Repairing veneered kitchen cabinettes


  #1  
Old 06-27-06, 10:52 AM
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Repairing veneered kitchen cabinettes

Hi everyone!

I just found this forum last night; and I hope I'm posting this in the right place -kinda lost in the stacks here.

We have a double-wide mobile home, and since the day we moved in the place has been falling apart -the kids, the pets, and normal living have just been too much for the place.

I finally have the time and want to start making the repairs and fixing the place back up, but it will be a slow and I will have to keep the expenses as low as possible -about $30.00 per month average.

So...I want to start in the kitchen. I have built-in cabinettes that are cheap wood with cheap veneer. Some of the cabinettes have holes in the sides, and on the lower drawers some of the veneer has peeled off in huge chunks. A few years back a puppy chewed on some of the lower corners so they look like hell. Others are still in perfect condition & I don't want to ruin them.

I want to paint the whole kitchen. Part of it is wood panelling, and I plan to fill in the grooves with spackle and paint it. Again, some of it is peeling and ragged, and the moldings will need replaced. The rest is wall paper, and is in good condition (not peeling or anything) and I want to paint over it, too.

So the only problem is the cabinettes and drawers. I'm not sure how to repair the holes, and I don't know if I should replace the damaged fronts then paint everything or if I should just peel off the remaining veneer and then paint the wood underneath? Would that hide the problem or just make it more noticible?

I don't know if I can buy new drawer fronts to match the old ones, or if I'd have to replace every door and drawer?

I'm just not sure what's the best direction to go. Either way, I'm in no hurry, but really would like to make the place look nice again -it was great when we moved in.
 
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Old 06-28-06, 11:02 PM
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Dragon Lady,

I need to know a bit more about those cabinets to offer suggestions. What are they made of? What is the veneer material? Is it a wood veneer or Formica? You say there's a hole in the side of the cabinet; where exactly and how big is it? Replacing drawer fronts can be an option but the price depends a lot on the style, fancy or plain, the finish, wood or formica, and the size, big or small.

Besides getting back here you should probably search on the painting forum for painting paneling. If you don't find your specific problem addressed then post your question about painting there. There's some good painters here.

Jan
 
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Old 06-29-06, 11:17 AM
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Thank-you, Jan2, for taking the time to reply.

I need to know a bit more about those cabinets to offer suggestions. What are they made of? What is the veneer material? Is it a wood veneer or Formica? You say there's a hole in the side of the cabinet; where exactly and how big is it? Replacing drawer fronts can be an option but the price depends a lot on the style, fancy or plain, the finish, wood or formica, and the size, big or small.

I will try to post some pictures this afternoon. Some of the holes are on the side of the cabinets (sp?) and are fairly large -half-dollar size.

Besides getting back here you should probably search on the painting forum for painting paneling. If you don't find your specific problem addressed then post your question about painting there. There's some good painters here.
Somewhere, I saw (maybe on tv) someone who painted panelling and it looked good after. They got rid of the grooves with something?

I just keep getting more "lost" as to what exactly to do, and in what order. We have a green carpet in the kitchen, and it's stained in places. I want to remove it, and put in vinyl flooring or maybe even tile (if I can find something affordable) but wonder if I should do it first, because I need to replace the wall moldings? But then, if I paint I don't want to mess up a new floor! As it is, paint on the carpet won't bother me at all....

Since I haven't done this before, I'm sure I'll mess something up, and I want to make sure it's something fixable.

In the meantime, I'm just cleaning and degreasing and getting ready to strip the old finishes.
 
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Old 06-29-06, 05:06 PM
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VB code is off for some parts of this forum, and I couldn't post any pictures. So, I started a blog here:

http://redecoratingkitchen.blogspot.com/

There's pictures of the veneer damage and the damage to countertop and panelling. Also, a photo of a whole drawer front, in the hopes that someone knows where I might be able to buy more like them.
 
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Old 06-29-06, 10:15 PM
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Dragon Lady,

I tried to get to your blog but my cheap computer and low speed connection just go to sleep so I haven't seen your pictures. Still, I can tell you that you're right; the floor goes last. You'll always drop something when you're working over a new floor.

For replacement drawer fronts try Home Depot and Lowes. I know they both sell a wide variety. Take along a drawer and compare it to their samples. They should have some catalogs to look at. For that matter contact the company that manufactured your place and ask them about replacements. It can't hurt.

I'l try to figure out how to look at thaose pictures before I tackle the holes in the cabinet.

Jan
 
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Old 06-30-06, 09:35 PM
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Jan2, any luck viewing the pictures?

In the painting forum I was told joint compound would fill in the grooves in the panelling, and I'm wondering if it would work to fill in the missing veneer?
 
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Old 07-01-06, 04:16 AM
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Joint compound has no structrual strenght so it can't effectively be used to plug a hole, especially on thin material. If you can glue [or otherwise adhere] a piece of wood or something to close the hole [on the backside] then you can use j/c to fill/level the front side.
 
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Old 07-01-06, 09:29 AM
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Yeah; I was kinda thinking I might be able to patch them with something, then level it off. The worst ones are on the cabinet with the drawers, so I have to find something thin enough to allow the drawers to still slide in and out.
 
 

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