How To Repair Blown Kitchen Doors

When kitchen or wardrobe doors have blown and the laminate/vinyl is lifting or gone baggy, this can be removed to reveal the MDF underneath which can then be primed and sprayed.

Using a heat gun, the laminate is easy to lift and the MDF underneath can then be prepared by coating a filler primer, that is compatible with MDF, onto the surface. Once the primer has dried we can then smooth down the surface and complete the usual spraying process.

Blown or damaged doors are a common problem and can occur for various reasons such as bad manufacturing, heat or water getting through the vinyl/laminate or in some cases direct sunlight and cleaning.

What are Vinyl Wrapped Kitchens?

To produce a vinyl door the doors are made using MDF cut to the desired shape, glue is applied and the vinyl is pressed and the heat from a hot oven shrinks it onto the doors.

Vinyl wrapped kitchens have always been extremely popular however in recent years more and more problems have occurred.

What Causes the Vinyl to Bubble?

Over the last 10-15 years, kitchen manufacturers had to start using more environmentally friendly glues as the glues used in the past were found to be harmful. The glues used in recent years have not stood the test of time and more and more customers are contacting us due to blown, lifting and peeling laminate and vinyl.

Kitchen manufacturers do recommend a wood or painted kitchen as they cannot guarantee the vinyl for as long as they used to be able to.

Vinyl lifting can also occur due to heat, water, sunlight and cleaning.

The Problem with Bubbling or Peeling Vinyl Kitchen Doors

Blown, bubbling or peeling doors make your kitchen look old and worn and ruin the aesthetics of your home and it is extremely frustrating when you may have only purchased the kitchen in recent years and hope that it will last for over 10 years.

If you spot that the vinyl on your kitchen doors is starting to lift and the MDF is exposed, we would recommend wrapping the MDF in cling film so that further damage cannot occur. If you allow heat or water to get into the MDF then it will swell and the damage can be irreversible.

Other problems can occur if the vinyl is flaking with small children or animals picking the vinyl and eating it.

How to Prevent Vinyl from Bubbling or Peeling

To help prevent your doors from bubbling or peeling you could do the following:

1. Ensure that you do not have any toasters, kettles or coffee makers out on the kitchen worktops near the doors. If the heat or humidity from these items gets near the vinyl, they will cause damage.
2. When the sun is shining through the windows, close your blinds.
3. If you have damp issues in the house, purchase a dehumidifier so that the air is not affecting the vinyl.
4. If you spot a small nick in the vinyl, deal with this immediately as any water or heat that gets into this area will more than likely blow the vinyl.

Fixing Bubbling Kitchen Cupboard Door Vinyl

If there is only a small area that is blown or lifting then sometimes it is not noticeable and has occurred by a toaster or kettle being positioned near to these areas. It would be advisable to move any appliance like these that give off heat to prevent further damage.

If the vinyl is lifting we would not recommend trying to stick it down with glue yourself as this will then ruin the MDF underneath and will then become unsprayable. If it is just a small area that has come away in an unnoticeable place that this may suffice but may not last.

There are companies such as surface medics that will be able to fix small areas of vinyl lift.

Our solution would be as follows:

1. We would come out and assess the kitchen to ensure that the MDF underneath the vinyl is suitable to spray.
2. If we are able to work with the surface then we would not be able to spray just one or two doors; to give a consistent finish for the colour and the sheen, we would need to spray the whole kitchen.
3. It may be that we only need to remove a few of the vinyl covers or we have may have to remove them all. The fixed items in the kitchen are usually unaffected.
4. Our experienced spray technicians will use a heat gun to remove the affected vinyl.
5. They will then prepare the MDF underneath by using a primer which is compatible with the MDF and our coating.
6. Once the primer has been applied we will smooth down and then complete our usual spray process.
7. Most customers opt for a different colour as you may as well get a whole different look whilst undergoing the process.

The Benefits of Kitchen Spraying

1. Unlike vinyl wrapping, spraying is extremely robust and will not be affected by heat, humidity or sunlight. Many kitchen manufacturers are now trying to push sprayed kitchens as they know they will not have any comebacks in a few years as it will last.
2. You can choose any colour, we have 100’s of colours matched including many Valspar, Dulux and the whole of the Farrow and Ball and RAL range. If we have no colours that suit you then we can always match any colour you find.
3. We leave no mess, the process is hassle free, usually completed in a day or two and we take all rubbish with us.
4. If all surfaces are suitable, we guarantee our work for 10 years on fading, discoloration, cracking and peeling.
5. You will save a great deal of money by having your kitchen sprayed as opposed to replacing. It is usually around 10% of the cost of a new kitchen.

See pictures below of transformations that we have completed when customers have contacted us due to blown, lifting or peeling vinyl.

For a free, no obligation estimate, please get in touch with our friendly team.