Nope. You are not fixing that. Only replacing it. Or. They can be peeled with a heat gun, and the substrate painted. That would cost WAY more than your security deposit though. About the same as replacement.

I would fight his reasoning. What is excessive heat when cooking even mean and how does it prove any negligence on your part? Did you set fires?

You could attempt to fight the issue since it seems very strange to allege that peeling laminate was caused by excessive heat from cooking. He picked the cabinets and the placement of same - cooking is normally done in a kitchen and unless you replaced a standard residential stove with a pro range with high BTU burners it seems that the landlord or the supplier of the cabinets is at fault for not installing kitchen cabinets that are fit for normal use - i.e. to be in a kitchen in which food is being cooked.

You could sue in small claims court in New York - I am not sure if there is a specific landlord/tenant court.

However, my understanding is that landlords keep a "blacklist" of problematic tenants which make it difficult to rent. Not defending the practice but just pointing out that you could win the battle - i.e. get a partial return of the security deposit and lose the war by having difficulties renting in the future because you are on an undesirable tenant list.

I'm from NY, lived in NYC. There are plenty of attorneys out there that can help you with this, although it will cost money. Yes, there is a landlord tenant court. Still, should cost well less than 3k. The heat is far away from many of the points of delamination. Go cook something, turn on your hood, and feel where the heat is. He has no case, this is bogus.

I recommend small claims court since there is no fee except a nominal amount to serve the defendant - typically about $20 or $30.

In most jurisdictions, a business can't use a lawyer which is intended to have the plaintiff on even footing as the small claims court really doesn't care about "procedure".

A lawyer would probably cost more than the claim is worth.

As a landlord, I doubt I could win this and wouldn’t try. Any judge in my area would laugh that excessive heat thing out of the courtroom quickly. I wouldn’t even be brave enough to put that in writing.

Did you ever bring this up to the landlord when the cabinets started to fall apart during your lease?

He is lying or ignorant with his heat damage claims. Thermofoil failures are common; it has nothing to do with you.

@chispa - Did you ever bring this up to the landlord when the cabinets started to fall apart during your lease?

As a landlord it pains me to say this... but I wouldn't advise people immediately report the damage to the landlord if they could hide it until they moved out. This depends on your landlord, but you can, and often will, be evicted for damage and that eviction is going to stay on your rental history report for a long time. Most good landlords are going to avoid you like the plague once you have an eviction and the good landlords who will consider someone after an eviction are likely going to charge a premium. Some landlords will use the threat of eviction to get tenants to sign a rent increase to cover the damages. It happens all the time.

Certainly, if you can make the landlord aware of the problem before there is extensive damage and/or you are confident that you will not get evicted then you should report it just to have a record of it.

The excessive heat on the lowers is rich. (rolls eyes tothe back of my head)

He bought cheap butt cabinets and wants to charge you to replace them. Fact is - they look CLEAN and nice apart from the el crappo delamination. The fact that you were easy on them that the lamination didn't get ripped / torn / damanaged, etc shows what a good tenant you are! That lamination looks like someone heat gunned an auto wrap.

The landlord is really stretching to blame that on the tenant. If this issue didn't exist, he likely would have found another reason to keep your security deposit

I’m a landlord and these cabinets CAN be damaged by heat, I had a tenant fall asleep while making rice during finals and melted all the fronts off! That is not what is happening here, this is just thermafoil being thermafoil. You are not to blame.

Thank you all for your comments and advice.

An update from my landlord….

Hi Darren, the information you received on the online housing repair forum is not 100% accurate. Thermofoil kitchen doors and drawer fronts have been used in kitchens for many years and the heat intolerance is not always an issue. My own kitchen doors are Thermofoil, were installed in 2019 and I don’t have any issues with them. Given that all the upper cabinet doors were damaged even the ones on top of the refrigerator, it seems that the apartment was kept at unreasonable high temperature that caused them to degrade and bubbled up, and it has nothing to do with normal wear and tear. We used to live in that apartment for 3 years and also had other tenants living in the apartment after us, and never had issues with the kitchen doors and drawer fronts. Based on that, I am willing to compromise and return to you $708.34 from the total amount of $2,708.34. that you are asking back. I will cost me more than $2,000.00 to replace the damaged kitchen doors and drawer fronts. I can Zelle the $708.34 to you today.

Your landlord is getting even more ridiculous as I find it hard to believe that any apartment could be kept hot enough and humid enough to cause damage to kitchen cabinets - the whole idea is preposterous.

If you are living in a tropical rain forest with no air conditioning, it would not be damage caused by your actions anymore than damage from salt would be caused by a tenant's negligence in a beach rental as sea air is known to cause corrosion as a natural part of the environment.

It is your landlord who is "not 100% accurate".

" it seems that the apartment was kept at unreasonable high temperature that caused them to degrade and bubbled up "

LMAO, the cabinets would not delaminate like that even in the Sahara Desert. He is full of S**T. He bought crap and wants you to pay to replace them.

@darrenjk - Let's start with the easy stuff. Did your landlord provide written documentation of repair deductions within 14 days? If not then you are entitled to double your entire security deposit back regardless of the damages.

I had thermofoil cabinets in an unconditioned garage when I lived in the Middle East. The average temperature in the summer is 107°F although we were there in a heatwave and the temperature stayed above 112° with fairly high humidity (60% -70%). My cabinets didn't fail in that weather. In fact, thermofoil cabinets are used in many of the warmest climates and do fine.

Thermofoil cabinets are sensitive to intense heat 100% of the time. They are not especially sensitive to warm rooms. Any temperature in which humans can survive is well under the phase change temperature for thermofoil. When cabinets are damaged in a kitchen it is typically from appliances such as coffee makers, rice cookers, crock pots, etc. They should not be susceptible to damage from high room temperatures. Since your landlord is asking for 100% accuracy, ask him the exact phase change temperature of thermofoil since he believes your home temperature was in excess of that.

