Thermofoil is a vinyl skin heat-pressed onto an MDF door. It looks good for years and then lets go, almost always next to a heat source. Whether that is a repair or new doors comes down to how many doors have started, not how bad the worst one looks.
A thermofoil door is medium density fibreboard with a vinyl film vacuum-pressed over it. The bond is adhesive and heat, and heat is also what breaks it. Steam from a dishwasher door left open, the side panel next to a wall oven, the cabinet above a kettle: those are the doors that go first, every time.
The failure is nearly always cosmetic rather than structural. The MDF underneath is usually sound, which is why the fix is a door question rather than a box question. Where the MDF has taken standing water it swells and softens, and that door is finished regardless of what the film is doing.
This is also why thermofoil sits at the bottom of the refacing cost range. It is the least expensive material and the shortest lived. Laminate sits above it and hardwood above that.
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How it works
How We Handle Thermofoil Doors
Find where the film has let go
Peeling almost always starts at a heat source or a bottom edge. We check every door and drawer front, because one lifted corner usually means the rest are on the way.
Test what the core is
Under the film is board, and its condition decides everything. A sound core takes new doors; a core that has swollen from steam or a leak does not, and we say so before quoting.
Replace rather than recoat
Paint does not bond to vinyl film reliably, so the honest route is new doors and drawer fronts on the existing boxes rather than a finish that will fail again.
Fit, align and hand over
New fronts go on with concealed hinges, every door is aligned and every runner checked. Doors settle in the first weeks, so the adjustment visit is included.
Repair or replace
When a Spot Repair Is Still Worth Doing
One or two doors curling at an edge, next to an obvious heat source, with the film otherwise intact: that is a repair. The loose vinyl is cleaned out behind, adhesive goes in, and the door is clamped for a day. It holds, and it costs a fraction of new doors.
The count is what changes the answer. Once several doors have started, the rest are on the same clock, because they were pressed at the same time and have lived in the same kitchen. Repairing four this year and four next year costs more than new doors in one visit.
Since the boxes are almost always fine, this rarely means a new kitchen. New doors on sound MDF boxes is refacing, and it is the usual answer here. Only swollen, soft board pushes it toward custom cabinets.
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Other materials
Refacing by Cabinet Material
Thermofoil is the awkward one. These are the materials that behave better.
What peels, what can be saved, and why paint is usually the wrong idea here.
Localised peeling can. If the film is curling along one edge and is otherwise sound, it is cleaned out behind, re-adhered and clamped for around a day. That is a real fix when only one or two doors are affected.
When several doors have started. They were all pressed at the same time and have lived in the same kitchen, so the rest are on the same clock. Repairing a few each year costs more than new doors in one visit.
Because heat is what breaks the bond. Wall ovens, the door beside a dishwasher that gets left open to steam dry, and the cabinet above a kettle are the three places we check first, and usually where the damage already is.
Poorly, and we generally advise against it. Paint sits on vinyl rather than bonding into it, so it chips at handles and edges within a year or two. If you want a colour change, new painted doors on your existing boxes lasts far longer.
Rarely. The failure is in the film, not the board, so the MDF boxes are normally sound and stay in place. The exception is standing water, which swells MDF permanently. Press the panel beside the dishwasher to check for softness.
It is the cheapest material and it does look good when new. It is also the shortest lived and cannot be repaired invisibly. If the kitchen is a short-term hold it makes sense; if you plan to stay, wood or laminate lasts longer.
Three to five weeks to build, because they are made to your openings and overlay, then a day or two to fit. A spot repair can usually be done far sooner since nothing needs manufacturing.
Homeowner reviews
What Edmonton Homeowners Say About Thermofoil Repairs
Two doors beside the oven were curling. They repaired those rather than selling me a whole kitchen, and told me what to watch for on the rest. That is why I called them back later.
Nadia F.
Edmonton
★★★★★
Five doors had gone and they were straight that repairing them one at a time was throwing money away. New doors on the old boxes came in well under what I feared.
Wes T.
st. Albert
★★★★★
Another company quoted me to paint the thermofoil. These people explained why paint does not hold on vinyl. Two years on I am glad I listened.
Loretta M.
Sherwood Park
★★★★
Quick, clean and reasonably priced. The one thing I would say is that the door lead time is real, so do not expect it done next week.
Ian B.
Edmonton
From the blog
Edmonton cabinet guides
Thermofoil, laminate and wood, and how each one ages next to heat and steam.
We will count what has started, check the board underneath for softness, and tell you whether this is a repair or new doors. Free consultation, written quote.
