Can you paint or reskin cabinets?

[cyclegirl47]

We have a 28ft 2002 Safari. The cabinets are "oak" laminate. Can we paint them or reskin them without getting all new cabinets? Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated

[kevin242]

I would think you should be able to do either. I suspect painting would be the cheapest, but would "look" painted. Putting a veneer over the cabinet and door surfaces would look more professional. Maybe check with a local cabinet making business and get an opinion & quote to help you decide.

[chromechaser]

HI! We have a 1974 tradewind and we painted some of our wall panels with Home depots Behr Ultra paint. Its a primer and a paint mixed together. We used exterior grade. It worked well. Its fairly durable but it is susceptible to scratches just like any other painted wall. Hope that helps. J

[Tim A.]

Cyclegirl,

I believe your Safari has the same "oak" cabinets our 2002 19' Bambi has. That means vinyl wood-grained film over plywood with edge banding. The edge banding is plastic held on with a glue similar to hot-melt glue. If you cover the vinyl, you will need to make sure that the covering material adheres well to such plastic. That means selection of the proper glue and good surface preparation. If you paint, one of the new paints suitable for plastic (such as Krylon Fusion paint) might work best.

Despite the many disparaging remarks one hears about the vinyl covering, it is durable and washable.

Tim

[lgastall]

It may be worth checking out - http://www.airforums.com/forums/f39/...ors-62392.html

[NJtoNC]

perhaps you can reface with 1/4" birch ply or similar, and then replace the edge banding with something that's 1/4" wider than the original?

[cyclegirl47]

Thank you all for the suggestions. I will be looking in to the possibilities.
If anyone out there has actually attempted this project please let me know Julie

[AIR-Quarius]

I used minwax clear polyurethane and it restored the tone of the wood...that is if they are faded or even scratched...kind of caught a little buzz there too...but all the wood is still with us.