Omg, first I'd call the manufacturer of the oven. Then I'd file a report with the US Safety Administration (assuming you're in the US...if not, other countries probably have similar agencies. They do investigate--several years ago I had a lighted makeup mirror plugged in but not turned on. Hubby smelled something funny and the plastic was melting. I reported it and the Safety Admin sent someone to my home and I allowed them to take it for testing and investigation.

Not the same thing by any means but yours is a real safety and fire hazard, in my opinion. Looks like the doors will have to be replaced, I don't know, but I'd sure report this to everyone I could think of. And I wouldn't use that oven again until it's checked out. Please report it and have it checked out--your lives could have been at stake.

Are the cabinets new? If so, I would contact the manufacturing company. Also, contact the company you purchased your stove from. I don't feel that amount of heat should be able to escape from the range. I would first do a Google search to discover possible issues with both cabinet company and range company. This way you're well informed when you speak to them. Good luck and let us know how it goes. :) Please research first before contacting the companies. :)

I assume your cabinets are thermofoil and this is a known problem. The warranty would say they are not covered for heat damage from the self clean function unless a heat shield is installed between the cabinet and the appliance.

Unfortunately I do not know if they can be repaired.

If the cabinets were installed by pros, then all these things should have been known and taken into account. And permits issued. Someone is to be held accountable. It's just common sense that kitchen cabinets go near a stove. Someone messed up and you should not have to pay for their mistakes. Again get your gloves on and fight. ;) Good luck! :)

Really, thank you for your comments and help. Here is a little more info: we purchased our house in 2002. The oven and the cabinets were in place when we bought the house. I never cleaned the oven with the self-cleaning mode because I was worried about the fire hazard, given that our house is from 1906. So, I don't have the original paperwork. The oven is Jenn-Air, and the the cabinets are from Home Depot. Thanks again! Paula

I still don't feel that much heat should escape from the range. Your insurance will pay to replace all the cabinets. There is no way to match cabinets accurately when they were installed that long ago. Good luck!

You could also seek help from a public adjuster. :)

HI -- When I use to do kitchens we knew not to have thermo foil cabinets and self cleaning stoves or ovens together . Now you need new doors and should find out about the ovens heating . We also did not put microwaves above an oven that has self cleaning . Any material that is applied with heat should not be near a high heat source .

Cabinet manufactureres require that you open the adjacent doors and drawers to an oven when using the self ceaning cycle.

You know paslater, for some reason I didn't notice in your pic that the cabinets were right next to the oven. Had it in my head they were above. Different ranges have different specs for how far away combustible materials need to be on the sides. Many are only 1" but with thermofoil, I wouldn't trust that.
So I doubt your range is faulty. The cabinets are just too close to the oven and appear to be nearly touching it. For safety's sake, get someone in who can resize or move them for you. Don't trust them, even if you never use the self-clean feature again. The cost of moving them will be far less than a fire and no one wants that :)

Dear Ron Corl and all,
Thank you so much for all of your responses. Our house belonged to a do-it-yourselfer who was beloved in the neighborhood. Unfortunately, we have found a few problems here and there. After I cleaned the oven, and saw the damage, I realized I should have opened the drawers and doors, but on the right side of the oven (@ Sophie Wheeler), the hinges are on the oven side! Well, I was afraid of the self-cleaner in the first place because of the high heat, and may just continue to scrub out the oven with mild soap myself. In the meantime, sounds like I probably can't "melt" the coating back onto the MDF or whatever the cabinets are made of. I will look at HD for replacement doors. Will also see if our insurance will cover the damages and contact the consumer safety agency (thanks crowley48!).

It looks like the oven door is flush with the cabinetry, so every time you open the oven door, heat goes blasting against the cabinets. The long-time effect of that (12 years) + the heat from the self-clean function might have been just enough to melt the coating off the doors (or the glue holding it).

Some ranges may be designed to be installed that way, but we always recommend that the oven door sit "proud" of the cabinets. If you do have the original manual for the oven, it might be worth to check. It might not fix your problem, but it might prevent it from happening again later on!

