Your kitchen cabinets might peel for many reasons, including water damage, a poor paint job or high humidity. Areas near the sink and above the stovetop are especially prone to peeling, and it’s an eyesore that can drive you batty.
If you want to replace or professionally repaint your kitchen cabinets soon, a simple touchup can make your kitchen more bearable in the interim.
Cabinets that are solid wood can simply have the single, peeling panel swapped out (end panels are thin and dubbed “the skin,” and are especially easy to replace).
In some cases, non-custom cabinets might even sell replacement end panels. Otherwise, you might want to lightly sand the damaged area before applying a matching stain or paint. Kits for this are available at home improvement stores for under $50, or you can buy sandpaper and matching stain or paint yourself.
Using a file to remove loose particles before swapping out panels ensures a smooth seam and can help you get the snuggest fit between the cabinet back edge and wall.
Panel Replacements
End panels cost less than $40 in most cases, but the struggle is in matching the replacement panel to your current cabinets. Even if you know the brand and name of the stain and paint used (which is rare), a new application isn’t going to match perfectly, since the color on your cabinets has faded some. But a slightly off fix is still going to look better than a peeling cabinet.
Another option is swapping out a couple of panels, such as one on each side of the sink, so that they’re even and match one another despite not matching the rest of the cabinetry.
Most importantly, any problem that you can fix is worth the effort to research. For example, sometimes appliances are the cause of the peeling, like a leaking dishwasher. Steam coming from sinks is a popular troublemaker, too.
Choosing a wood for your cabinets that’s durable enough for your daily use should be a priority when cabinet shopping.
Getting Steamy
Since you can’t avoid steam in the kitchen, you might want to beef up compressed wood fibers so any waves or dents are less noticeable. It’s a great trick if you have wood with annoying dents but isn’t chipped or broken .
Test the area by sprinkling some water, covering it with a cloth, and then using a hot iron’s tip on it briefly. You may need to repeat this process or play with how long you leave the iron on the area to get the best results for dent removal.
Depending on a professional for cabinet repair and replacement yields the best results. Call AWA Kitchen Cabinets today and talk with an expert about your kitchen cabinet concerns.