Child Item

How to fix water-damaged kitchen cabinets?

Im looking for a cheap solution to get this kitchen up to real estate open house condition. The cabinets aren't standard size and the replacement lead time is well into the middle of the year which is too late so I need to repair the cabinet front which is MDF and the cabinet doors which are chipboard. Already have the paint. What is the list of materials I need to do this.

Find more posts tagged with

Tools and Materials

Repairing

Accepted answers

All comments

EricL

Hello @threemonkeys

I suggest having a look at these three possible methods to fix your water damaged doors.

Use a router on the edge of the MDF door. By running a router on the edge of the MDF door you'll be able to shave away the ruined edge of the MDF. You can then simply paint the edge to give it a new look.
Sand down the damaged part of the door and paint it the same colour as the doors surface.
Make your own MDF doors, it will not be a laminated surface, but you can colour it in the same tone as the rest of the kitchen.

Any other laminate parts that are lifting up can be glued down using Parfix 500ml Fast Grip Adhesive.

Let me call on our experienced members @Dave-1 and @Nailbag for their recommendations.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

Dave-1

Morning @threemonkeys

I would suggest to make some copys of the doors and replace the mdf as the easiest option. I dont think it will be easy to get the existing mdf doors back to a nice smooth surface. You could try sanding them but once mdf has expanded then you are really sanding a softer surface.

Once you have replaced the expanded material, then pain and seal. As they are mdf I would suggest a paint for a wetter area.

Dave

threemonkeys

I like the router idea, I expect these doors are too far gone for anything fancy though.

I was in the store yesterday looking at some MDF and other similar products but unfortunately Bunnings don't have a custom cutting service. I don't have the space for power tools, a work area, or even a car to transport all this so I'm working with severely limited options (the joys of living in an inner city apartment with no parking).

Replacing them was my preferred option, I'm painting all of the cabinetry and what's staying will need surface prep anyway so I'm not worried about the matching aspect. If I had my way I would completely replace the front, recess those doors, and open up the blind corner for some much-needed shallow cabinet storage.

I'm going to give it a go filling it with some wood glue, clamping it and sanding it back flat and see if I can get an acceptable finish on it. I'm certain whoever buys it will be looking at ripping the kitchen out anyway. I've already have the trades, measurements for the 3D modelling and a few ideas on file with kaboodle so it's already lined up for someone who's got the time and probably better anyway because they can customise it to suit themselves.

EricL

Hi @threemonkeys

Please keep us updated with your progress, we look forward to seeing the kitchen doors repaired.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

threemonkeys

These are the handles I'm using, the cabinets are going to be painted Taubmans Miss Universe to match the windows I did earlier, the undertones will pick up on the black.

Which way should I put the handles? The draw would be horizontal so I was thinking maybe I should put them all on horizontal and it probably looks a bit more contemporary. I'm worried about catching clothing on the handles though and I don't know if horizontal or vertical is worse for that.

EricL

Hello @threemonkeys

The black handles look great, I think you should mount them vertically rather than horizontally. Your assessment in regards to clothing getting caught is correct. There is a higher percentage of clothing getting snagged if the handle is mounted horizontally.

Please keep us updated with your progress, we look forward to seeing the new colour of your kitchen cabinet doors.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

threemonkeys

It's come up ok, the white looks fresher, more in line with the style that's currently on the market.

Obviously I wasn't able to get the particle board smooth but it looks like the original 1970s kitchen, I'm surprised it's still in one piece, maybe it didn't get much use. It'll be tidy enough to not look nasty once I sort out that stove and redo the silicone around the sink. At least the wood is sealed and the doors are working properly now.

Dave-1

Evening @threemonkeys

Looks tidy 🙂 Cant ask for more then that!

Dave

EricL

Hello @threemonkeys

Thank you very much for the update, the kitchen looks neat.

Eric

Child Item