Worktop repair Nuevo Lancashire

Whilst away on a recent trip a mug fell from the overhead locker onto the worktop. After which I noticed a 2cm crack and on one side of the crack the surface dented in about 1mm!
Even though the worktop looks about an inch thick it is obviously hollow made up from ply.
To get underneath I will need to remove the fridge to drill say a 1"hole through the lower ply to get at the top ply to push it up level again.
Can anyone say if its an easy ish job to remove the fridge, is it straight forward?
Or has anyone has a better idea?

You could perhaps put a new laminate top over the existing top.

Hi there,

JUST A SUGGESTION but how about:

1.  Use one of these to pull the surfaces level.

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2.  Remove the suction cup, re-establish the "crack" and run some of this along its length.

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3.  Use the suction cup to pull the surfaces level again.

4.  Wipe off any excess Araldite, remove the suction cup, check that the surfaces are still level and leave for the Araldite to cure.

5.  BEFORE the Araldite is fully cured ensure that none of it is still on the work surface.  (You may need an old fashioned razor-blade to scrape away any excess.  Be careful not to damage the work surface.)

In many instances an Araldite repair is stronger than the original.

Hope this helps. 

Best regards,

What a coincidence Steve, I also recently dropped a cup on the worktop, with a similar crack to the worktop as yours. I repaired it almost as Ian has suggested. Then a few days ago my wife dropped another cup which hit the worktop about two inches from my repair, this time though it splintered the laminate beyond an araldite repair job.
I decided to get my router out, draw round and inset flush a good quality coaster. I reinforced underneath and sealed the whole thing in. Whoever sits in the seat nearest now has a built in coaster to put their hot drink on!
You wouldn't believe how weak this solid looking worktop is, about 30mm thick, but the top is not even ply, it's just 1mm laminate on top, 3mm ply on the bottom, with hollow corrugated very thin section cardboard in between.
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I'm in favour of BikerAl's philosophy. (Neat job by the way!)

"If you can't hide it, don't try. Tackle it another way and make a feature of it."

A circular Autosleeper medallion or something similar might be a possibility, specially if you were lucky and it was the same size as a hole saw. That could be inletted quite easily and fixed with Dutto's clear Araldite. (Circular holes are easier than rectangular ones. Al is obviously pretty good with a router!)

Just a further thought.

Dave

It was only ever going to be a temporary job Dave, but my wife chose the coaster and quite likes it now. I was originally thinking along the lines of something round, but with the two damaged sections being 2 to 3 inches apart it was too much for a hole saw. My first idea was to inset two of the many large obsolete silver foreign coins I've collected in my travels. Like you say, a feature.
Al.

Thanks Dutto.

Wasn't aware of Araldite Crystal Clear, so just ordered some.

Dave

I've just had exactly the same with our Broadway, Auto Sleepers gave me the phone number of a firm in Chester who do the repairs. I had a quote of £282 over the internet, I thought this was way over the top and I posted on another forum with my dilemma, after a number of suggestions I repaired my work top my self.
I cleaned around the split and dent with meths, filled the crack and gap with a number of layers of decent superglue and same as dutto says used a knife blade in a sawing action until nearly level. I then on the final layer used a coloured worktop jointing compound again with the sawing action. then when this was set I used a scratch removing compound to give it its gloss back.

By the way this worked for me as my worktop is textured and not smooth.

John.

Ps this should work with the araldite as dutto suggested, perhaps better than the superglue as I used.

Many thanks for the ideas. Already tried suction cup method but the surface is textured and will not seal. Will have a go with the superglue / clear araldite.
Cheers

Just a thought, as a fan of the great God Araldite, I've tried the "two part" alternatives from Aldi and Lidl. My advice is stick to the original, and good luck

Askit wrote:Just a thought, as a fan of the great God Araldite, I've tried the "two part" alternatives from Aldi and Lidl. My advice is stick to the original, and good luck

Oh how I agree, especially if you positively need a "clear" epoxy and long term strength.


Apart from Araldite, most of the other two-packs will provide the same grip and strength but they almost all cure to a mucky light brown; and unfortunately some of them just don't have the strength.

A brazed weld went on the line-guide of one of my sea fishing reels back in the 70's when Araldite was in its infancy.  I gave the reel to my grandson, with the original Araldite repair still in place, about 12 months ago!

Marvellous stuff Araldite! 

Best regards,

We used to "fire" some of the original stuff in the oven which produced some amazing results.

I meant to add that I've also had great results from "tinting" it using airfix modelling paint. A bit trial and error but I was able to do a decent cover of a dent in a silver section of a camera with it. I'm becoming a fan of Sugru as well, used it to repair my car door mirror after some kind passing  cracked the outer casing for me 

Hello steve00136, when we have had a problem we call these guys in, http://www.plastic-surgeon.co.uk/ not cheap but do a great repair that is permanent.

Mark