I've still got these ugly universal base table tops hanging around and was wondering if the brown craft paper/resin underside will take a paint finish or if it will take contact adhesive and new formica on the underside, anyone know? I hate to waste them.
Where I used to work we would put laminex (formica to you guys) over laminex pretty often but it always seemed dodgy.
Many options
You have many options. The bottom line is it simply needs to be a surface you can paint.
If the top is veneered I would match it with a veneer. If it plain and you really want to paint it, sand it, strip it or whatever until the surface is good enough to be painted - after all, it is just the underside of the table top so will not be visible anyway.
Hope that helps - I had to try to picture what you were talking about.
It sounds like
what we used to call backer sheet -- the same substance as Formica but without the pattern sheet and clear melamine surface. It's a little wavy but you could apply either of the finishes you mention. It should paint fine, perhaps after a scrub with steel wool or Scotchbrite to clean and texture the surface ?
If you need any help, please contact us at – info@designaddict.com