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Repair Advice Sought for Stripped Cabinet Doors

2K views 24 replies 13 participants last post by  PCDub 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
I'd like to get some advice and opinions on making repairs to kitchen cabinet doors.
Some of the defects appear to have been induced by the paint stripper itself.

After a brutally laborious effort at stripping the paint off twelve cabinet doors I got about 3/4 finished and took a long break … now I want to bust out the last bit of stripping, repair damaged areas, and ready the doors for finishing with primer and paint (Benjamin Moore #217 alkyd primer + INSL-X Cabinet Coat satin white … unless I have good reason to switch to an acrylic primer). The cabinets are built-in and have already been completed and painted.

Here's the background on the stripping:
It's Sisyphean.
I do not dismiss the idea that I am insane. Insane or not the show must go on.
It's a little like I imagine chemotherapy to be: you remove the bad stuff but damage some good stuff in the process.

The cabinets are 90 years old in a rental apartment and they've been deeply abused over the decades and covered in dozens of coats of paint, the oldest are oil and last half a century of latex/acrylic. Besides brutal scrapping the only stripper even approaching the notion of effective results has been Peel Away 1. Peel Away 1 has typically needed at least two thick applications to get much of the paint off, or to get it down where I can scrape and Methylene Chloride. Methylene chloride is slow going and it takes multiple coats with very little penetration per application. All of this in combination with a lot of scraping. The scraping is most effective after the latex/acrylic layers have been removed … as the oil layers are more brittle and scrape more easily … but is brutal work. I'm someone with strong hands but felt as if I was damaging my hands at one point from brute overuse (could be arthritis setting in?). Bottom line is that there's no easy way to strip off that much paint for a DIY project.

Again, the Peel Away 1 was the only stripper that had a fighting chance. The problem however is that along with doing a so so job of stripping it appears to have also damaged some of the doors… it's had an effect I'm not used to and I have to conclude that the stripper penetrated the wood and attacked the glue in the panels creating numerous checks and splits and also some rough raised areas (in some panels there are small splits all over the surface of the panel). The panels seem to have been made from thin veneer/ply … and the rails and stiles themselves seem to have been constructed with a veneer. The damage on the panels resembles forensic photos of knife wounds in flesh where both sides pull away from each other under tension and form 'lips'. I'm thinking of using a scraper/sander to remove the high spots, then surface the panels with Bondo worked in with a plastic spreader or wide putty knife to fill the gaps, and sand it back when it's dry.

The other damage is to the rails and stiles (art looks as if they too are surfaced with a veneer). The main damage to rails and stiles is cracks and gaps at the joints. The big wide gaps I plan to fill with Bondo, but I'm not sure how to fix areas that have split or delaminated. Any suggestions? Btw, the damage to inside surface of the doors I'm not that concerned with as it'll be out of view 99% of the time.

I'm looking for some feedback on my plan of attack (war metaphors are a perfect fit for a project such as this) and alternative suggestions. Don't suggest throwing the doors away and fabricating new ones as it's too late for that : )

Lastly, I have a full size swinging door that I stripped (yes, more suffering!) and painted three years ago. In the past year and a half I've noticed some splitting occurring in the panel and also in the lower rail. Apparently both of these areas look to have surface veneers … I'd never have imagined the stiles to have veneers on them. On the rail (see pic) I was thinking of cutting out the delaminated section of veneer and gluing in a replacement plug and perhaps also using some Bondo or wood filler. The door's panel checking I'll probably not repair at this time and wait for it to get a little worse.

Ugh!

????

[PS: the final thing I'll need to do is source new hinges. I've looked, asked, and posted but have been unable to locate ANY leaf hinges that match the dimensions and hole pattern of the hinges on these doors. Nothing. So to increase my headaches I'll need to perhaps redo the mortices for the hinges and also deal with the old hinge screw holes. No, it never ends!]

Photos:
1st & 2nd show outside of door's deep checks, slitting to panel veneer, plus numerous micro checks.
3rd & 4th show multiple checks in veneer on interior side of doors
5th, 6th, 7th, & 8th show damage to joints, gaps, and some rail/stile veneer damage
9th, 10th, 11th show panel veneer's massive micro checking and raised surface, and rail/stile veneer damage.
12th, 13th, & 14th show damage to swinging door stile veneer.

Rectangle Wood Fixture Font Wood stain


Wood Floor Flooring Plank Wood stain


Brown Wood Flooring Floor Rectangle


Wood Grey Rectangle Tints and shades Composite material


Wood Hardwood Wood stain Flooring Plywood


Wood Flooring Hardwood Wood stain Plank


Wood Office ruler Table Wood stain Flooring


Wood Flooring Floor Wood stain Hardwood


Wood Window House Stairs Beige


Brown Wood Rectangle Tints and shades Composite material


Brown Rectangle Wood Tints and shades Hardwood


Wood Rectangle Flooring Netbook Hardwood


Wood Rectangle Flooring Netbook Hardwood


Wood Tints and shades Rectangle Hardwood Plywood
 

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#2 · (Edited by Moderator)
Here's some more pics showing the context of the stripping job:

Photos:
-1st & 2nd show the existing finish of the cabinetry (custom distressed finish - extremely difficult to replicate)
-3rd shows midstream scraping operations working on deep oil paint layers after the finish has survived numerous direct hits from Peel Away 1 & Methylene Chloride.
-4th shows Interior Decorating treatment with Peel Away 1
-5th shows an Artist's Rendering of Hell

Wood Grey Window Tints and shades Concrete


Wood Grey Wall Material property Composite material


Wood Rectangle Hardwood Font Transparency


Textile Building Wood Window Chair


Wood Floor Ladder Paint Flooring


Wood Gas Flooring Luggage and bags Room
 

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#5 ·
I got to the part where there were all these cracks, and thought: Just make new doors. It's not worth the effort to fix these.
It reminds me of an old saw I once heard - Don't hang on to a mistake just because you've spent so much time making it.
 
