The kitchen is the heart of any Indianapolis home. Your bathroom is your sanctuary. Both rooms have multiple plumbing connections and built-in cabinets. Wooden or composite, they can be painted, stained, or open shelves. But if your cabinets get damaged from a leak, you’ll have to repair or replace them.
And it’s a big investment. Kitchen cabinet costs range widely, from $100 to more than $500 per linear foot. For a typical 10-by-10-foot kitchen, the national average to replace or install cabinets is around $5,000 to $6,000.
Even a small amount of water will cause them to swell, split or ruin MDF and solid wood cabinets as well. The key to fixing water-damaged cabinets is to identify the damage, remove the water and dry them out completely. But what are you looking for?
Our water damage restoration experts recommend you become familiar with the signs of water damage. An occasional splash on a cabinet surface will simply evaporate. The concern comes from an extensive time when moisture lingers in an absence of sunlight or ventilation. Different cabinet materials show water damage in different ways. For example, MDF cabinets will absorb moisture and swell. This causes instability in the material. When this happens, your kitchen cabinets might bubble; the veneer might peel off. Or, the entire exposed edge may crumble to dust.
One obvious sign that wood cabinets have been water damaged is dark stains. But look closer; if they are losing their finish or sheen, look deeper. When a wood cabinet has been waterlogged, moisture will affect paint, veneer, and metal handles.
If the bases warp, the doors and drawers won’t close well. Take these signs seriously; have the water damage restoration experts at Total Restoration fix the water problem and repair your cabinets before they deteriorate more.
Especially in the cabinets under your sink, you may smell the telltale “mildew” odor. It’s earthy, mushroomy, funky or sour (like wet laundry.) Trust your nose and look for gray, white or orange discoloration; sometimes it is fuzzy and mottled.
Painting wood cabinets is no different than painting any other wood surface. But laminate kitchen cabinets are more difficult. Melamine is thin plastic material adhered to particle board to resist dirt and provide a scrubbable, smooth surface.
As long as the water did not delaminate the melamine from its base material, you can leave the cabinets as they are before your paint. But if the base were damaged, the coverup is only a temporary fix.
Cabinet refacing falls between a total replacement of cabinets and a high-end paint job. Professional refacing involves replacing old cabinet doors and drawer fronts plus renewing the veneer on box fronts and sides. But if the structure of the cabinet has been exposed to water, changing the front won’t fix the problem. You need to address the causes of water damage before you waste money changing the fronts.
If you’ve had water damage in your kitchen or bathroom, the chances are that you’ll need your cabinets repaired or replaced. Total Restoration’s certified water damage restoration staff go through extensive water damage training and have years of experience. Armed with top-notch equipment and proven techniques, they will systematically perform water damage restoration and repairs in your home.
CALL US: (317) 351-0555