Thermfoil cabinets

[Jay Albrandt]

Hey everyone,

Does anybody have any experience with this type of cabinet finish. My friend is looking at them as an option for a kids bathroom because of their proposed durability. How do the wear? Do they look like a quality product? Are they suitable for a wet location.

Thank you all for your response.

Jay

[Jamie Buxton]

As I understand it, thermofoil means that a thin (like .005") plastic film is thermally bonded to an MDF substrate which has been molded to have features somewhat like raised panelling or the like. That is, thermofoil is no more durable than melamine-covered MDF. If water gets through that plastic layer -- perhaps around edges -- the MDF turns to oatmeal. So I wouldn't call thermofoil durable, particularly around kids in bathrooms.

[frank shic]

jay, they look cheap to me but they are probably the cheapest option out there. it might fit in your friends budget, though...

[Bob Malone]

Jay I live in Canada and my house is 8 years old; in our kitchen and bathrooms we have these type of white cabinets. They have ahndled the moisture well, clean up great BUT>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

It seems the glue that is usd to bond the plastic to the MDF substrate has issues. In our kitchen, two cabinet doors have "yellowed" over 8 years. It is noticable in day light, you would swear that these two doors are a BONE or IVORY color - not white! The cabinet supplier is a larger national supplier and was honest to admit it can happen. In our kitchen we had 2 of 25 cabinet doors turn color. Our Neighbours had 8 of 30 doors turn color. It is the only issue I can see with this type of cabinets - they handle moisture well. The issue of cabinets changing color is frustrating and there is no way to know IF it will happen, but within 2 years after installation, the color change will show up IF there is an issue.

The cabinets in the bathrooms are fine, so mositure should not be a concern.

Good Luck

Bob

[Ellen Benkin]

The process is sold by kitchen design stores as a reasonably inexpensive way to make doors. Since they sell them for kitchens I assume they would also work in bathrooms.

[David Weaver]

When I worked at Aristokraft, these were pretty popular, and they weren't cheap. I can only tell what's popular by what goes down the line, and the summers I worked there between college years, I worked on the "vanity line", assembling cabinets.

There can be an issue with the doors, even new ones, coming apart a little bit at the seams. Otherwise, they'll handle water better than a wooden door in most cases - especially if it's just splashed across a door and the door isn't submerged.

One thing I would check is whether or not the whole cabinet is thermofoil covered. Our face frames were wood painted white, and the sides were either ply on particle board with a white tape covering them.

There is definitely an issue in some cases where the paint and the doors don't match in color. White on the thermofoil doors is white white white, and sometimes the frames don't get as white.

I ended up with one in the first apartment I lived in - the door was thermofoil, and the cabinet was as I just discussed. Unfortunately, the shower design was bad and water spritzed on the side of the vanity (only inches from the back of the shower) and eventually the entire side bubbled out. If your vanity isn't somewhere that it will get splashed constantly, I wouldn't worry.

I guess they probably make a better bathroom door than a regular door with lacquer on it, but I don't see any huge advantages if the rest of the cabinet isn't thermofoil covered, too.