I've signed a contract with Home Depot for them to install a new
Quartz countertop to replace the nearly 50-year old formica one I now
have.  I think the sales lady at HD told me if I removed the old sink
& countertop myself I wouldn't have to pay an extra removal/disposal
charge.

I have an L shaped countertop.  Was it customary in the late 50s to
simply nail the plywood top down to the cabinet, or would they have
used an adhesive.....or both?

Anyway, I would welcome suggestions as to how to get the top loose.
My guess would be upward strokes at the overhangs with a hammer,
followed by a pry bar.  But if anyone has a better idea, please share.

Josh <j...@fastmail.fm> wrote:
> I've signed a contract with Home Depot for them to install a new
> Quartz countertop to replace the nearly 50-year old formica one I now
> have.  I think the sales lady at HD told me if I removed the old sink
> & countertop myself I wouldn't have to pay an extra removal/disposal
> charge.
>
> I have an L shaped countertop.  Was it customary in the late 50s to
> simply nail the plywood top down to the cabinet, or would they have
> used an adhesive.....or both?
>
> Anyway, I would welcome suggestions as to how to get the top loose.
> My guess would be upward strokes at the overhangs with a hammer,
> followed by a pry bar.  But if anyone has a better idea, please share.

If it was a post formed top or pre-made one installed over the cabinets then 
it would be screwed through the top rail of the cabinets into the bottom of 
the countertop. If it was made in place, then anything could be used. I 
would doubt that glue was used but who knows. First thing I would check is 
for screws from below or evidence of any glue squeeze-out. If there is no 
obvious signs of it being attached from below, I would use a heat gun to try 
to peel up the laminate and look for fasteners under the laminate. Hammers, 
pry bars, etc. could cause a lot of damage to the cabinets so go slow and 
carefull. 

"Josh" <j...@fastmail.fm> wrote in message 
news:2...@g23g2000vbr.googlegroups.com...
> I've signed a contract with Home Depot for them to install a new
> Quartz countertop to replace the nearly 50-year old formica one I now
> have.  I think the sales lady at HD told me if I removed the old sink
> & countertop myself I wouldn't have to pay an extra removal/disposal
> charge.
>
> I have an L shaped countertop.  Was it customary in the late 50s to
> simply nail the plywood top down to the cabinet, or would they have
> used an adhesive.....or both?
>
> Anyway, I would welcome suggestions as to how to get the top loose.
> My guess would be upward strokes at the overhangs with a hammer,
> followed by a pry bar.  But if anyone has a better idea, please share.

"Normal"  for all modern counter tops is screws up into the bottom of the 
top.

These are usually located in the corners of  the base cabinets. Kinda hard 
to get to but there usually aren't that many of them.


Colbyt 

Josh wrote:
> I've signed a contract with Home Depot for them to install a new
> Quartz countertop to replace the nearly 50-year old formica one I now
> have.  I think the sales lady at HD told me if I removed the old sink
> & countertop myself I wouldn't have to pay an extra removal/disposal
> charge.
> 
> I have an L shaped countertop.  Was it customary in the late 50s to
> simply nail the plywood top down to the cabinet, or would they have
> used an adhesive.....or both?
> 
> Anyway, I would welcome suggestions as to how to get the top loose.
> My guess would be upward strokes at the overhangs with a hammer,
> followed by a pry bar.  But if anyone has a better idea, please share.

In that time frame assuming it was a substrate and laminate laid in 
place which was quite common it would be quite likely they did nail it 
in place first.

And, if it was my dad who did it, it'll have a nail about every 6-8" 
along every vertical section including the back and those will be so 
close to the wall the backsplash tile will overlay them (damhikt :) ).

What I typically do is take a circular saw and set its depth to just the 
thickness of the countertop and saw it up into 3-ft sections or so if do 
run into such an instance.  The fronts will typically not be fastened 
down too badly as the rails over drawer and cabinet openings are thin 
enough generally you won't find them nailed into.

The way to start to find out what the situation is is w/ a mallet from 
the bottom at an end or in a middle w/ as large a span as possible to 
see if you can raise it at all to get a thin-blade putty knife between 
top rails and the bottom of the top.  Then you can begin to see about 
finding fasteners and so on.  Hacksaw blades, etc., can be invaluable.

