Next installment
Here's the next installation of "What did I get myself into?"
First, I sincerely hope this is helpful to someone down the road (besides me!).
I spent a good long while removing the epoxy that previously held the plywood on which the formica was adhered to. It took ALOT of heat to get the epoxy to soften enough to be removable. Even so, I had to use a painter's tool/scraper to get underneath the epoxy and start removing big chunks off. Most of it required scraping bits off at a time. As I got to the back (where all the water and rot had been), I found the epoxy there was more rubbery, and whole big sections came off at a time but still needed much heat. So here are the layers of materials I've found (in this order):
- Formica top
- Thin adhesive (apparently only in some areas)
- Thin plywood
- Epoxy (only in some areas...shown in prior post)
- Gelcoat
- Fiberglass (the mold for the whole galley)
- Thick plywood (mostly for the top surfaces)
After removing as much epoxy as I could, I decided to sand the surface of the gelcoat/exposed glass and remove rough/jagged edges. You'll note that in some areas, the epoxy was pretty well adhered to the gelcoat, and so the gelcoat came off as well and exposed the underlying glass.
I also found that in the back where the water and rot had been, the fiberglass appears to have become delaminated from the thicker layer of plywood underneath it, resulting in a noticable lump. However, after I examined the plywood from underneath the sink area, I couldn't find evidence of rot. In addition, when I pressed down on the lump, it gives way as if there's a void beneath it. No squishing sounds or water squirting out anywhere. I think with the expansion and contraction of several years of water getting to the plywood directly underneath the formica (see first pics I posted in this thread) may have caused the lower sectionst to become delaminated as well.
This weekend, I'm going to drill a few holds and see what comes back on the drill bit. I'm expecting dry wood, but we'll see.