Everyone’s kitchen has imperfections. This is not an imperfection, it’s a contractor error, RIP OUT and fix at his expense.

Im not a laminate expert, but laminate is usually applied to a substrate like mdf. Perhaps he should have laid the laminate onto mdf first, then mounted the laminated piece to the wall. Maybe the stinky stuff should have happened horizontally in a workshop somewhere and then mounted like artwork to the wall - wall surfaces are never perfectly flat and smooth, and laminate needs a perfectly smooth surface.

Whatever the fix, someone here will know. Hang in there.

That’s a great idea about laminating the wall piece before installing it onto the wall. He did mount plywood to the wall to create a flat surface and then put the laminate on top. It seems like he could have put the laminate on the plywood before installing both on the wall.

i hate to ask him to redo this because he seems to have too many projects going on as it is. He was very upfront about the piece he cracked, though, and offered to replace it at his cost. Right then I was willing to live with those defects to just have it DONE, but this bubbling is too much.

Any other suggestions on how to properly install laminate sheet to wall? Is pre-mounting the way to go? Thank you

I just googled it. Formica group has this helpful

video for DIY laminate wall panels. Maybe show this to your installer? They recommend mdf or particle board as substrates, but you absolutely need a substrate.

At any rate, whatever manufacturer made your laminate, they will have instructions for wall application. Go to their web site, download them, and discuss them with the guy. If you’re willing to be his guinea pig, he should consider himself lucky to be learning a new skill, even if it costs him a little $$.

Your pattern is Wilsonart Lush Jungle. This is a link to the Wilsonart Technical Data for laminate. In the document you will find the following:

”Wilsonart laminates must be bonded to a substrate of reliable quality, such as particleboard, medium density fiberboard or plywood with one A face. High-pressure laminate, plaster, concrete and gypsum board should not be considered suitable substrates.”

So they’re saying you need a substrate, and sheetrock is not an acceptable substrate. By the way, if you’re in a high humidity environment it makes sense to use mdf.

I like the pattern quite a bit.

Me too!

I love the patterned laminate! It looks wonderful so far and will be a knock out when installed to your satisfaction. Keep plugging away at it, he will get it installed correctly. :)

So he used a substrate but he did not laminate it properly. He should have done it like he would a countertop, gotten it doweled, rolled it out properly, let it adhere and trimmed it before turning it vertical.

Second time’s the charm.

Thank you so much, everyone! I really appreciate your words of encouragement. The contractor hasn’t replied to me yet, he’s probably waiting until he can come to see it later this week. I definitely feel now that he has to redo both walls. Eam44, that video you found makes it look so easy! Lots of careful steps of course, but not rocket science (or magic).

I wish I had researched it more so I could have insisted he apply the laminate to the substrate before putting them on the wall. He just seemed to know what he was doing, he didn’t hesitate at all when I asked if he could install a laminate backsplash.

One good thing is the floor people were able to level the concrete floor today, in spite of the snow and our treacherous driveway, and they dropped off our marmoleum click floor. It’s pretty awesome looking! Super thick and a nice green (we got Pine Forest). Hope the floor turns out better than the backsplash. If they can get up our hill they’re supposed to install it tomorrow.

I will post an update when I hear back from the contractor. Wish me luck...

LUCK!!! Keep us posted!

No help for the process, but your kitchen is COOL!

Can I just say it's such a pleasure to see color and pattern in a kitchen. And done well too.

Agreed -LOVE LOVE LOVE your use of the laminate for the backsplash. No grout, and you achieve a great seamless look with some bold color. Sometimes I find all the contrasting grout these days as a huge visual distraction.

(heads over to check out how she can use laminate in her new build.... perhaps behind the dedicated dog bath / in the laundry room!)

Love that kitchen.

I have friends who had a laminate installed as backsplash, following recommended steps above.

It looks amazing, and, no, their wall was anything from super straight.

Consider yourself lucky. Ralph Wislon Plastics was the manufacturer of the notorious "blue glue" that held plastic laminate for years until it finally let go. Horrible stuff. Fabricators who used it were reimbursed .33 on the dollar.

Using a heat gun, have your fabricator peel the laminate, screw an appropriate substrate to the studs, and re-laminate with appropriate adhesive and no bubbles.

@Joseph, he can remove the laminate that easily—heating then peeling off the wall? He used the glue from Wilsonart that is for laminate. He rolled it on. Seems that spray would be better? I do NOT want that glue used in my house again, it could kill my birds :((((( I had to open all the sliders to get the stench out. It was close to zero degrees out— good thing i had the wood stove going!

So he can reuse the laminate? The old contact cement won’t affect future adhesion? How about the plywood he has screwed into the wall now, can he just glue over that again? Should he be gluing the laminate to the plywood separately, and then gluing both to the wall with panel glue?

I’d really rather he just do both over entirely. I can’t see it turning out well if he reuses that laminate sheet. I’m worried about the countertop getting damaged if he messes around with that sheet (which fits too tight against the counter, hence the popping off).

I haven’t heard from him yet but I sent him that Formica video eam44 posted and he said he’d watch it tonight :)

thank you again for the kind words from everyone. I second guessed every decision I made in that kitchen, it’s good to hear that people like it. And it’s SO MUCH more functional than it was before— even without a stove and with the fridge in another room haha. Seriously. It was terrible before. And we have a dishwasher now, and a garbage disposal!

I've peeled many a sheet of plastic laminate with heat; it's a lot less messy than lacquer thinner and much less of a fire hazard. It may be more cost effective to smash the bubble, fill the hole with bondo and sand to smooth, then re-laminate.

