I wanted to renew the old formica counter top and table in my 31 this year. The table being removable was an easy target, however without significant disassembly the counter wasn't coming out of the boat. I had seeing pourable table top epoxy on Jamestown Distributors site so I decided to look into it further. The premise sounds easy, just pour a bunch of self leveling epoxy on your project and walk away. While this is certainly a viable diy project, there's a tad more to it.
I started out with a scrap 2x10 I had to use as a test piece and learn how to use the material. Most of the videos I watched they first painted the surface with a water based paint then clear coated. So that's what I did. I didn't even sand the piece as I wanted to see how forgiving the epoxy was. On the top surface it's very forgiving and will level out nice and flat, the edges however need to be finished, this would prove to be an issue later. Everything under the epoxy is visible when clearing so all the surface imperfections are visible through the epoxy in a clear format. I decided I didn't care for this. So next I tried tinting, first just white. I liked this a lot but I was afraid it would be too white in the boat that's mostly dark wood and off whites. So next I decided to try to mix my own color. It's pretty strait forward and just takes some patience. I took the base white pigment then with a toothpick would dip into my yellow, brown and black allowing the drops into the white. After I added color I would put a drop onto a piece of the fiberglass I had from the boat to see how close it was and which color I thought I should add next. Add color in very small amounts as it's easier to add color than to whiten it back up. When I got close to the color I wanted I made another small batch of epoxy and added the pigment, then poured it out on my test piece. The off white was much better looking.
Now I was ready to work with the actual counter/table. The prep, this is going to be messy, so covering EVERYTHING you don't want epoxy on is important. I removed all my cabinet doors, drawers, fridge, stove, sink, faucet and carpet. Then taped trash bags to the front of the cabinets that draped down to also cover the floor. I masked off the sides around the counter, but later found the primer creeped up the tape causing a fair amount of work to correct. I decided not to mask for the epoxy pour. I also taped to form a dam around the inside of the sink, stove, faucet openings in the counter.
Now I moved to actually working with the counter. I started by rounding the edges with a 1/4" router, then sanded the formica with 80 grit followed by painting with a water based primer. On the edges I had a problem with the formica lifting, the epoxy will not bridge the gap. To fix this troweled out some polyester filler on the edgers, pushing it into any seems then sanded it round once cured, to do again I think I might just pull off the formica as this was probably the biggest problem area of the project, mostly on the table. I let the primer cure for 24hrs then it was time to pour. I start by measuring out my epoxy into a large container, 2 1/2 quart paint buckets worked well. I wanted to mix the whole batch in the same container. Then add the pigment and mix thoroughly. Let the epoxy set for a couple minutes, mix again, then pour some off into a smaller 1qt container that's easier to control. From the small container pour onto the counter, I started at the edges as these are where the epoxy will be the thinnest so I cover them a couple times, then work my way in. This is a situation where more is better, if you don't use enough epoxy it won't level out well. 2 quarts was a heavy batch for the counter in my 31. Spread the epoxy with a plastic spreader, doesn't have to be perfect as the epoxy will flow out. For the first coat I tried using my heat gun to pop the bubbles, going over it 4 times every half hour or so. I still ended up with bubbles, second coat I used a map gas torch, it works much better, just be careful around your wood, plastic. Because I had bubbles I let the first coat fully cure then sanded before the second coat, if you recoat within 24hrs it doesn't have to be sanded. During the first few hours of curing scraping the bottom edge of the counter with a spreader to remove the drips will save you sanding down the line. I found once I hit about the 4hr mark it had stiffened up enough not to drip anymore.
Problems I encountered
Primer creeping up the making tape, only solution I can think of for this is to cut in by hand, with the epoxy I could push it into the corner.
The edges to the formica lifting. My solution was to use a filler on the edges as sand, removing the formica may be easier depending how well it's glued down.
Curtains on the edges. I found this to be from not laying down a heavy uniform layer of epoxy along the edge.
Over working the epoxy. Once the epoxy starts to set around half hour to 45 minutes don't touch it anymore other then the drippings and torching.
Trying to save a batch of epoxy that's started to kick. I had a batch that started to kick off in the bucket and thought I could still pour it out and it would flow, I was wrong and it made a mess and a bunch of sanding for me. Once it starts to kick its too late, don't pour anymore of that batch.
Overall I believe this is a very diy project, just take your time and practice on some scrap before moving to your project. There's lots of good videos out there, plus I hope you can learn from some of my mistakes.
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