Cabinet Doors
Top 10 D.I.Y. tips on cabinet doors
For someone who spends most of his or her time at home and in the kitchen, the way the cabinet doors look can affect the mood of that person. To find out whether you should do something about your cabinet doors or not, answer this. Have you been living in the same house or apartment for more than 5 years? 10 years? Getting tired of the way your house looks….and maybe thinking of remodeling or giving your cabinet doors a fresh new look?
Here are some important things to remember when giving your cabinet doors a brand new look!
Cabinet Doors remodeling - TIP #1
Take all drawers and remove all doors of your cabinet and remove everything inside the cabinet before you do anything to the cabinet doors. Decide whether you need new doors or if you can reuse the old cabinet doors. In most cases, the old cabinet doors will do after you give them a remodeling. If you plan to use new doors, order them from a cabinet door supplier ahead of time. If you want to reuse the old cabinet doors, you can only veneer the cabinet doors if they are flat.
Cabinet Doors remodeling - TIP #2
Remove any part of the cabinet doors that's falling apart, damaged or cannot be reused. Fill in the gaps in the cabinet doors with wood putty, sand smooth. Seal the cabinet doors with varnish or Polyurethane.Use 80 grit sandpaper or sander to rough up the surface of your paper-backed or wood-backed cabinet doors.
If the cabinet doors have a thick finish or are made of plastic, use Peel & Stick veneer. It's not possible to rough up the surface of this type of cabinet doors. Before that, give the cabinet doors a good wipe up with lacquer thinner.
Cabinet Doors remodeling - TIP #3
Peel off the Peel & Stick veneer; heat the back of the sticker with a hair dryer before you stick it onto the cabinet doors. Remember, before you proceed to remodel the cabinet doors, read the manufacturers' instructions thoroughly. You don't want to have to go out and get brand new cabinet doors when you should have been able to reuse the old cabinet doors.
Cabinet Doors remodeling - TIP #4
Remember to work on the edges and end panels of the cabinet doors first before you do the cabinet door rails and stiles. You don't even have to do anything with the inside rail edges and the back of the doors – unless you want to. Most of the time, you can leave that part of the cabinet door alone because the level of wear and tear on that part of the cabinet door is normally very low.
Cabinet Doors remodeling - TIP #5
Do up the doors, drawers and cabinets of the cabinet parts with veneer sheet material. You can use iron-on, pre-glued or wood-backed striped of veneer from veneer sheets for the raw wood or war rails and stiles portion of the cabinets, including the doors.
Cabinet Doors remodeling - TIP #6
Instead of doing each of the cabinet doors one and a time, you should cut pieces of oversize ahead of time and work on 4 to 5 doors at one go. Leave the edges hang over and you can trim that portion of the cabinet doors later on, instead of cutting off too small.
Cabinet Doors remodeling - TIP #7
Test and fit all cut pieces onto the cabinet doors before you glue them on. Better yet, before you glue them to the cabinet doors, mark out the space needed as a reference guide.
Cabinet Doors remodeling - TIP #8
If you're gluing raw wood on your cabinet doors, 2 coats of contact cement is usually preferred.
Cabinet Doors remodeling - TIP #9
After the glue that you used on the cabinet doors has set (approximately 12 minutes), you can apply veneer to the surface of the cabinet doors.