I’ve done 4 IKEA kitchens and though I’ve not had any problems with the installed cabinets that I required a return, I’ve had no problems with returning anything else, no questions asked - with receipts.

Do any of the other lines offer a 25 year warranty? When looking at the different lines you’re looking at, are you comparing apples to apples?

arthurpym:

I wouldn’t ever expect a replacement for a door I broke. That’s wear and tear.

Standard warranties in the cabinet industry are lifetime warranties for mid grade and up cabinets. With actual warranty fulfillment. I know of a 7 year old Kraftmaid kitchen who had all new doors and drawers supplied because an adhesion in the paint process showed up at that time. I know of a 10 year old Aristokraft kitchen who had all of the drawer glides replaced. I know of a 15 year old Omega kitchen who had a single door hardware fail, and it was replaced. Good companies build cabinets that don't need warranty claims.

When you are doing a small kitchen, the cabinets will be a small part of the overall budget, no matter the price range that you choose. Upgrading from a 2, 5, or even 25 year warranty level product won't be that expensive. Remember that only a defective product is included in the warranty service. It doesn't cover ordinary wear and tear, or abuse.

There’s a cost to be paid at either end of the price spectrum. Cost isn’t always money, but you don’t get what you won’t pay for.

I get what your question is, blondelle, but there are other good companies who make great doors and drawer fronts for the Ikea boxes, so that might be an alternative for you to consider. Semi-handmade, AllStyle, and The Swedish Door Company all make a great variety of fronts in different materials, styles and colour options. All have a Houzz presence so you can go check 'em out.

We installed an IKEA kitchen in our first house in 2001. We moved to another town in the SF bay area 5 years later. However, this house went on the market last year and the appliances, countertops, cabinets are still there. Based on the pics, the cabinets look pretty good too. 17 years old. https://photos.zillowstatic.com/p_f/IS2vs50764ydye1000000000.jpg

https://photos.zillowstatic.com/p_f/ISq9st1iiawjxh1000000000.jpg

http://willowstreetinteriors.com/why-were-replacing-our-kitchen-and-how-i-feel-about-ikea-cabinets/

Sounds like they came through with an 8-year old kitchen!

Blondelle, suprisingly the appliances have not been changed out in 17 years. Something to say about Kitchenaid and Bosch quality.

IKEA was a standup company. The 25 year warranty was good while the founder was alive. Now it's time for a Class Action Suit. I tried to replace bad STAT kitchen doors and they told me no more, File a case# and wait your turn (I was told to expect to wait months just to be reviewed). I think it's time to file a case in court, let's get people on board for this and I can approach a law firm. Individually they can treat us like we don't matter but collectively we can have the clout to get them to honor what they promised in writing.

It is surprising to see the number of defenders of Ikea here. I am a consumer advocate - not practicing now, but I do work and research in consumer advocacy and have much success. Even though I am not doing it for work right now, it's a switch that can't be turned off. I am now finding myself in need of resources to resolve issues with an Ikea Akurum kitchen. The standard routes for remediation or settlement with Ikea is so off, it's almost bizarre. The original inquiry described here is not uncommon and the resolutions they offer don't really amount to the promise of their warranty. I am looking for stories about others' experiences with warranty, and I also want people to know that Ikea's arbitrary interpretations of their warranty is not a final decision. There are consumer laws that protect you and sometimes even a small claims court can resolve the issues. AG's offices will often mediate, but that can take time. With AG's complaints, understand that the complaint will be sent to the company, and the company will respond to your complaint. Never sign an agreement to a settlement if you feel uncomfortable. BBB has a similar process. And always include a complaint to the FTC to get the issue on the record (like AG's they look for patterns and if we don't complain, they won't find patterns)

This is what an Akurum kitchen under-sink cabinet looks like after a few years. The "expected use" in this situation would include some water but not flooding. Once the paint started to flake, the beadboard was exposed, expanded and contracted and ended up looking like this - anyone else familiar with this problem?

This is what "yellowing" looks like - please keep in mind, our little kitchen does NOT get a lot of sun. Anyone else have these problems?

