Thermofoil, melamine and laminate cabinet painting relies on a bonding primer that grips the slick surfaces a regular primer slides off, sprays hard enamel over it, and strips or replaces any thermofoil door that has already begun to peel.
These doors fill the Gordon Street condos, the rental houses around the university, and a good share of the 1990s houses in Pineridge and east of Victoria Road. The work is insured, and the visit sorts the doors that can be painted from the ones that cannot before the cabinet painting quote is written.
A Bonding Primer Is What Makes Cabinet Painting Stick To Melamine And Laminate
Melamine and laminate are hard plastic skins over particleboard, and paint will not stick to them without help. A bonding primer made for slick surfaces grips the plastic chemically, and once it has cured for a few days the enamel on top holds as well as it does on wood. Sanding is light, just enough to dull the shine, because the skin is thin and sanding through it exposes the particleboard.
Melamine's weak spot is the edge, where the banding chips and a chipped corner reads straight through paint. Each chip gets filled and sanded ahead of the primer, and the quote allows for that. Melamine cabinet painting costs a little more than maple because of the primer and the edge work, usually a few hundred dollars on a kitchen.
Intact Thermofoil Can Be Painted, And Peeling Thermofoil Cannot
Thermofoil is a vinyl film heat-wrapped onto MDF, and it takes cabinet painting well as long as the film is still stuck down everywhere. Once it lifts, most often along the top of the door next to the dishwasher or beside the stove, paint will not glue it back. The film keeps peeling under the paint, and the finish goes with it.
Two honest fixes exist for a peeling thermofoil door. Heat takes the film off down to bare MDF, which then gets sealed and primed and goes through the booth with the others, or a new door replaces it and gets painted to match. The door replacement page covers that second route. Every door gets checked on the visit, the lifting ones get marked, and the quote lists them by number.
Condo And Rental Kitchens Are Where These Doors Live
Most of the melamine kitchens in Guelph are in condos and rental units, where a landlord or a condo owner wants a clean kitchen without a two-week disruption or a five-figure bill. Cabinet painting suits that exactly. The doors head out to the booth, the boxes get one day of spraying, and the unit runs on open shelving until the doors return. Building logistics are on the condo kitchen page.
A rental kitchen also gets a harder-wearing product. A 2K polyurethane over bonding primer stands up to tenants better than a one-part enamel does, and the quote states which product is specified.
Wall Paint On Melamine Is Why So Many Of These Kitchens Are Peeling Already
A lot of melamine kitchens have already been painted once, badly, with a wall paint and no primer. That paint peels in sheets and has to come off before anything else happens. Where it is loose it is scraped, where it is stuck it is sanded and sealed, and the cost of that removal is its own line in the quote. It is the single most common repair in thermofoil and melamine cabinet painting, and it is avoidable with the right primer the first time.
Book A Visit For Thermofoil, Melamine Or Laminate Cabinet Painting In Guelph
If the doors are plastic-skinned and you are not sure which ones are lifting, book the visit or call +1 (226) 271-3466 and we will go door by door. The Guelph Cabinet Painting home page covers cabinet painting on wood and MDF kitchens too.
Thermofoil, Melamine and Laminate Cabinet Painting Questions
Can melamine and laminate doors be painted?
Yes, over a bonding primer made for slick surfaces. Regular primer slides off them. The door is degreased and scuff sanded first, then primed and sprayed in thin coats of hard enamel.
Can peeling thermofoil be painted?
No. Paint cannot glue the vinyl film back down. A door that has lifted near the dishwasher or stove is stripped to bare MDF or replaced. Thermofoil that is still stuck down everywhere can be painted.
Why is my painted melamine peeling already?
Wall paint or a quick primer was most likely used. Neither bonds to a plastic face, so the paint lifts at the edges within a year. The old coat is removed and the door is primed again.