Good luck,

PS: a simple trick to clean your oven: heat up a bowl of water inside before cleaning, the steam will make it a little easier to get those stubborn pieces off :)

I do believe that cabinets should be fire safe especially since they are always close to oven, also I believe in allowing a little gap between oven and cabinets especially as oven can be open for quite a long time when making large dinners for parties.

Paslater, how is it coming along? Any resolution? Good luck and hope it turns out well for you. :)

Hi Zazfuzzroc, thanks for asking. I haven't made much progress yet, but intend to make some calls before the end of the week. I will keep you posted. Who knew this would happen??

I feel bad for you. Wish there was something else i could do. If I had the doors and drawers, I'd send them to you. Hope it turns out well. :)

Contrary to what others have attempted explain ....You will need to replace any drawer, door or panel that has been damaged do to excessive heat. They cannot be repaired. However there is a solution. One can order these materials if given the correct sizes of the drawers, doors or panels to a kitchen dealer willing to take the order. Pictures of the damaged fronts will also help identify the door style and color. Actual sizes of the damaged product are also necessary.

Many of the original manufacturers/ suppliers of these products (i.e.LesCare Kitchens) unfortunately are out of business and so you as a consumer have no recourse. Most unfortunate indeed. Check to see if the product that you purchased is still being manufactured. If they are in business, you may have a claim providing it was installed properly. (read on)

The other issue here is that the cabinets were not installed with a Heat Shield. Anytime you specified or installed an oven next to a cabinet (any type of range or oven) you were required to install a heat shield. What is a heat shield? It was nothing more than a high pressure piece of plastic laminate that was screwed to the sides of the base cabinets. This would shield the heat away from the cabinet doors ether when you opened the oven or range door or during a cleaning cycle. I believe it didn't take much to ruin a drawer/door, not much more than a 150 degree temperature. We also experienced this when a standard toaster was used below a wall cabinet. The heat from the toaster could damage the wall cabinet door above the toaster. In this case the damage was done and no heat shield that I was aware of was available. North Shore Kitchens, Pittsburgh PA.

I know this post is old but people still read them. I just want to add a couple of pictures and maybe will give some helpful hints. Too late for original poster I'm afraid. I'm sorry I don't know how to get this pictures right side up. They were right in my software. Maybe not worth your while to worry with them. And that is Dap
Weldwood Contact Cement.

:) Here ya go lap39

Well, isn't that nice!

Thank you lap39! We just encountered this same issue. Before I track down the builder or appliance supplier/installer, I will look for this product. We followed the directions, however this was our first time self-cleaning this year-old LG oven.

Well, what would you expect from thermofoil, that's why it's cheap. It's just PVC glued on MDF. Warranty won`t cover heat/water damage. It is not the oven but the doors.

The cabinets may not be great, but the self-cleaning oven is the problem! I was about to use that setting on my oven, until I read about the HIGH heat! Many have had problems with their ovens after using this setting. I decided to use elbow grease...better safe than sorry!

Waynette - I did the same. I have never used the self clean feature on any oven I've owned because I did some research first and realized it could do permanent damage. I line the bottom of it with aluminum to make cleaning easier. Someone suggested putting a bowl of water inside of the oven and heating it up. That really does work well.

For any future readers, be cautious using contact cement on thermofoil cabinets. I learned the hard way with contact cement, apparently the cement has solvents in it that will make foil curl into itself thus worsening the problem. Afterwards I called my dad, who spent 30+ years working at Borden/Elmer’s glue, and he told me to use plain white glue. Eventually the white glue has to be reapplied but it won‘t wreck the foil. If the curling is beyond repair (as in the pic by the oven), then I don’t think white glue will help at all. But the white glue does help, if the thermofoil has only curled up in small areas.

Paslater, Did you find a manufacturer of these cabinets? We have the same ones and our toaster oven warped the laminate on ours and we cannot find out what kind they were. They were in the house when we bought it.

Rice cookers, toasters, microwaves, regular use of oven, waffle makers, - basically any low temp heat or steam makes the ikea thermofoil melt. I’m So glad I haven’t attempted to use my self cleaning oven, probably would just melt and burn cabinets completely!

We have to re-wrap cabinets above and below with a better material that won’t melt ! Wasted money on IKEA!