Factory-slick surfaces give paint nothing to grip, so cabinet painting here opens with a waterborne bonding primer made to hold onto glossy plastic. Doors whose film is still tight take that coating well and last for years.
Those materials are everywhere in the newer half of the city. Builder kitchens from 2005 through 2015 in Jefferson and along Elgin Mills Road, the towns and towers around Langstaff, and the condominium units on Yonge Street are largely thermofoil over MDF or melamine over particleboard.
A Bonding Primer Is Not Optional On Slick Surfaces
Ordinary primer sits on top of melamine instead of biting into it, and a fingernail lifts it within a year. That is the single reason do-it-yourself cabinet painting fails on these kitchens, along with wall paint, which never belongs on a cabinet of any material.
A true bonding primer holds onto melamine, thermofoil, laminate and glazed tile, recoats in three or four hours and reaches full adhesion three or four days later. Stain blocking is not its job, so anything bleeding through gets shellac first. Everything above it follows the ordinary cabinet painting routine of thin sprayed topcoats with sanding between coats.
Peeling Thermofoil Cannot Be Painted Back Down
Thermofoil is vinyl heat-pressed onto an MDF core, and cabinet painting does not re-bond it. Once heat and steam from a dishwasher or a range have lifted the film at a door end, cabinet painting over it just coats a flap that keeps on curling.
Two honest answers exist, and both appear on the quote. Heat strips the film back to bare MDF, which paints extremely well once the core is sound, or else the door is swapped for a new one, then sprayed until nothing sets it apart from its neighbours. On a detailed profile, replacing per door is often cheaper of the two, and new doors and full refacing goes through that arithmetic.
Melamine Chips At The Edges, So Cabinet Painting Starts There
Melamine boxes and doors are strong on the face and weak on the corner. Years of dishes, bags and vacuum cleaners knock small chips out of the edge banding, exposing the particleboard underneath.
Each chip is filled and sanded ahead of primer, because paint alone will not bridge it and the gap reads as a shadow in a pale colour. Where a whole edge has let go, or where water has swelled the core under a sink or a dishwasher, no cabinet painting fixes it and the door or box gets flagged at the visit instead.
Condominium And Rental Kitchens Are Mostly These Materials
Small galley kitchens in rental and investor-owned units are the usual home of melamine, and they are the least expensive cabinet painting jobs we do. Building rules matter as much as materials there, and the condo kitchen cabinet painting page deals with elevators, parking and corridor odour limits.
What Cabinet Painting Costs On Thermofoil And Melamine
Bonding primer adds roughly $150 to $400 across Ontario. A condominium galley starts somewhere near $1,500 to $2,800 and a full builder kitchen sits inside the usual $2,500 to $5,500 band. Stripped or replaced doors carry individual prices, named on the quote so nothing arrives as a surprise. Market figures again, and the written quote from your own visit is what sets your price.
Find Out Whether These Doors Can Be Painted
Phone +1 (289) 201-7168 or send photos of the doors beside the dishwasher, since those tell the story faster than anything else. Free visits cover Langstaff, Jefferson, Elgin Mills, Oak Ridges, Headford and Aurora, and the verdict on cabinet painting your particular doors is given there and then rather than afterward. Everything else we offer appears on the home page.
Thermofoil, Melamine and Laminate Cabinet Painting Questions
Can thermofoil cabinets really be painted?
Yes, while the vinyl film is still tight. A bonding primer made for glossy plastic grips the surface, then thin sprayed topcoats go on with sanding between. Doors where the film has already lifted cannot be painted back down. They are stripped to bare MDF or replaced, and the quote says which.
Why does ordinary primer fail on melamine?
Ordinary primer sits on top of the slick surface instead of biting in, and a fingernail can lift it within a year. A true bonding primer recoats in three or four hours and reaches full adhesion three or four days later. Wall paint never belongs on a cabinet.
What happens to chipped melamine edges?
Each chip is filled and sanded before primer, because paint alone will not bridge it and the gap reads as a shadow in a pale colour. If a whole edge has let go, or water has swelled the core, no coating fixes it, and that door or box is flagged at the visit.