive attached (seems to not be affected).

The brow part is the back of the laminate and it seems to be carton and not laminated on back, so it make much easier for the water drops to get into. Ideally it should be flushed at the same level as the side trim but out of ~4m of total length only in few places it seems to be like this. The other seems to be about 1-2mm raised and the photo depict the worst area, the one near the sink.

If I use my finger I can start to chip it off. I moved the dehumidifier inside and configured it to reach 30% and seems to extract ~10-12 litters/day.

My plan is to sand a little bit on the bottom so I would not accidentally chip it while cleaning and also to ensure that whatever sealant I would apply it will still well. The good part is that the water damage is likely not deep. I know how water damaged MDF looks and that one is far from that.

Based on current feedback, I suspect that these should be the steps:

  1. Sand carefully just to level with the trim and expose the fiber so the will dry easier (not wet but years of humidity I bet they do have more than optimal humidity in).
  2. Wait 1-2 days with dehumidifier at max to remove extra humidity
  3. Paint some polyurethane sealant (not the cartridge type as that seems less liquid and hard to pain on back of the counter). Maybe amazon.uk as usual toolstation/scrwfix do only seem to have it in cartridge form, which is great for silicone but less for this, I think.
  4. Pray and find other more rewarding DIY fixes to implement
sorin
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1 Answers1

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What you are thinking is thin cardboard is the contact glue used to glue the laminate to the countertop.

These counters are plastic laminate glued over MDF. The exposed edges are the spots that absorb water and start to come apart because of the use of water soluble glue. The wood also expands and this is where the issues start.

Using silicone on the edges will help. I have also rubbed edges with beeswax. Anything you do can help but is no guarantee a problem will not arise. also be sure the edge of the sink is sealed well, to prevent water seeping between the sink and the counter.

RMDman
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