---

Just because a failure appears after a particular set of circumstances, doesn't mean those circumstances are responsible for the failure. E.g. many rental units have poor insulation and little humidity management (which very well may the culprit here) and that is often not an issue when a homes are kept a bit cooler. However, when a tenant cranks up the heat it can cause condensation on walls. That is not the tenant's fault or problem, a tenant is allowed to keep a house at a comfortable temperature.

It is entirely possible that these cabinets wouldn't have failed in his home, but that doesn't mean their failure is your fault. Just because the defect became apparent under the conditions that you choose to live, it doesn't mean that you caused the defect.

@darrenjk - Let's start with the easy stuff. Did your landlord provide written documentation of repair deductions within 14 days? If not then you are entitled to double your entire security deposit back regardless of the damages.

yes, the landlord responded within the 14 days with repair estimates.

Do you know, or can you find out, the brand of the cabinets? The easiest thing to do would be get a statement from them that the cabinets will be fine in a warm house. That pretty much eliminates his objection.

I wouldn’t tell them you are having issues. Just say something like, “I am considering your thermofoil cabinets but am worried because I like to keep my house warm. Are these satisfactory for a home that is kept at a warmer temperature?”

A statement from any thermofoil cabinet company would likely be sufficient, but the actual company would be air tight.

I have been in the remodeling business for years.

I have seen a lot of thermofoil old cabinets. They usually peel in corners or edges. I have never seen thermafoil cabinets have huge "bubbles" detaching so bad ever. That is an installation issue, cabinet defective, warranty issue. The landlord probably went a very cheap route wrapping those cabinets & it's obviously done wrong, wrong material or wrong glue or wrong installation. The landlord should go after the manufacturer, or installer (whoever wrapped those cabinets is responsible) to recoup his money. Not the tenant.

I think you should definately go to small claims court on this one.

I once had to take a landlord to court when I was in college. I had facts & photos. The landlord showed up with their attorney & I was there with my file of photos. The lawyer looked at my photos then whispered to the landlord & the landlord threw a check on the table & we did not even go in front of judge. It was easier than I expected. I also worked in property management years ago. Small claims court is ideal for situations like this.

I would politely write the landlord that you do not agree & that they should take it up with whoever wrapped the cabinets. Send the document certified mail for signature & court proof received. That you want your full security deposit returned by ___ date or we will unfortunatley need to go to snall claims court to let the judge decide. Keep all emails texts everything in writing & photos for court. Keep it professional, polite, & fair.

Wishing you the best outcome for this. Please keep us posted to help others later :)

This is generally what older thermofoil cabinets look like when they peel due to age & wear & tear or water/steam damage

The way the rental's cabinets is peeling is in the middle section which is odd.

It is usually the outer parts that damage. This kind of looks like someone try to vinly wrap these with the wrong adhesive or type of vinyl then use the outer frame (green arrow) to hold in place. These cabinets are junk & your landlord needs to put blame on whoever or where ever he got these wrapped. Shame on that landlord tryong to get a tenant to pay for their problem.

Here's an idea. Tell the landlord you are going to get a professional cabinet refacer company to come inspect these cabinets to determine what the Pros think on what caused this issue & what they quote to fix them. You hire your own cabinet refinisher to inspect this & get the facts. Chances are hghly likely the Pros will tell you they were refaced or wrapped incorrectly. Then you can have this proof in small claims court & counter suit reimbursement for having to pay a Pro to do the inspection for the incorrect accusation it was the tenant's fault. If for some odd reason, it was heavy steam & was the tenant's fault, you will at least know the facts.

Hope this info helps you get this resolved soon & peace of mind. ;)

This looks like a cheap cabinet problem.

I wonder if these cabinets were re-surfaced with CONTACT paper instead of professional thermofoil. That would explain why they are not adhering correctly to the middle section of the cabinet doors correctly. CONTACT paper glue is not meant to be used to resurface cabinets, especially around steam.

Or

Another possible scenario, is it could be vinyl, but whoever wrapped them did not clean the cabinets well enough for the glue to adhere correctly.

I use to make outdoor vinyl signs years ago. They lasted for years outside. Vinyl material & glue is tough. Very hard to remove. The only way vinyl would do that is if the surface was oily & or dirty. Therrmofoil is similar to vinyl for signs. Those are made with stronger glueto withstand wear & tear & mositure. It would take heavy heat right next to it like a stove or hairdryer/heatgun to get that to start to come off.

I truly think those cabinets were not done correclty & therefore is not a tenant's fault.

If you can find someone in your area who specializes in cabinet refacing to inspect them, that would really help you get your security deposit back.

My apologies for posting several posts at once. I just can't stand the idea that a landlord might be trying to take advantage of someone or if someone is blaming someone for something they did not do. I'm not saying that is the case, but I have my suspicions. The only way to know for sure is to get a Cabinet Refinisher Pro to inspect them or take a door off & take it to a store near you. You could at least call them & ask for their general opinion & show them photos.

"Just because the defect became apparent under the conditions that you choose to live, it doesn't mean that you caused the defect."

I am not sure you should accept the 700 right now it might be used to prove you accept responsibility. Good luck you should fight this!

The basic issue here is an unknown age for the used cabinets. They could be 20 years old. I think this would go to a manufacturer type defect. There is extensive failure of the glue. The landlord has no recourse, because this is not the original installation site. And the glue failure is a manufacturing defect. There is a glue that was used some years ago that some manufacturers had this type of failure. as to the images from @artistsharonva, that is failure due to the thermofoil becoming brittle from age.