The Sektion warranty linked above is pretty specific that they will replace at their sole discretion and does not cover normal wear and tear, only manufacturing defects. It also notes: "Light, lacquered surfaces also have a certain tendency to “yellow with age,” depending on exposure to light."

I've never bought Ikea kitchen cabinets but would certainly consider them if ever we redid our kitchen. I've always had good experiences with their products and return policy. @J.J OnCape, I'm not clear on the "original problem described here" - Blondelle posted what sounded like a theoretical issue.

As a licensed general contractor in Los Angeles, warranty is crucial for home improvement project. There are many kitchen manufactures that offer 10+ year of warranty. I have not had any personal experience with IKEA cabinets other than the fact you would really need that warranty and hope IKEA stands by their products.

You pay for what you get is a factual assessment for any home improvement. Pay a premium, and get better Kitchen that lasts. IKEA probably offers warranty for its materials, but labor to remove, repair and shipping will most likely come out of pocket.

Well now, that's nice that they've included that caveat in their new line of kitchen warranty. Blondelle's questions were about the warranty and the feedback about Ikea kitchens. Seems like pretty concrete questions. "Theoretical" is a bit of a straw man.

We bought an Akurum kitchen and there is no such caveat in THAT warranty. Must have been added after the issues with the Akurum doors. The Akurum kitchen is known for problems and we know from our current endeavors to resolve our problems outside of court that their interpretation of their kitchen warranty is arbitrary. E.g.: After we have spoken at length with people in an attempt to resolve this issue and told the staff we were going to try to paint two of the doors/draw-fronts of a cabinet because they are simply embarrassing and depressing, we were told to take "before photos" to show why we painted them. We did, and sanding and painting this material might put a bandaid on it, but does not resolve the problem. Federal consumer laws (available online and adopted by every state but TN) include "expected use" clauses. These cabinets are under-sink cabinets. We did this kitchen after our kids moved out. Compared to many households, this is a light usage kitchen. The standard expected-use of under-sink cabinets includes a certain amount of water- drips etc - not floods. When the paint flakes then the pressed board underneath is exposed to any water, it expands and contracts and the results look awful. After a long and time consuming process ( months) that included staff leaving, and starting over etc, we got an email saying that because we painted these doors (not all doors just two sets for two cabinets) we had "voided the warranty." Mind you, the doors aren't the only problem,the hardware is pitted and rusty in places that have the least exposure to expected-use steam etc, and more. And, we did not purchase the kitchen all at once, we did it piecemeal as we installed it. We did nothing beyond expected use of this kitchen. Furthermore, to suggest a warranty is void because two cabinets were painted even despite previous communications with their staff - telling us how to take the photos first etc - and considering the piece-meal purchase aspect as opposed to a one-time purchase, the voiding of this warranty is on shaky grounds. We received an offer that would mean we would have to sign something saying we'd voided the warranty. The offer isn't even half the cost of this kitchen, and barely a 1/3 the cost to replace it. So, to court we go. And, BTW one of the snags in the proof of purchase here? Receipts with ink that faded while stored in a file, in a box. Using the type of paper/ink that causes this problem was declared against consumer laws before we bought the kitchen.

under-sink cabinets.

and, doesn't this look pretty? It looks like a kitchen kept by people who never clean. When you read that caveat about yellowing? This is what you get. It started to yellow within the first three years.

I now understand what you meant by "original problem". (I was looking for clarification on the issue you meant, not trying to offer a straw man by saying the OP was theoretical.) I can also understand your frustration with Ikea after reading your experience and seeing these pictures. I'm very sorry their quality was not up to par. Your experience is certainly giving me pause for my next kitchen. Have you shared any of this on social media? I recall one homeowner having a bad experience with their Home Depot kitchen installation. They shared it here and we suggested they take it to FB, Twitter, Reddit and the like. Companies can be quicker to resolve issues when they're called out this way. HD resolved their issue to their satisfaction, if memory serves.

