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Hi…and thanks in advance for any advice in this matter.
i recently moved out of an apartment in NYC and need help if these cabinets can be relaminated. my former landlord states excessive heat from cooking caused the laminate on a number of the cabinets to ”lift” (i have attached several photos for review). needless to say he wants to keep the entire security deposit of $3,150.00. he states 7 doors and 2 drawer fronts were damaged.
the cabinets were installed several years ago and were purchased used. My landlord received a couple quotes that dictate to replace the cabinet fronts (wood and laminate) for the ENTIRE kitchen of 19 doors and 5 drawers since they cannot match paint color. Costs for the 2 quotes was $6,500.00 and $5,035.00 (for thermafoil). also note that some of the cabinets where the laminate lifted were not located near the stove or oven.
per the attached pics do the cabinets look like the laminate can be replaced? would the cost be similar to the 2 quotes? could the cabinet laminate be ”reheated” to reglue the laminate to the cabinet? regarding matching paint is it near impossible to match? And finally…since cooking in a kitchen is a normal, daily thing to do would it be something that could have been avoided as I always used the overhead fan when cooking.
Did you cause the damage or maybe previous tenants?
Do you have pictures of the cabinets taken at the time you moved in?
Did your landlord caution you about possible damage caused by high heat?
Thermofoil is a cheap choice for landlords, but not suitable material for kitchen cabinets, especially in rentals, and l am sure he knew that.
Did he install heat shields in order to protect cabinets located near oven?
Who is the maker of those kitchen cabinets?
Take a picture of the entire kitchen and get your own quotes. See if the landlord agrees to that.
Looks like HD sells similar cabinets. Go there with the picture of your kitchen and ask for estimate.
IKEA sells thermofoil cabinets too.
MDF and Thermofoil
This class is the main category of IKEA doors, with melamine foil and/or thermofoil applied to a fiberboard base: RINGHULT line (fiberboard and melamine foil); GRIMSLOV and MARSTA lines (fiberboard, foil, and melamine foil); BROKHLT, JARSTA, and EDSERUM lines (particleboard and foil); and TINGSYRD and HAGGEBY lines (particleboard, polypropylene, and melamine). https://www.thespruce.com/ikea-kitch...ade-of-1822041
I’ve seen a lot of thermofoil cabinets delam over the years- but nothing like that!!!
If you don’t have pictures of when you moved in- you’re f*cked! Cause this would most likely end up in small claims court- and/or cost you an attorney that will be far more than the $3k. Even having someone evaluate what happened/didn’t happen won’t be inexpensive either.
I’d be glad to get out with the $3k- and not having to pay for a whole new kitchen. Carry on!
Yeah. If the landlord estimate of the whole kitchen is about $5K and he has to replace all cabinets, then losing $3K while hurts, it's most likely your best option.
Make sure to take very detailed pictures of everything before moving into a new place.
And how hot does your landlord think it got in that kitchen? I would think a temperature high enough to melt the adhesive would be too high for you to be able to stand being in there.
Unless there was an incident with actual open flames roaring up to cabinet height, I'll call BS on 'heat delamination'... primarily because if word of that gets around, Thermofoil is out of business.
And echo what Elina said. If the landlord put them in, he made a decision based on dollars. And unless it's one of those NYC apartments you see in TV shows (with 'real' kitchens), it's hard to imagine replacement cost anything near that many dollars. And even if they do need replacing and it was your fault, does the landlord get to hold you liable for the cost of new units when he bought them used to begin with?
Ask him to explain how a base cabinet door can delaminate from cooking heat. Doesn’t make sense. It looks to me like poor quality cabinet doors that are delaminating from the outside edges inward.
Excessive heat from cooking? The unit was provided with a heat source intended for cooking with the adjacent cabinets, I can’t understand how damage from normal use would be your problem?
Even if that is the case, I guess you will need to evaluate your options since it would not be good to overpay just to prove a point even though that would be poetic justice
Delam from cooking heat on a base cabinet?? Go ahead, pull the other one. You have no downside at this point trying to relaminate using a hair dryer and folded bath towels. It likely won't work at all, but it might make you feel better.
Unless you can show proof of other cause, this is a walk and learn moment.
There's no way cooking caused those problems! Just cheap crappy cabinetry.
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