Kitchen Cabinet Veneer Delaminating -Please Help

[jbasen]

Thanks [member=7816]Tim Raleigh[/member]

My plan is to mask the adjacent surfaces with masking tape so if there is some squeeze out I just have to remove the tape.  I realize this may involve some work with a razor blade but I think it will be better than trying to get squeezed out glue off the finish of the adjacent surfaces.

Thanks again for your help

 

[mastercabman]

Looking at the first picture,it looks to me like frameless cabinets?
If so what did they use for the carcass?
Is it melamine?
If that's what it is, I hope they scuffed the side before spraying contact cement
If not that's what you get!

 

[tiralie]

Do a test. I have not had luck with masking tape. The glue likes to creep under the edge and it makes a bigger mess. You can extend the open time of CA glue by adding deactivator or a little acetone but it does weaken the bond.

 

[jbasen]

Do a test. I have not had luck with masking tape. The glue likes to creep under the edge and it makes a bigger mess. You can extend the open time of CA glue by adding deactivator or a little acetone but it does weaken the bond.

Thanks again [member=7816]Tim Raleigh[/member]

Do you recommend a thin CA glue or one of the thicker varieties?

I was going to use a medium thick that would give me a little longer working time and hopefully not creep under the tape.

 

[tiralie]

I like the thinner 'cause I get less squeeze out and it gets into the tighter areas around the edge of the bubble. As soon as I see it disappear into the void, I know I have more than enough. Too little and you gotta go in there again, which is a real pain.
Try to do a couple tests if you can. You do have to work quickly.
Tim

 

[jbasen]

Thanks again [member=7816]Tim Raleigh[/member]

 

[mkasdin]

My vote would be to just use a thin sheet of alder plywood over the whole thing toss a couple nails along the rear and front and use a strip of trim (wood) to cover the front edge of the plywood. You will need to try to match the stain that's the hardest thing. This is what I would probably due if I was selling the house.

The other option would be to use a Dutchmen or remove the whole side, but that's more involved. Most of those cabinets are thrown together with crown staples and crappy glue improperly applied,etc.
You might be chasing your tail trying to repair 13 spots with bubbley, delamed veneer.

 

[tiralie]

Agreed, but it's worth a try.
I would just make new ones.
Tim

 

[jbasen]

Thanks for the input.  I'm certainly going to try the repair route first before I go down the path of replacing cabinets.  All the delamination spots look exactly like the one I photographed.  They are all on the front edge of an outside cabinet so should be fairly easy (given everyone's suggestions!) to fix.  Besides this one issue the rest of the cabinets are perfect so I'd really prefer not to tear the Kitchen apart to replace them.  My wife and I plan on spending many years in this house so it isn't an issue of needing to fix things for sale.

Thanks again

 

[Oldwood]

I agree with those who say apply a panel if possible. I think gluing the one spot that has come loose is like darning socks, a new hole appears beside the repaired hole pretty quickly.

I think the glue is giving up and will continue to do so. Options would be 1/4" panel with pin tacks as suggested or if you can get the veneer off you could sand and apply new veneer. [crying]

 

[jbasen]

Thanks [member=7143]Oldwood[/member]

It may come to that down the road but l'm certainly going to try patching it first and hope for the best

 

[iekoch@comcast.net]

I have done many, many  refacing jobs. I think one of posts is correct, if the melamine panel is not scuff sanded the contact cement will not hold. This happens a lot, contact cement can fail over time.  First some issue with some of the suggestions.  CA glue and wood glue will be all or nothing.  You will not have another shot if it does not work and if you get another bubble in the middle of the panel you have no way to remove the panel.  I see a few options, easiest to hardest.  First would be to use an iron or heat gun to reactivate the glue, and then clamp it for a few hours to see if it would hold. 2nd you can brush a thin layer of some waterbased contact cement in the bubble, squeeze the bubble to get out the excess, keep the bubble open to dry out and let sit overnight and then restick, apply pressure-a j-roller works best. Waterbased contact cement is easy to work with, clean up is easy.  It will rub off of almost any finished surface.  Third use regular yellow or white glue "cold press".  We used to use contact cement to glue veneer/laminate to melamine panels, then switched to regular glue and clamped them over night and they held for years.  If you wanted to remove whole veener panel because it was loose or more bubbled and they used contact cement,  that is fairly easy as well. I have done this 100s of times.  You open the crack and start pouring in laquer thinner( we used liquid dish washing bottles) keep pouring and the the panel will come right off.  Then if after you sand scuff the panel you could cold press the panel with wood glue or use contact cement.  I would try the heat first then contact cement, because you basically will do no harm.  Cold press or CA glue will one shot.  If the panel has another bubble, not on the edge you will be screwed. 

 

[jbasen]

Thanks [member=55256]iekoch@comcast.net[/member] your approach makes a lot of sense.