Advice Needed on Replaceing One Cabinet in Kitchen

7 years ago

20 years ago we gutted and remodeled our kitchen. We were unaware that the Merillat cabinets the contractor quoted us included solid wood doors, drawer fronts, and frames, but the cabinet boxes were particle board.

The particle board construction has only been a problem with the kitchen sink cabinet. It is 55.5" wide x 34.5" high x 24" deep. It has three drawers on the left and two doors and two tilt trays on the right. The drawers, drawer fronts, and doors are in very good condition and could be reused. The cabinet floor collapsed due to exposure to water, it has been removed There is some water damage on the sides and back of the cabinet, too.

What are the options in a case like this? Go back to Merillat and see it the cabinet is still available, but with a plywood instead of particle board cabinet box? Buy an entirely new cabinet made of plywood that matches the current cabinet either from Merillat or someone else. Replace the floor of the cabinet with plywood and leave the rest of it alone? Are there any other options?

Thanks for any ideas on this.

Featured Answer

PRO

Joseph Corlett, LLC

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

Remove the doors; remove the adjacent style screws. Using a block and hammer, tap the cabinet front off the cabinet. Smash the cabinet bottom and remove it. Cut a new cabinet bottom of plywood and slide it in the dadoes. Tap the cabinet front back on; hot melt it in place. Replace the screws and doors.

Of course you'll have abated the leak(s) that caused the failure to begin with.

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Comments (7)

PRO
GN Builders L.L.C
7 years ago
If the face of the cabinet is fine and you took care of the water issue, you can order skins from Merillat and replace/re-laminate everything on the inside.
PRO
Anglophilia
7 years ago
There is nothing wrong with good quality particle board. If your cabinets had been furniture grade plywood (the one wood used to build kitchen cabinets - boards would warp), the results would have been equally as bad. Contact Merillat and see what they recommend and can do for you.
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jmm1837
7 years ago
Whether you use plywood or particle board, you need to make sure the leak issue is resolved. Plywood isn't any better than MDF at handling water.
kc270
Original Author
7 years ago
Thanks for the ideas. I should have mentioned the leak had been repaired some time ago. I just had not realized the extent of the damage to the cabinet box. I was not expecting plywood to be waterproof, but to be more water resistant to brief water exposure than particle board.

The sides are showing the most particleboard disintegration. If I go with Joseph's fix, the dadoes would need to be supplemented with a strip of wood on each side to compensate for the areas where the dadoes are damaged.
mainenell
7 years ago
A good carpenter or cabinetmaker can make a new box utilizing the cabinet front that is still good. Just a little bit more work than what Joseph described.
ci_lantro
7 years ago
I was not expecting plywood to be waterproof, but to be more water resistant to brief water exposure than particle board.

That is true. Plywood is more water resistant.

Used to be two grades of plywood glues...interior grade and exterior. The interior grade glue would delaminate fairly readily when exposed to water. Anymore, even interior grade plywoods are laminated with water resistant glue.