Kitchen quality dissapointment

[chriselevate]

Hi,

Just wondered if anyone could advise me on this or has good in depth experience of Egger boards for kitchen door fronts?

I've had a new kitchen fitted and spent a lot of money in order to get a good looking and quality kitchen. It's a full handle less kitchen. The bit that I'm disappointing in is the look and feel of the gloss white 19mm doors. The manufacturer calls them different colours but I'm pretty sure the colour/product for the doors is W1000 PG Premium White or W1100 PG Alpine White.

The doors are high gloss white with sharp square corners. They are definitely Egger.

If this is the case, would you say that there are better products out there or is it just the colour/finish that's giving me the impression that the kitchen is cheap?

Thanks for any helps/advice you can give on this.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

I tend to associate Egger with laminated board products, although in the last few years I know they have diversified into doors with products like Egger Zoom (which is presumably what you have). I thought that these were advertised as "ideal for customers who are looking for the premium look on a smaller budget" and "a great choice for kitchen door replacements". TBH MFC doors with 2 or 3mm PVC edge banding ar a lower cost approach to producing a high gloss door but it is going to be more durable than vinyl wrapped doors. To my mind the doors should look a bit like some of the changing cubicle material we install, but I'd hardly call that high end, so in the end I suppose it all boils down to how much you paid

 

[JohnD]

If you have slab doors, then I'd have thought that the kitchen factory cut them out of Egger board, edged them, and drilled the hinge holes. I don't know that Egger themselves do that. The laminate is hard and durable, but not everybody likes slab doors. I've ordered matching shelves like that. Factory edging in hard laminate is fine.

When I last had some, they were in a strong colour, not white. It would make me think of a pharmacy or vet's room.

If the doors are standard sizes (extremely likely) you could easily change them for ones you prefer. I'm guessing you didn't choose them in a showroom.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

I don't know that Egger themselves do that.

They do now - the range is called Egger Zoom (sorry "Egger Decorative Collection") and they can be made to measure in non-standard sizes which makes them good for kitchen reskins, etc

 

[chriselevate]

Thanks. So the doors I have are MFC with a white PVC edging as opposed to wrapped. They just feel look and feel on the check side if I'm honest. It's very difficult to know what I paid as the price was lumped in with the whole cost of the kitchen. As far as I'm aware, the kitchen company manufactured the doors, end panels and plinths. I'm guessing the manufacture them as I know that they do all of the cabinets so I'm assuming they do the rest of the kitchen too. Could be wrong though. Yes, the thought is that I could change the doors, end panels and plinth at some point but I can't afford to do that right now and I guess I didn't think that I'd be looking for a better quality setup right after it's been finished.

I wondered how the 18mm materials that egger supply compare to other companies an if there's a noticeable difference in quality compare to others.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Thanks. So the doors I have are MFC with a white PVC edging as opposed to wrapped.

Could you post a photo, please? Then we can maybe identify this for once and for all

The difference with vinyl wrapped doors in terms of look is that vinyl wraps have an MDF core with an applied flat MFC back and a square edge all round the back (which facilitates trimming of the wrap), however the front edges have to be more radiused because otherwise when the vinyl wrapping is heated and stretched it will tend to break on the sharp corners. This is very obvious when you put the two door types side by side. Another give away with vinyl wrapping is that you sometimes get one or two dust specks trapped between the vinyl and the MDF somewhere on the front surface which telegraph through

Incidentally, Egger being a major manufacturer and supplier of chipboard, MDF, MFC and MF-MDF are also a supplier of one-side melamine coated MDF door blanks to vinyl wrap manufacturers in the UK

As far as I'm aware, the kitchen company manufactured the doors, end panels and plinths. I'm guessing the manufacture them as I know that they do all of the cabinets so I'm assuming they do the rest of the kitchen too.

There tend to be cabinet manufacturers (right down to one man bands) but vinyl wrapped doors are pretty much the preserve of the bigger firms (on account of the cost of a CNC router and a vacuum press being well into 6 figures new) who often specialise in just that. Edge banded MFC can be dode by smaller firms, but having access to a cut and edge band supplier such as an Egger distributor (e.g. HPP in Oldham) frees even a smallplayer from having to make large investment in plant, machinery and staff. Not saying it isn't all done under one roof, but it's becoming increasingly unlikely to be the case with lower to mid market kitchens (i.e. sub-£20k) unless you are dealing with hand-made doors, etc. How big was your supplier?

I wondered how the 18mm materials that egger supply compare to other companies an if there's a noticeable difference in quality compare to others.

In general Egger materials are considered better than equivalent products from Kronopan and Caberdecor (the other two big suppliers in the UK). You don't see as much of other firms such as Finsa or Polyrey, but I'd rate Egger as having a slight edge over them as well. Side by side you may not notice much difference, but in terms of cutting without chipping I find Egger MFC and MF-MDF to have a slightly less brittle surface coating and to chip less and to have a more consistent lminate face (with no ripples, etc).

 

[chriselevate]

Cool, thanks for your help with this. Do these images help? I’ve also included the contrasting colour too which “seems” better quality.

 

[JohnD]

So the doors I have are MFC with a white PVC edging

I don't think PVC edging is much good. I remember there was an extra charge for the laminate edging, but it is just like the face laminate, looks good and durable. I would worry that PVC would peel.

but in the photo your fronts look fine
https://www.diynot.com/diy/attachments/c8880465-1fd4-4a6f-b9c9-53f223dd72c3-jpeg.156721/

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Do these images help?

Thanks for the photos. I'd say they were PVC or ABS edge banded. TBH they don't seem at all bad - but then I'm not viewing them in the flesh

I don't think PVC edging is much good. I remember there was an extra charge for the laminate edging, but it is just like the face laminate, looks good and durable. I would worry that PVC would peel.

This isn't the soft stuff they were using 30 odd years ago, John. Modern PVC and ABS edgebanding is applied using a PUR glue on a purpose-made edgebander machine and is both tough and quite durable (but like anything in a kitchen don't direct hot steam persistently). It rarely peels off when correctly applied and is far superior (wear, peel-resistance, impact resistance) to the pre-glued melamine tape you get for low-cost edging tasks. It's also a lot less brittle that HPL (laminate) and doesn't have a dark brown or black edge at joints. We use it a lot on carcasses supplied for interior fit-out (shops, bars, restaurants, etc) precisely because it is so durable and stable whilst being relatively economical. The only thing better (nicer) IMHO is solid wood lipping - but in comparison that costs an arm and a leg a there is a lot more work/material cost involved in producing boards that way

 

[ivixor]

You're right, they do look cheap. I would accept that material for internal shelves, but not doors. Those corners will be peeling and cracking within months.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Those corners will be peeling and cracking within months.

Not if they are 2 to 3mm ABS or PVC, they won't.