'Tis a joy, I assure you... :)

--

dpb wrote:
> Josh wrote:
>> I've signed a contract with Home Depot for them to install a new
>> Quartz countertop to replace the nearly 50-year old formica one I now
>> have.  I think the sales lady at HD told me if I removed the old sink
>> & countertop myself I wouldn't have to pay an extra removal/disposal
>> charge.
>>
>> I have an L shaped countertop.  Was it customary in the late 50s to
>> simply nail the plywood top down to the cabinet, or would they have
>> used an adhesive.....or both?
>>
>> Anyway, I would welcome suggestions as to how to get the top loose.
>> My guess would be upward strokes at the overhangs with a hammer,
>> followed by a pry bar.  But if anyone has a better idea, please share.
> 
> In that time frame assuming it was a substrate and laminate laid in 
> place which was quite common it would be quite likely they did nail it 
> in place first.
> 
> And, if it was my dad who did it, it'll have a nail about every 6-8" 
> along every vertical section including the back and those will be so 
> close to the wall the backsplash tile will overlay them (damhikt :) ).
> 
> What I typically do is take a circular saw and set its depth to just the 
> thickness of the countertop and saw it up into 3-ft sections or so if do 
> run into such an instance.  The fronts will typically not be fastened 
> down too badly as the rails over drawer and cabinet openings are thin 
> enough generally you won't find them nailed into.
> 
> The way to start to find out what the situation is is w/ a mallet from 
> the bottom at an end or in a middle w/ as large a span as possible to 
> see if you can raise it at all to get a thin-blade putty knife between 
> top rails and the bottom of the top.  Then you can begin to see about 
> finding fasteners and so on.  Hacksaw blades, etc., can be invaluable.
> 
> 'Tis a joy, I assure you... :)
> 
> -- 

In the part of the country I come from, 50 years ago, site-built was 
pretty rare. No big boxes or continuous-edge back then- the local 
Formica guy came buy with the set of blueprints builder had provided 
him, to verify all the walls were where they were supposed to be, and 
double checked the measurements. Actual counters were still 
shop-fabricated, for pickup and installation by builder. In a small 
town, like ours was, it helped if Formica guy knew and trusted your 
builder and his finish carpentry crew. The guys my old man had built 
nice square kitchens and bathrooms, so the counters were easy to make. 
Counters went in almost last, so none of the trades would have a chance 
to drop anything on them and chip an edge.

Only site-built counters I ever saw as a wee lad were a little older 
than that, and had that nifty metal edging and backsplash joint. If it 
had glued edging, it was shop-built. IIRC, Formica, et al, were thicker 
and fussier and more expensive, back then- you had to know what you were 
doing to cut and edge them, and get a good glue-down and crisp joints.

Oh, yeah- back then, the counter shop put a plywood rail to double up 
the edge, and counters were screwed from below via the pre-drilled 
triangular blocks in the top corners of each Real Wood carcass. Cabinets 
and counter substrates were so stiff back then, you only needed a few 
screws. (not to mention sinks were still heavy.) Construction adhesive 
didn't come in caulking tubes back then, at least that I ever saw.

--
aem sends...

On Jul 10, 10:23=A0am, Josh  wrote:
> I've signed a contract with Home Depot for them to install a new
> Quartz countertop to replace the nearly 50-year old formica one I now
> have. =A0I think the sales lady at HD told me if I removed the old sink
> & countertop myself I wouldn't have to pay an extra removal/disposal
> charge

I hope you're not suggesting putting Quartz ($$$) on 50 year old
cabinets.   Are you suuuure you wanna do that?  I don't see many 50
year old cabinets in great shape, either functionally or aesthetically
speaking.

On Jul 13, 3:17=A0pm, mike  wrote:
> On Jul 10, 10:23=A0am, Josh  wrote:
>
> > I've signed a contract with Home Depot for them to install a new
> > Quartz countertop to replace the nearly 50-year old formica one I now
> > have. =A0I think the sales lady at HD told me if I removed the old sink
> > & countertop myself I wouldn't have to pay an extra removal/disposal
> > charge
>
> I hope you're not suggesting putting Quartz ($$$) on 50 year old
> cabinets. =A0 Are you suuuure you wanna do that? =A0I don't see many 50
> year old cabinets in great shape, either functionally or aesthetically
> speaking.

My 54 YO *stick-builts* are worthy of a Quartz top, as long as I add
new doors too.

There's nothing like the uninterrupted space of stick-builts that have
no partitions within. e.g. Four doors wide on the outside, one big box
on the inside. It's amazing how much more room you have when you don't
have to fit round objects into small rectangular boxes.