Formica kitchen counter material as kicker topsheet
 

This is what I was thinking about using as the surface of a kicker:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Wilsonart...4896/203592650

it's relatively inexpensive, pretty durable (although not very thick) and should slide well.


I know some guys on here have used shower wall material, and I thought this would be a good alternative.


does anyone know of people using anything similar?

The backing will fall apart after soaking in water. The shower material is a fail too. It is very brittle. HDPE or nothing is my advice even if you have to save up a bit to get it.

I'd give that stuff one weekend of riding before it starts falling apart. It's basically just a water resistant laminate over top of particle board. Aside from that, it doesn't bend. A good kicker will have a bit of a curve to it otherwise it can be a rough transition. For about 200$ you can get a sheet of hdpe the same size that will slide better and last many years without worry of the elements

Yup tried that it falls apart. I also have use the same style stuff but for bathroom walls, it last a bit longer about a month. The good news it was cheap as I reacal under $30 for a 4' X 8' sheet.

Not sure if you have a menards in your area. I was in one the other day and they had 1/4x4x8 sheets of black hdpe in stock. Hpde is the way to go.

http://www.menards.com/main/c-14048.htm

Someone told me that they used smooth plywood for the kicker and then coated it with Garage Floor epoxy and it worked pretty well. I'm going to give that a shot on a kicker I recently acquired.

I used 3 sheets of 2'x4' on a kicker a few years ago. Most damage came from people not taking off metal fins. It didn't hold up very well to the abuse that weekend. IIRC spray glued it to the kicker, it was a short term fix.

PVC wall board worked pretty well for mine. It was about 1/4 as much as hdpe. It interlocks with PVC glue so there are no seams from side to side. I cut every other one in half so there wouldn't be one single long seam. Keep in mind that if you use PVC it is not UV resistant so if you want it to last go for a cover when you aren't using it. Mine has lasted through this season with no wear. so far it's a win.