kraftmaid thermofoil cabinets

12 years ago

I would like some feedback specifically about Kraftmaid thermofoil cabinets from Home Depot. I want white cabinets and am trying to decide between Kraftmaid thermofoil and wood. If they are white anyway, how important is it to get wood?

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ticklepink

12 years ago

My 20 year old kitchen cabinets are white MasterCraft thermofoil. I have loved them! They are in pretty good shape but there is a very slight yellowing, and the laminate has torn on a couple of doors. I am now researching how to paint them.

If you decide 10 years from now that you want a different color, then I think wood would be easier to deal with.

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Comments (9)

Debbi Branka
12 years ago
We have 2 of those cabs in our laundry room. We hung them a little over 2 years ago. They're still perfect in construction and white white.
purplepansies
12 years ago
We bought this house 5 years ago and the previous owner had just updated the kitchens with Kraftmaid thermofoil cabinets. They are easy to clean, but I'm not too happy with the quality - the edges chip, especially for the higher use cabinets, and the one to the left of the range has warped and peeled away from the substrate. Granted, these cabinets were installed lower than normal, but it is also an excellent illustration about why you need proper ventilation!)

I've never had painted wood, so can't compare them. But here are photos of what I mean:

Sorry these are so big, I did reside them! (AND they aren't rotated properly, not sure why. . . )
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kywoman1234
12 years ago
We have thermafoil too and all of them around the stove/oven look just like the previous picure!
Debbi Branka
12 years ago
This is scary! How old are those thermafoil cabs? We got them in our kitchen 1.5 years ago (Aristokraft brand). They are still perfect condition. They replaced Merillat thermofoil cabs that were 11 years old and they Merillat cabs looked perfect too! Merillats were replaced because a section of them fell off the wall! But they didn't peel :)
nini804
12 years ago
I had the white thermafoil in my previous house and maple painted white cabs in my current house. Huge difference in the look and feel...
colorfast
12 years ago
Sorry to offend Thermafoil fans, and maybe this is my ignorance. But, to me Thermafoil are a short-term economical fix to sell a house to a naive first-time buyer. My bias is that I love wood best, but I do really like painted too. Thermafoil are not in the same category as either one. They feel like plastic to me. And Thermafoil are not repairable once your new kitchen doors get nicks like those pictured above.

Get real wood doors and drawer fronts. Lots of people here cannot afford plywood interiors or simply choose not to pay for those; you are among a large crowd. Here's a thought: Go the IKEA route for the boxes and drawers, and buy better doors elsewhere. I believe Scherr is one that gets mentioned for the IKEA-compatible doors? Google search this website for IKEA cabinets and get more details because Marcolo among others has explained this process very well.
User
12 years ago
There's nothing wrong with thermofoil for a budget. You just have to design the kitchen for the thermofoil---as in making sure that you have a 36" hood above a 30" cooktop (and USE that hood!), and make sure you have the heat diffusers next to a range. And the customer has to be educated about how to care for a thermofoil kitchen, such as all of the doors and drawers next to an oven undergoing a self cleaning cycle need to be opened to allow the excess heat to dissipate. And don't use Comet or other abrasive cleaners--including the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser on thermofoil.

I know plenty of people who have done all of the above and have 20 year old thermofoil cabinets. Ones older than that are usually the older formula that yellowed as it aged, but if they cared for them correctly, there is no reason for them to peel.
Christine Cianci
last month
If you don't actually cook or use your kitchen, then by all means get kraftmaid thermofoil. otherwise run, do not walk the other way. NOT ONLY do they peel and crack with age and any heat, but you can.not.fix.them. they are garbage. can't be fixed can't be painted because the "texture" of the "wood" is just molded plastic. GARBAGE. My upstairs Duplex mates that I bought out, stuck me with their (way more expensive than mine) now trashed kraftmaid garbage, while my ikea cabinets still look great, and I cook. with heat. so now I have to replace not only 60% of the doors but all the base cabinet faces around the stove and sink as well. TOTAL GARBAGE.