We're selecting cabinets for a kitchen remodel. My wife likes white, but
the only way we can get white is either order maple boxes painted white, or
a white thermofoil or laminate box. We've looked at all the woods, but we
just keep coming back to white.

My concerns with thermofoil or laminate are the weight, and the inability
to repair dents or scratches.

If anyone has had either of these type of cabinets installed for a while,
can you tell me about their durability, reapairability, and installation
considerations?

Thanks,
Bruce

Bruce wrote:
We're selecting cabinets for a kitchen remodel. My wife likes white, but
the only way we can get white is either order maple boxes painted white, or
a white thermofoil or laminate box. We've looked at all the woods, but we
just keep coming back to white.

My concerns with thermofoil or laminate are the weight, and the inability
to repair dents or scratches.

If anyone has had either of these type of cabinets installed for a while,
can you tell me about their durability, reapairability, and installation
considerations?

Thanks,
Bruce

Bruce,

Stay away from thermofoil! We have a self-cleaning GE electric oven and
the heat generated from the self-cleaning process caused the thermofoil
laminate to melt and bulge out of shape on the drawer eges adjacent to
the oven. Naturally, this occurred when the installation was out of
warranty. When I called the company that installed the cabinets, I was
told that thermofoil can't take intense heat so one should leave
adjacent drawers and cabinet doors open when self-cleaning the oven. I
later spoke to a fomer building contreactor and he said the same thing.

Ron

Ron Maggi wrote in
:

Bruce wrote:
We're selecting cabinets for a kitchen remodel. My wife likes white,
but the only way we can get white is either order maple boxes painted
white, or a white thermofoil or laminate box. We've looked at all
the woods, but we just keep coming back to white.

My concerns with thermofoil or laminate are the weight, and the
inability to repair dents or scratches.

If anyone has had either of these type of cabinets installed for a
while, can you tell me about their durability, reapairability, and
installation considerations?

Thanks,
Bruce

Bruce,

Stay away from thermofoil! We have a self-cleaning GE electric oven
and the heat generated from the self-cleaning process caused the
thermofoil laminate to melt and bulge out of shape on the drawer eges
adjacent to the oven. Naturally, this occurred when the installation
was out of warranty. When I called the company that installed the
cabinets, I was told that thermofoil can't take intense heat so one
should leave adjacent drawers and cabinet doors open when
self-cleaning the oven. I later spoke to a fomer building contreactor
and he said the same thing.

Ron


Thanks, Ron.

Thanks for the warning. I did some 'googling' today and found out the
same. Some articles also suggested keeping drawers next to a drying
dishwasher open. I don't want to have to worry about doing the chores
one naturally does in the kitchen.

Bruce

I had new cabinets installed almost two years ago. The man built the
cabinets himself but ordered the doors and drawer fronts. They are made of
thermofoil. The company that made them has a web site
(http://www.doormark.com) if you want to see what I am talking about.
Anyway, they are very easy to keep clean and so far we have not had any
problems with them. These are not the ready made ones you buy at Home Depot
or Lowes but I assume they are similar quality. In our last house we had
IXL cabinets (good ones for the 60s) made out of lacquer finished
wood...sounds great but they were impossible to keep clean. Never again for
me. Grease and dirt on wood is not a good thing.

"Bruce" wrote

If anyone has had either of these type of cabinets installed for a
while, can you tell me about their durability, reapairability, and
installation considerations?

I remodeled my kitchen a bit ago, and opted for Thermofoil doors. They
did warn me that if my oven's seal wasn't good, I might have problems.
I have new appliances, and haven't had a problem with either the oven in
cleaning mode, or the dishwasher. Overall I've been *very* happy with
them.

A very nice feature is that cleaning is -so- simple - they do not absorb
oil. Wipe down with whatever easy cleanser you want.

I haven't needed to repair, but installation was very easy (I kept the
pre-existing, euro frame cabinets).

I have a few photos he
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/critcl...imbs/my_photos

I used Lindsey http://www.lindseydoors.com/index.htm - they were very
good.

JSH

caschang had written this in response to
http://www.thestuccocompany.com/main...foil-1979-.htm
:

I have white thermafoil cabinet. I melted them by using a toaster
(sitting in a normal place on the counter) when the heat from the toaster
hit the cabinets. I am told that it is not possible to re-thermafoil
them, so I have to buy new doors. I would never have them again. I just
read an article by a woman who said the doors on her thermafoil drawers
melted when she cleaned her oven and the heat of the oven melted affect
those doors close to the oven. She found out too late that you are
supposed to remove the doors next to the oven when using such high heat.


-------------------------------------
Bruce wrote:




We're selecting cabinets for a kitchen remodel. My wife likes white,
but
the only way we can get white is either order maple boxes painted
white, or
a white thermofoil or laminate box. We've looked at all the woods, but
we
just keep coming back to white.

My concerns with thermofoil or laminate are the weight, and the
inability
to repair dents or scratches.

If anyone has had either of these type of cabinets installed for a
while,
can you tell me about their durability, reapairability, and
installation
considerations?

Thanks,
Bruce






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