Incidentally, our kitchen cost just a bit more than an Ikea one (custom) but the finish didn't last 3 years on the cabinet door next to the sink. It looks trashed. Makes me think a quality kitchen is simply out of our budget range.

Im curious which door style this is that is yellowing. Did you remove the doors and take them to IKEA’s return desk or did you approach them some other way?

Do you live by an ocean? Coastal homes have problems with the corrosions of metals such as you are experiencing.

IKEA does have a warning about their fading receipts, and an advisory to photo copy them. I think the fading has something to do with eco- friendly inks.

JJ cap - I feel for you.

What doors/fronts is your kitchen? I ask, as there was an issue with yellowing of one of Ikea's door styles for Akurum cabinets. Not sure now, but it might have been the Lidingo and the Stat. Is yours the Lidingo?

It seems to me, calling your doors "Akurum" is really quite misleading, as there never was an "Akurum" door and most door styles for Akurum never had any of these problems.

We still have Akurum pantry cabinets with Nexus doors in birch, bought more than a dozen years ago, they are still in perfect condition, doing second duty now as entryway closets.

As to pitted and rusted hardware? Are you talking about the hinges and slides or your handles?

Because, that would be hard to believe. Ikea uses Blum hinges and slides and they just do not rust without cause.

For hinges to rust, you'd need to store some very corrosive chemical for a very long time (open) inside a cab. That could explain rusted hinges, or as ullsdone posted, maybe proximity to the ocean could result in rust.

On the other hand, if with "hardware" you mean your handles, that can happen due to use of harsh chemicals. I know, I've seen my SIL's very high end stainless steel handles pitted and rusted. The cause? One of the many Scrubbing Bubbles on the market, which she had transferred accidentally from her hands to some of her door handles. She got lucky, gentle sanding with extremely fine sanding paper, removed all but the worst pitting, which luckily wasn't readily visible as it was facing towards the cabinet. Phew! I believe the price of those designer handles was more than 20 times that of Ikea's most expensive handles.

As to your unhappy situation, have you considered replacing your yellowed doors with 3rd party doors? Google companies that offer fronts sized for Akurum cabinets. I highly suggest you consider that route vs. going to court. Financially that would make much more sense, than ripping out and replacing your whole kitchen. I'd get some quotes and present Ikea with the amount needed and negotiate with them. They just might accept this as a solution. And surely that would save you tons of stress as well.

Best of luck to you.

Any low priced low quality painted MDF door repeatedly exposed to water is going to have problems. To me this falls under normal wear and tear. The yellowing does not. Thats a manufacturer defeat. Low quality paint. I would get estimates for after market door replacements plus labor seeing that Ikea no longer has these doors present that to them or tell them they will have to defend it in court which will cost them more. You will have a better looking kitchen then you have now and probably be an easier battle to win.

I make doors out of MDF all the time but the kind I use actually challenges you to submerge it in water.

ulisdone we live on Cape Cod but in the absolute middle, the closest "ocean" is five miles away. The doors were Lindigo and Aplaad - both. I've read about the foil finish doors from the Akurum line also flaking on the edges and once that happens they peel. I don't know for sure, but imagine all whites either flaked or yellowed. If, as others have stated, they now have a caveat that doors may yellow with exposure or whatever, i would guess the issue isn't resolved.

And yes, we have taken doors into IKEA more than once. Not the whole kitchen, but a few doors here and there. Each time we were basically given answers that frustrated us and led us to not file a complaint. We even had discussions by phone with a woman (manager?) who told us to bring the doors in when we could. Husband went in ten days later as he was working in the area of the store. She basically looked at him and told him she had no idea who he was or what he was talking about.... we set it aside again.

Originally we were told if we filed a claim, they'd just replace them with the same doors. They were going to send someone out to look at the kitchen, but weren't able to get someone in our area. Again, we set it aside why go through the involved process of bringing all of the doors in to the store (an hour away) and have them replaced with the exact same doors that would just do the same thing.

The doors got worse, even those that are hardly used....

