Low Priced Formica?

[sfetaz]

What is a good source for Formica at good prices?

[nickbuol]

Does it need to be Formica (the brand, kind of like Kleenex for tissues), or are you looking for good laminate pricing?

I did some searching of my local Home Depot, Lowes, and Menards, and here is what I got...

Home Depot, nothing in stock, and costs were around $1.60 a sq. foot.
Lowes, some in stock, 4x8 sheets ran around $1.40 a sq foot for in stock colors, special orders were "more", whatever that meant.
Menards, 6 in stock colors (nothing that I would use) at $0.99 a sq. ft, everything else was $2.90 sq. ft for special order.

I found the best pricing at a local millworks place.  For the price of $1.60 a sq. foot, I could get any color, any brand, laminated to industrial quality 5/8" partical board (just like your kitchen countertop) and they even put backer board on it to make sure that it didn't bow over time (most people don't do this, but in his professional experience it was the best way to go).

I got that price for the full sheet laminated, but my plan was to have then cut it with a CNC machine to get perfect, computer controlled cuts.  The average person would not be able to successfully cut the sheets with the laminate on it as it would amost definately chip the laminate.  They can also use the CNC machine to "drill" (really it is a cut, not a drill) the button holes and joystick holes, and cut out the area for my trackball.  They charge $50 an hour to program the machine, and $50 an hour to cut.  Estimated a couple of hours to program, and about an hour to cut out everything.  I asked what file format that they wanted the plans in, and they said AutoCAD.  Not having AutoCAD, I am setting everything up in Visio and then exporting it as AutoCAD.  This should drop the programming down to about 30 minutes.

So if I figure that it will cost me $75 for them to cut everything, but I am getting the laminate, upper quality partical board, backerboard, and don't need to buy the contact cement, or the laminate cutter bit for my router, it should end up costing the same is if I did it all myself, but I am getting perfect cuts, and if I ever want to have them make up another set for someone, they keep the programming "forever" and just need me to call them up and let them know which laminate colors I want, and they can make me another full set.  Pretty cool since there are a couple of guys at work that want to see how it turns out, and then I can get them all of the parts cut and finished, and then charge them a little bit to cover my programming fees and time to redraw everything in Visio, and I could actually cover a little of my costs too.

Anyway, just some ideas.

[Teknique]

2 things to bounce off nick,

If your looking to just do your CP...

1.  Home Depot has limited variety of laminates they are supposed to have in stock.  Look for a broken or cracked peice or even a corner- a 4x8 sheet is a lot more than you need for a CP and they will give you a sweet deal if you ask them to discout it.

2.  Look at their prefab coutertops that should be in the same area.  It is a particle board with laminate already applied.  Might be cheaper and faster if there is a color that you like.

Tek