#7 ·
And you have been dealing with two extremely dangerous chemicals. Lead paint, don't breath the dust, and you are spreading it around the house. Meth chloride is even worse. Only special chemical gloves can resist it, and not for long. It is absorbed directly through the skin, and into the lungs. You also need the proper respirator, not a dust mask. Toss the doors, make new ones if you can. If you can't, get the protection you need.
 
#14 · (Edited by Moderator)
Okay, I will be the contrarian voice here;

Don't replace them-Repair them.

I would start by using new wood to change out the damaged stiles and rails first, then get some plywood and change out the damaged panels.

Should be restored good as new by then.
:-D
 
#16 ·
Just curious- did you try a heat gun. If I was to attempt something like this, I wouldve tried that first- and a chemical mask.

Secondly, if this is a rental, is it one you own? Because if you are renting this place and killing yourself too, then possibly you are insane…..........:))
 
#17 ·
I want to reiterate I'm interested in repair techniques only ("Don't suggest throwing the doors away and fabricating new ones"). I'm on the home stretch, the built in cabinets have been completed a long time ago and look great. All the other restorations look great.

Despite the visual flaws and superficial damage, these doors are rock solid and have decades of life left in them. It boils down to resurfacing/filling in the outside of a few panels (never done it not sure the best method), filling in some missing wood chunks (easy), and repairing a few sections of edge profiles (not too hard). Figuring out and fitting new hinges seems more of a challenge to me than any of the repair work.
 
#18 ·
I want to reiterate I m interested in repair techniques only ("Don't suggest throwing the doors away and fabricating new ones"). I m on the home stretch, the built in cabinets have been completed a long time ago and look great. All the other restorations look great.

Despite the visual flaws and superficial damage, these doors are rock solid and have decades of life left in them. It boils down to resurfacing/filling in the outside of a few panels (never done it not sure the best method), filling in some missing wood chunks (easy), and repairing a few sections of edge profiles (not too hard). Figuring out and fitting new hinges seems more of a challenge to me than any of the repair work.

- Lovegasoline
I didn't miss that part of your post, but I'm telling you it's misguided. If all of the other restorations look great, then do what you did on them. You say all of those other things are easy, so you don't need help with that. Regarding filling, use filler. Since they're door panels, which won't see much wear, you can get by with something easy to use like Timbermate.

Resurfacing is another matter. You can get peel and stick veneer that would be easy to work with and inexpensive since you're going to paint them. I buy mine here for my refacing jobs. Of course, I only reface the face frame-I build new doors and drawer fronts, or entire new drawers when necessary.

Hinges are easy. You can get no-mortise cabinet hinges and just screw them on. Be sure to get them aligned. To aid in that, I'd make drilling templates out of MDF with the patterns you need for the door and frame. Cut them such that you can simply butt it up against the top of the door opening and drill the holes at the right location. You'll need to add a guide to get the proper setback. For the bottom hinge, just flip it over. For the holes in the door, same thing. Make it so you can hook it over the corner of the door and drill away. Build it with guides on both sides so you can flip it for the other hinge.

You can also build them such that you can strike a mark on the door or stile and align the jig to that mark. I've done both depending on the situation.
 
#20 · (Edited by Moderator)
Regarding filling, use filler. Since they re door panels, which won t see much wear, you can get by with something easy to use like Timbermate.

Resurfacing is another matter.
By resurfacing I meant in the manner of using a filler/sanding the surface to smooth again (not in applying another surface veneer … my word choice was ambiguous).

What about Bondo? I've got a lot of it on hand and used it successfully on other parts of this project and have enjoyed its toughness, have liked working with it, and have faith in its durability. A concern is that the panels with the various checks may be susceptible to tensions … and Bondo seems so tough that it may withstand easy cracking. I've never used Timbermate, what's the benefit (other than I assume easier sanding)?
There's also a question of what adhesive to use in repairs to the delaminating stile veneers (ex. photo #6 and #8 in my first post). Yellow wood glue first, then fill in the gaps with Bondo … or something less viscous than yellow glue to penetrate deeper down … maybe something like Zap-A-Gap cyanoacrylate glue (unfortunately I just checked and my little bottle of the latter is dried out, but I never really got a chance too test it).

Hinges are easy. You can get no-mortise cabinet hinges and just screw them on. Be sure to get them aligned. To aid in that, I d make drilling templates out of MDF with the patterns you need for the door and frame. Cut them such that you can simply butt it up against the top of the door opening and drill the holes at the right location. You ll need to add a guide to get the proper setback. For the bottom hinge, just flip it over. For the holes in the door, same thing. Make it so you can hook it over the corner of the door and drill away. Build it with guides on both sides so you can flip it for the other hinge.

You can also build them such that you can strike a mark on the door or stile and align the jig to that mark. I ve done both depending on the situation.

- Rich
These hinges aren't easy. The doors are mortised for hinges, but I've not been able to source a hinge of the same dimension and hole pattern (the latter slightly offset) after looking high and low.

PS: Safety is no issue whatsoever on this project. Safety equipment is chemical/material specific and far above and beyond what's required.
 
#21 ·
dude i gotta ask why are you so hell bent on spending so much time and effort to save and restore 90 yr old rental unit cabinets that are basic and simple ? it just doesn't make any sense,sorry but most here are thinking the same id bet.
 
#23 ·
If you think safety is above what is required, you have not read a SDS for meth chloride. Or lead paint dust. It s your health being affected, not mine.

- ibewjon
+1 risking your health for crap cabinets that arn't worth the time it takes to rip em out.
 
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