We heard nothing or were never notified or made aware that their receipts would fade. We keep them in a file, inside a box, and could see the details a few years ago, and were shocked to find they are basically unreadable now. I have done a lot of consumer advocacy for others and along the line somewhere I remember a case where we had a similar receipt from another store for an appliance. We had to show the actual proof of purchase via a canceled check (that long ago) - more recently we had a similar situation but the store had a record of the purchase. I know I read somewhere that these receipts were found to be an issue by either Fed or State AG's.

This photo is a closeup of one of the doors we painted. It was flaking and when a plastic IKEA trash can was on the floor and the door was opened against it, the flakes scratched and the mdf was exposed. There are two scratches above it that come from using a soft cloth to try to clean. Once these doors start flaking, you can't clean them without making it worse!

tartanmeup - we've lived here for 32 yrs. House was built in 1986, first owner was here just for a few months. The original kitchen was pressed wood - particle board - mdf 30 yrs ago?- with veneer. By no means a higher priced kitchen. We had kids and it was a very busy place. We even had an overflow in the old sink - and the water never damaged the cabinets, but 20+ yrs of wear and tear from kids did. We decided to reconfigure the whole kitchen, some of the original cabinets are in the basement where we had a flood last year. Some particle board expansion on the bottom of one, but the doors - no problem and we are still using it.

The issues are as much the incredibly embarrassing, ugly kitchen, as the way IKEA has handled this. The resolutions have been all over the place. Last week we followed instructions from one staff person to describe the issue again, and produce photos and receipts. I sent an email saying we were working on gathering receipts, and were gathering and taking photos, but it was going to take us a little longer because were in the midst of a reno project. In that email I described the already discussed project I'd undertaken to try painting two of the cabinet's doors and that even after sanding and filling and sanding and 3-4 coats of paint, the damage was still visible AND we discovered that the hardware was rusted and pitted and peeling, even on the doors nowhere near the sink. We got an email back from someone new, one paragraph, saying we had voided our warranty by painting the doors (that we had already told someone we were going to paint). Angry response from me. Very angry. Finally just friggin had it with this company. The next in line management-wise called. On speaker, we were indignant, but not rude. He asked for photos. MORE PHOTOS. Left my husband to finish painting one of the rooms we were working on and took all new photos. Sent them. He responded by saying they'd send us a check for much less than we paid for the kitchen, but we'd have to sign a release.

So what would we do with that? I had priced wooden replacement doors. More than the check. And, what do we do about the hardware?

So, I am writing a letter (MA GL 93A letter required before court action) and will take this to court. Meantime, ugly kitchen remains. For price reasons, if you don't want to finance a higher priced kitchen, I almost would recommend using the IKEA boxes and buying doors from someplace else. But get extra hardware, just in case.

pippabean - combo of Lindigo and Aplaad for the Akurum kithen. The rust and/or pitting-peeling, everything. After we discovered the rust on the cabinet hinges we looked at the drawers and handles. ALL RUSTED and/or pitted. This is not a heavily used kitchen. Empty-nesters. We did this kitchen after kids moved out. We don't store corrosive chemicals in the kitchen.

We were going to have the doors made in wood by one of those companies or a local kitchen person. Local guys are busy, so we'd have to wait.

We had already checked with one of the online places - would cost well over $3000 just to replace the doors.

Going to court isn't that expensive, I would do it myself. Done it for others in the past. Have a lawyer who advises me, her costs would be part of the claim. IKEA claiming we voided the whole warranty - by painting two of the cabinets' doors - after telling them that we would be doing it while trying to resolve this to deal with the doors and fronts with the most damage that were just getting worse - nd no one telling us anything about this voiding a warranty- means we really aren't going to get anywhere with them without a third party decision. As a matter of fact, the two people we told we were going to paint were sympathetic. Complaints with AG's office can take months to resolve as they mediate. We will file a complaint, just so it's on the record, but will take this to court to get a faster resolution.

The time and energy and stress we've put into this amount to damages. And, in the end, whatever the resolution is another project we weren't counting on- and shouldn't have to do.

