QUESTION: I am trying to get some factual information concerning the adhesion of contact cements for Formica® installation. I would prefer to use water-based or similar low-solvent adhesives for installing Formica, but I'm getting a lot of anecdotal information from other trades people that only high-VOC adhesives really work. Can you help?
ANSWER: Both water-based and solvent-based contact cements are available. The water-based versions certainly have environmental advantages over the solvent systems in terms of toxicity, environmental impact and flammability. However, solvent-based systems offer several performance advantages over their water-based cousins.