I can't stand the dark wood vaneer on the cabinets! Im thinking of covering the doors with melamine. Am I missing the big picture here? Should I just replace them? Id love to see pics of what you people have come up with!
I chose to re-finish in my restoration. Since I was going to surface them with oak venere I was able to clean up the 4 worn edges by trimming about 3/16 inch off them with my table saw. Then attached a 3/16th inch wood strip to bring them back to size. Then glued the venere to the inner and outer face surfaces iwth contact cement. Finished the 4 edges with the iron on oak venere trim ( boy is that a neat new invention). Then stained with a oak stain and gave them a coat of satin polyurethane.
The extra damp winter showed me I gave the table top a better coat of polyurethane than the cabinet doors (thought it would get more wear). There were some places on the cabinet doors where my venere expanded and bubbled a little with the grain. After checking with a refinisher he said just get out an old iron and iron them... I tried and it works - seems the heat softens the contact cement and re-bonds the venere and the wood flattens. I will be giving them a good coat of polyurethane when done!
Trailer: 1999 17 ft Casita Spirit Deluxe ('Inn EggsIsle')
Posts: 611
Melamine will work just fine, you can take some medium sandpaper and go over the existing surface to break up the finish then stick the new stuff to it. If you have square edges I'd put the new stuff on there first then do the front and back. That way the reveal of the edging won't be peaking at you all the time, If the edges are a radius then you can try to match it with paint or as Ryan did make them square then glue the edges.
__________________ Love being Inneggsile heading sloowly up the eastcoast to our next 2 month (Aug and Sept) camp hosting gig at Camden Hills State Park in Maine
I simply made new doors and replaced. They're not hard to make.
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The plain doors without decorations were not hard to make. I used 1/2" maple edged glued to get the width. Cut to size, round the edges, finish to your likes. I transfered hardware from the old doors to the new doors.
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Byron & Anne enjoying the everyday Saturday thing.
I removed the Contac-paper type fake wood by heating it with a hair dryer and peeling it off. Then I just painted the doors white and added a yellow stripe. It was inexpensive and easy and it really brightened up the interior of our Scamp!
Sandra
Trailer: 1982 Fiber Stream and 2001 Casita Spirit Deluxe (I'm down to 2!)
Posts: 1,989
I used Birch Plywood and rounded the edges then clear poly as a finish.
I even found a thin enough peice to do the fridge door with.
It just slid into the channel where the old on was.
Boy Diane you and Dave sure do fine work...it is amazing, the trailer of yours that I saw in Two Harbors vs your trailer with modifications...just amazing and beautifly done.
Well, the cabinet doors in our old Scamp were just those "imitation" pressed board ones- I felt NO hesitation at all in painting them. They are so small- if I ever got the urge for read wooden ones, it would be easy to just make them.
I am doing my decor in a Space theme... I thought wouldn't it be nice to get cool colored plastic panels to make new doors with? That would be SO nice. Some company, somewhere, makes such an item, I just know it- I'd just have to hunt.
Well, the cabinet doors in our old Scamp were just those "imitation" pressed board ones- I felt NO hesitation at all in painting them. They are so small- if I ever got the urge for read wooden ones, it would be easy to just make them.
I am doing my decor in a Space theme... I thought wouldn't it be nice to get cool colored plastic panels to make new doors with? That would be SO nice. Some company, somewhere, makes such an item, I just know it- I'd just have to hunt.
My poor old brain is slipping. There was a science fiction series I read many years ago. In that series stuff made of "genuine plastic" was great demand. Every story had several references to "genuine plastic".
Maybe you're ahead of your time.
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Byron & Anne enjoying the everyday Saturday thing.
I am doing my decor in a Space theme... I thought wouldn't it be nice to get cool colored plastic panels to make new doors with? That would be SO nice. [b]Some company, somewhere, makes such an item, I just know it- I'd just have to hunt.
Diane, that's vitually what I'm planning to do with my doors, create a frame so I can change out my oil paintings. You did a nice job. Can you change the photos and if so, would you kindly post a picture of the inside?
Ed Harris, I love your birch doors! They are so pretty!
Byron, great looking project!
Deb, I've seen something of what you described in Europe at some of the design places I'v been...it's like looking at Tupperware! Yes, these could be fun. But, why not use plexiglass? You could get a clear door and etch it with a space theme! It would be veddy cool looking. If mine, I'd likely try to find a stainless edge to finish them off.
Just a thought...
My poor old brain is slipping. There was a science fiction series I read many years ago. In that series stuff made of "genuine plastic" was great demand. Every story had several references to "genuine plastic".
Maybe you're ahead of your time.
I hear you all on that dark interior. it's the one reason we hadn't bought a boler or bigfoot before. So now that we have one...the question is how to brighten up that interior!
Since my husband is a carpenter replacing the doors isn't a hard one...
We've wondered about just painting the interior or replacing the panelling - but replacing seems like a ton of work....
I chose to resurface the cabinets in my 17' boler. But Man, there are about 20 cabinets!. I chose to resurface in feaux woodgrain. I used natural looking formica laminate for durability, cleaning and reduce the amount of staining sanding I needed to do. As for the doors, I used Birch flooring strips as the frames, and tore apart the old doors and used them as backing for the new ones. See the before and after pictures. So far, I got 3/4 done. The other 1/4 I am going to paint. They are on the other side of the trailer that do don't see in these pictures.