I'm really sorry you're dealing with this, J J OnCape. I hope you get a satisfactory resolution. Again, I suggest some social media visibility on your case. Share your experience on FB and Reddit (there's an Ikea sub-Reddit, check it out and see about others' kitchen experiences), tweet Ikea, post a succinct caveat emptor cabinet review on their site (you can add pictures). Anything that's out there, noisy and Google-able will get the higher-ups' attention. Document everything with pics and timelines. If you paid by credit card, your faded receipts should be moot. Best of luck and hope you keep us posted.

I've always had the impression Ikea was a company with integrity. Very disappointed to find out they're leaving customers in the lurch like this.

I'm having problems very similar to described above. cabinet faces have not held up and Ikea not honoring the original 25 year warrantee. BTW, I'm having trouble locating the original warrantee from 2008. Does anyone have a copy of the warrantee?

sean - thats a good question. There is no warranty given when you buy, no signing a contract etc. - the warranty seems really arbitrary. 25 yrs and all the decisions are made by a store employee who is at the bottom of the hierarchy - a full hierarchy of management above her/him.

call and ask for a warranty, take photos. can you share photos here? What happens with us, will impact you.

Phone
1-888-888-4532
Our phone lines are open:
Sunday - Saturday: 9:00am – 10:00pm (EST)

Kitchen and Business Sales:
Sunday - Saturday: 9:00am - 8:00pm (EST)

I just tried that 888 number. HONESTLY. After choosing the category - the message is "due to high volume we cannot take your call now" - reading other online commentary, this is now the latest most wide-spread complaint. Someone told me to choose something different that a "problem with an item" or whatever, choose the order option.

Copies of some of my Sektion paperwork from about 6 years ago.

Sorry, these are from 2015. Photos not appearing properly here.

And I received a phone number breakdown for kitchen service:

too late when we realized our kitchen cabinets of the house we just bought are Ikea, they look really nice but my ignorance of everything IKEA definitely didn;t help. I'm trying to see if I can get receipts from the seller, but my question is would they honor it even if I am not the direct buyer? I'm sure other people had experienced this in the past but I'm worried that these cabinets will not hold up when we need to sell the house.

Warranties are valid to the original purchaser only, almost exclusively. Even if the seller bought brand new cabinets or a DW right before listing, you don’t get a warranty on it. Non transferable. Unless you purchase some type of home warranty.

J.J OnCape did you resolve your issue? I'm having similar problems, and dealing with IKEA trough email. Not happy at all with the settlement they offered.

You are lucky they even offered a settlement at all, now i'm curious what they offered. Please let me know. Thank you.

No, I was summarily dismissed they offered me nothing, I won't shop there anymore.

I did discover some hacks for some of the problems, ex.- buy some porcelain repair paint, sand litely and touch up with multiple coats till sealed well.

Ever since the founder died they rest of his brood just decided to treat customers like chattel they don't care. Typical after a founder dies it's just about the money not the customer.

Carolina Blanco Is that Bobdyn that you have?

My problem is that I have an Abstrakt kitchen (now Ringhult) and they changed the sizes of the doors about 5 years ago so that the new doors do not fit my cabinets and I have about 3 that have issues (bubbling at the top or bottom edge. I wouldn't even mind paying for new doors as the rest of the kitchen is in good shape after 17 years. I can't even seem to get thru to a warranty department. we bought the kitchen at the Burlington Ontario Canada store but installed it in Buffalo New York. Any ideas, eg. the doors are high gloss white and maybe there is a cabinet builder who can match the style

Semihandmade.com - they can make Abstrakt doors for you.

thanks Gladys, and I just found a company called Swedish Door Company in Canada who
have replacement doors for old sizes of Ikea kitchen doors. They ship to the US as well You can look at their web site.

