Builder grade cabinets repair options

We have a rental with early 2000s builder grade cabinets.  Looks like MDF bases and maple wood doors.  The finish looks like a wood stain but is a thermofoil.  Picture the Home Depot Hampton Bay in Cognac.

After fifteen+ years of renter wear and tear, the cabinet doors and bases are flaking and peeling.  Mostly in proximity to the sink area.

What are the options short of full demo on the kitchen to repair or refresh?

Staining doesn?t work as the underlying wood doesn?t take stain well due to the prior thermfoil and glue, even after sanding.  Painting over seems fraught since the underlying veneer is cracking and starting the flake off.

Target zone is mid-market townhome.

TIA

nosuchreality said:

We have a rental with early 2000s builder grade cabinets.  Looks like MDF bases and maple wood doors.  The finish looks like a wood stain but is a thermofoil.  Picture the Home Depot Hampton Bay in Cognac.

After fifteen+ years of renter wea
What are the options short of full demo on the kitchen to repair or refresh?


TIA

Click to expand...

Is the inside ok?

If you only need to get the doors and outside frames done, maybe you could try this:
https://ikeahackers.net/2019/01/walk-in-closet-ikea-pax-hack.html

In the middle of the post they show how they put strips of wood in front of the old doors and the frames. They did that to make the unit flush and then painted.

Hack of the same pax units with glass doors added on by someone else in case anyone is a diy person. (Tall narrow 13" pax units r oos probably because of these hacks and who knows when they get them in again but if you have a closet that can take a deeper system, you can get the tall units. They didn't put fronts on the drawers in this one.
https://www.crazy-wonderful.com/ikea-pax-hack-how-we-did-it/#/

The before and after goes thru all the options they included. Some good ideas in there:
https://www.crazy-wonderful.com/walk-in-closet-makeover-with-ikea-pax/

Video of a similar hack. Right after 9 min. you can see the out side frame covered with new material (mdf in this case).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDD6ZrqP-fI

If that works for the outside frame, then u just need doors.

Yea, that looks great.  They did some serious labor and JIMHO, the spray gun paintjob is the big key.

So far I'm 0-2 for Youtube hack fixes as my cabinets don't act like their cabinets.  Ironically, my funky old cabinet in my garage, the youtube hack works on.  Today is head off to Woodcraft and talk to the people there for help figuring out what to do.

So far the finish doesn't come off like thermofoil, it isn't a veneer on the doors but is on the base, the doors look like stain, flaking like an unprimed paint job and after sanding the doors don't take stain well at all.

Probably going to opt to paint.

So far the sticker shock on standard gloss coat flip items has been pretty severe.

nosuchreality said:

Yea, that looks great.  They did some serious labor and JIMHO, the spray gun paintjob is the big key.

So far I'm 0-2 for Youtube hack fixes as my cabinets don't act like their cabinets.  Ironically, my funky old cabinet in my garage, the youtube hack works on.  Today is head off to Woodcraft and talk to the people there for help figuring out what to do.

So far the finish doesn't come off like thermofoil, it isn't a veneer on the doors but is on the base, the doors look like stain, flaking like an unprimed paint job and after sanding the doors don't take stain well at all.

Probably going to opt to paint.

So far the sticker shock on standard gloss coat flip items has been pretty severe.

Click to expand...

Before I moved in 1998, I had a house that had solid oak cabinets that were not well cared for so I used lemon or orange oil alot which helped somewhat in masking how dried out they had become. We wanted to do some serious renovation but contractors were major flakes and we found our forever home so we ended up selling the place. But I think someone had told me to take the doors off and take them to an auto body shop to get them stripped and refinish was not too expensive.

Everything is high now. One good thing is the price of lumber has come down over 60%. Sherwin Williams has a paint sale ending on Monday. They run them frequently but not sure how often.

Ridiculous labor costs unfortunately.

I went to builder surplus in Tustin and inventory build up nicely as more homeowners put off or not in the mood to change out their kitchen vs 6 months ago, as people are watching their pockets much more closely. There were, many good units that were floor display that is now mark down dramatically. It really depend if you want to just do a cosmetic repair or if you rather have a good cabinet install for the long run. The cost of labor is too high to just keep on doing a fix after fixes. For me, I rather get good solid cabinet at a discount prices and do the install myself. Of course you will need some skills and energy for it. If not, hire a decent day labor and direct them to do the heavy work and you can do the rest to save money.

I am all about longevity, putting in something that will last at least a decade. You will make your money back with the increase to your rental rate in a heart beat.