So now it’s friday and the contractor said he won’t be back until the end of NEXT week. If then. We have not discussed any remedies on the laminate because that took a back seat to the next problem. My husband actually called him today because he wasn’t returning my texts and the stove outlet he installed had sparks flying out and immediately trips the breaker. Could be floor people’s fault from the floor install, but whatever we still have no stove.

Now the laminate on the back wall is mostly detached. It’s definitely not just a bubble anymore. He cut it too big so the pressure of it pushing on the counter popped it off. I don’t know what to do at this point.

Here’s the issue: we have custom laminate counters which he installed before the backsplash. There are big gaps between the wall and the counter. He is basically trying to hide the gaps by mounting thick plywood on the wall, then the laminate backsplash went on top of that. even if the laminate had adhered well there are jagged gaps all along the top edge and inside corner and it looks like crap. I don’t know if he was even planning to caulk the gaps or what. It’s all just a mess and I don’t know how to proceed.

What is the proper way to finish a laminate sheet backsplash? Metal cove molding? Can caulk work? We have a weird situation because there are no upper cabinets to hide the top edge, so if we did some kind of molding it would have to be on the top as well as bottom and sides. Metal would probably look weird on the top under the soffit.

Can I just use regular wood 1/4” round? On all sides— along the counter, in the corners, and at the top under the soffit?

Sorry this is so long, I just don’t know what to do and clearly the contractor has no idea either.

MDF is a better substrate for laminate than plywood, especially for glossy colors. I'd laminate the whole sheet, including edges, then hang it on the wall with French cleats.

Sounds like the hits just keep on coming. I’m sorry to hear of your difficulties. Just hang in there I guess...

The other benefit to laminating the edges is that should caulk fail, you won’t get water infiltration into your substrate. If you ever get your contractor back, have him do whatever Joe says.

Wow, I remember when you first asked for advice about this kitchen way back. I'm glad you followed through and are doing what makes your heart sing.

Just a suggestion, but I'd sit down with him with pen and paper and ask him to explain everything he is going to do to remedy the situation. It sounds like he is winging it and not thinking through how one step is going to affect the next. If he is rushing from one project to the next, then you need to make sure you slow him down enough so that he thinks this through - even if you have to sit down and make him watch that video with you. You don't want to be doing this a 3rd time.

ETA: and once you have his plan, come back and okay it with the experts here.

@Joseph, MDF it is! French cleats sound interesting— would you also use liquid nails or similar to keep the panel from shifting around on the wall?

@eam thank you!

@daisychain that’s funny you remember my post because I remember your screen name! Sitting down with him is a good idea, but as you can imagine it’s nearly impossible. But maybe it will happen! I’m making a list of all the things that still need to be done and then I’ll email it to him so he has time to think about it.

I’ll take a picture soon now that the floor is done and the appliances are in. It’s really weird because in a lot of ways it’s like the same kitchen we had before, but functional and new! Well, except for not being able to use the stove haha

"@Joseph, MDF it is! French cleats sound interesting— would you also use liquid nails or similar to keep the panel from shifting around on the wall?"

Maybe a dab or two of liquid nails or silicone. You want to accommodate movement on a project like this, not fight it. If you ever need to remove and reinstall the panel, you'll be glad you did.

Daisychain that's awesome :)

So we just got home from our short holiday trip to 1) a working stove and 2) long scuffs/slight dents in our $4,000 brand new marmoleum click floor near the stove where he dragged it across the floor. I can’t even. I. Can’t. Even.

i need to look at it in the morning when I’m not so tired, but it seems he scuffed off the top finish. The floor has a slightly shiny satin finish and the marks are completely matte. They are glaringly obvious as you walk up to the kitchen (it’s up two steps on a sort of platform). I did some brief research and yes of course marmoleum can be “fixed” but 1) I don’t want to do it 2) I don’t want to pay someone to do it and 3) I’m sick of having these shmucks in my house at all— they seem to fix one thing and then mess something else up. Also, it’s a BRAND NEW floor. And it’s all messed up right where you first walk into the kitchen. They can’t even just swap out the few planks because guess what— it’s right next to the long piece of nosing on the stairs they had to glue down with liquid nails. So all that would have to be ripped up and those planks replaced, too. AWESOME.

Here’s hoping it’s as simple as applying a little floor finish to the area (which of course i don’t have, hopefully the floor people do ).

SO DONE WITH THIS.

I am so sorry about this - I know how frustrating it is - and I have been there - fix one thing, screw up 3 others (and the other things are other subs, so that compounds the screw up potential exponentially.)

Hang in there! Your place will be worth it!

Bummer.

One thing I can tell you for sure is that like the laminate fiasco, the floor/liquid nails problem is his problem, not yours. Feel sorry for the guy, by the time he replaces all of the materials he has ruined, your contractor will not have made any money on this job. Your job is to make sure you get what you need, done properly.

It’s time to read your contract again, and document in writing everything that has gone/is going wrong. Make a list, write a letter, include screen shots of your texts and pictures of the damage. At this point you need to let him know what has to be done for him to be done. If you don’t trust him to do things properly, contact the manufacturer, ask them how it should be done, then tell him you want it done that way.

It might be helpful if you stop worrying about how hard it is to fix things, and just focus on what you need to make things right. Make your list. And don’t make any final payments until things are resolved. Feel free to pass things by us in an “is this acceptable” sort of way, but worry less.

I'll bet that floor is fixable.

What type of contractor is best suited to do a laminate wall like that? Carpenter?