If you’ve been following along, you’ll know that for this van conversion, I opted to cover my cabinetry using high-pressure laminate instead of having to paint.

While I am, by no means, an expert on using high-pressure laminate and spray adhesive, I am really happy with how my cabinet faces have turned out so I thought I’d share a quick how-to.

Here’s what you’ll need to get started

• Paint sprayer gun
• Glue
• Tile Roller
• Flush cut bit
• Router
• Respirator Mask

How to install high-pressure laminate to your cabinet faces

Installing high-pressure laminate is actually quite simple, as long as you take your time.

1. Tape the outter edges of your cabinet face to avoid getting glue on them.
2. Using the glue and spray gun, spray the adhesive to the high-pressure laminate.
3. Spray adhesive to the cabinet face.
4. Place wood strips on top of the cabinet face. It won’t stick to the adhesive since the wood strip itself has no adhesive on it.
5. Place the laminate over the wood strips, allowing yourself to line up the sheet perfectly with the cabinet face.
6. Once you’re happy with the placement, slowly and carefully remove the wood strips from between the laminate and the cabinet face.
7. Smooth down the laminate onto the cabinet face using your hand and then a roller.
8. Allow time for the adhesive to dry.
9. Router the edges to remove any excess laminate.

Pro Tip #1

I learnt the hard way that you really only get one shot at sticking the laminate to the cabinet face. If you make a mistake, it’s not impossible to remove the laminate, but it’s not a pretty process. I strongly encourage you to use wood strips between the cabinet face and the laminate to allow yourself to line things up perfectly before removing the wood and smoothing down the laminate.

Pro Tip #2

Make sure your paint sprayer is clean to avoid clogs when spraying the adhesive.

At this point in the conversion, I had used my sprayer quite a bit so it was often clogged unless I took the proper time to clean it between use.

Cabinet Latches

In this weeks video, I also highlight my favorite cabinet latches. When it comes to latches in a van conversion, I’ve tried them all… Magnets, baby latches… You name it, I’ve tried it.

The ones that work best for me are Marine Slam Latches. Why?

1. They look good
2. They’re easy to install
3. If the drawer is closed, it’s locked and never coming open.

Ask any experienced vanlifer… If they don’t have any marine slam latches, I’m sure they have experienced a time where they’ve packed everything up in the van, hit the road, made one quick turn and, you guessed it, that drawer comes flying open. Crash! Bang!

For more information on installing High-Pressure Laminate to your cabinet faces, be sure to check out the video below:

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