I am so unhappy that I ever trusted IKEA for my whole kitchen, and even more upset that I referred them to friends. And to JJ Cape on Cape, I have no idea how to directly respond to you since your posts are from 2 years ago, but I would love to know what happened since I currently have the same problem you faced back then. The warranty in my personal opinion is as good as if it were written on piece of toilet paper. First of all, I have their Adel, or Akurum cabinet doors. The exact same thing happened to me. The cabinet door below the sink started to expand eventually and peel. There was no flooding in my home, and I am not near any body of water. Even though I had a 25 year warranty, I was more than willing to pay for another door at my own expense just to avoid the anticipated aggravation that IKEA would cause if I had to turn to their warranty department. Well, let me tell you, all my worst fears were justified. They decided to just stop making the Adel cabinet doors, and any company that makes one like it is 3/4 inch thick while the original Adel is 5/8 inch thick. How can they justify a 25 year warranty and just stop manufacturing the product they are supposed to cover. Had I known that I never would have purchased a kitchen from them.

Here is the run-around I got from IKEA. First email to them I explain the damages, and send proof of purchase and photos of the damages, with all my contact information. I wait home all day for a phone call, but they never call. I called them the next day only to get told the case was closed because I didn't answer their phone calls or send any photos or documents. So a new case was opened and it was round two of the same run-around I got the first time. Then a 3rd case was opened with another associate, but this time I asked her to forward my email to them since they ignored the emails that came directly from me. Just got off the phone with them today and was told that their so called "warranty" does not cover water damage. The associate refused to send me anything in writing today, and added that she couldn't help me and was only reading off what they said. She refused to give me any person I could contact to escalate the matter. She also had a very condescending attitude and really couldn't care less. There was a big fat zero degree of customer satisfaction. I am not sure what my next steps will be, but I would love to hear from anyone else that had similar complaints with IKEA.

As a final thought, one of their responses to my email about the damaged cabinet door that in my opinion should be covered under warranty was that I might be able to take care if with an

Allen Wrench! (And then they closed the case).

In 2015 I replaced peeling, delaminating, Lidingo base cabinet doors originally installed in 2008 (at my expense -- the Ikea store in Schaumburg, IL told me that the warranty does not cover normal wear and tear damage from kitchen moisture). Now the base cabinet doors are peeling again. At this point I am looking for a company that makes solid wood replacement door fronts for Akurum cabinets.

As I said on another old thread you resurrected:

Marsha - check Scherr's, they make doors to specs for IKEA cabinets.

https://www.scherrs.com/contents/en-us/d88_Working-With-IKEA-Products.html

If you need replacements for older Ikea cabinets , go to Swedish Door Company web site, they are out of Ottawa Canada but they ship to the US and have exact sizes. I have just order all base cabinets doors. So happy to have found them, they are very helpful.

How about a class action suit, who's with me?

Marsha, Semihandmade also makes fronts for IKEA Akurum. https://www.semihandmade.com/pages/doors-for-ikea-akurum-kitchens

Same story here.

I have Applad fronts (now discontinued). I bought the fronts twice, first thinking I had a bad batch and maybe my kids were a bit too rough. Second batch was bad too and kids by then grown up. The paint has cracked and is peeling off - kitchen looks awful now. I have the exact issue as J.J OnCape, and also the flat part is just cracking off in flakes.

I reached out to Ikea phone support and they acknowledged that this happens: paint cracks like it is a cracked eggshell. I sent in pictures of my fronts for the warranty claim and got the reply back that is NORMAL wear & tear. The second set was purchased in 2016 (a good 5 years ago). So no 25 years warranty at all!

The cabinets & drawers themselves are fine, not top notch, but good enough for a kitchen that is now 12 years old. It's the paint & the MDF that just don't perform. I'm going to get new fronts from Swedish Doors and hope they perform better.

This is called "normal wear & tear" by Ikea.

I just ordered doors from Swedish Door Company, and they were very helpful, happy to have found them.

@NA, resurrecting this thread to ask how it worked out with the doors you ordered.

This is the Adel Kitchen installed 18 years ago. It lasted about 13 years and then these pictures tell you how it ages. Not gracefully. The side with the damage is the wall cabinet so no water gets to it but still. I think their quality of fabrication is not uniform. Some cabinets subjects to the same use have done better than other. Has anyone managed to get replacement or refund... on warranty?