Cabinet ripoff, literally!

11 years ago

I have a friend who recently purchased an 11 yo home. She noticed the cabinets looked a littleworn, and thought she could match up what looked to be natural Birchwood stain. On closer inspection, and with a little agressive rubbing on a corner, what she though was the finish, started lifting. She continued to pull, and before she knew it, had pulled off what looked to be contact paper, but had to assume they were actually resurfaced. What she thought were 'all wood' cabs turned out to be what looked like cheap masonite or some other cheap wood 'product'. How can you tell if you're getting 'real' wood?

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herbflavor

11 years ago

I would have thought the kitchen would have been thoroughly inspected before purchasing the home. An 11 y old home was built during the peak and much of that frenzy was cheap construction.....so you'd be thinking"how are the existing builder grade cabinets holding up" and have a close look. obviously they weren't doing too well .....for some reason I think contact paper should have been detectable. She'd be doing a new kitchen very soon even if the contact paper hadn't been applied. But the poor cabinets, if known, could have been a negotiating factor for price paid for the home. Let's Hope there are no other "surprises"

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Comments (8)

randy427
11 years ago
If you can't find end grain, be very suspicious.
patty_cakes42 thanked randy427
palimpsest
11 years ago
Thermofoil over MDF is not necessarily a cheap cabinet door.
patty_cakes42 thanked palimpsest
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The Kitchen Place
11 years ago
WHERE was the 'contact paper' applied??? The end panel, the front frame or the door? Or all of the above? SO many people assume solid wood cabinets. It is quite common for many cabinet lines to come standard with a wood grain vinyl for the finished ends. Kraftmaid and Aristokraft to name a couple.

If the cabinets are only 11 years old, I doubt they were refaced in that amount of time. But it's possible.

How can you tell? Look and feel. Did the homeowner advertise all wood cabinets? I doubt it. And if they advertised "oak kitchen" or "cherry kitchen"....and the doors are made of that....that is not be deceiving at all.

A picture would be helpful.
patty_cakes42 thanked The Kitchen Place
millworkman
11 years ago
I was just going to post exactly what The Kitchen Place said, including using Aristokraft as an example.
patty_cakes42 thanked millworkman
patty_cakes42
Original Author
11 years ago
No pic! She has already removed all the 'fake wood'. It was NOT contact paper, if was just my point of reference, ie;looks like wood. It was used on the doors/drawers, sides, and even on the crown molding above the upper cabs~when she pulled that off, it looked as though it was molded over the crown. She didn't ask, and the owner never mention the cabs being wood. She thought because they were so light she would either paint or stain darker. When she began cleaning them she became aware they were not wood.

Pal, it could have been Thermofoil, but neither of us would know. It was just obvious they were resurfaced with 'something'. Will look it up and read about it.
melle_sacto is hot and dry in CA Zone 9/
11 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
Our old cabinets from the 70s had a very contact-paper-like outside -- fake walnut contact paper stuff (thin and ripped like old brittle contact paper) applied to particle board that was painted dark brown. Ikea cabs were 1,000 times better.

What a disappointing discovery for your friend. When we bought our home, I had no idea cabs could be like this. My parents' original 50s cabs are solid wood of some kind, and I never noticed what was in my apartments.
patty_cakes42 thanked melle_sacto is hot and dry in CA Zone 9/
Lavender Lass
11 years ago
We have particle board with fake oak veneer. It's pretty obvious it's fake, but we're going to paint it anyway. We'll try it on a cabinet in the bathroom (which we're taking out later) so if it doesn't work, no harm.
patty_cakes42 thanked Lavender Lass