ulti-mate cabinets delaminating...

[2K4CE]

My 3 year old ulti-mate cabinets are delaminating. The laminate appears to have shrunk in several places on the cabinets where it is pulling away from the particle board. This is the biggest problem of course with the worktop. It's already pulled away from the beveled section.

I've been trying to work with BH, but have been spinning my wheels trying to get any kind of warranty support because my receipt is long gone.

Has anyone been able to fix or mitigate this kind of material failure?


Thanks.

 

[bmwpower]

I didn't think laminate could shrink. Maybe the problem is the particle board underneath or the glue? Can you pull it up and reglue?

 

[2K4CE]

I can't - it's quite literally shrunk and wouldn't fit the same way. It's a plastic laminate that appears to have been vacuum formed to the particle board. I'm not sure glue was even used.

I have a feeling they may have used heat in the manufacturing process and some time in the hot garage has caused the material to shrink further.

The cabinets... the problem is just cosmetic and I can live with it. But the worktop is a real problem.

 

[bmwpower]

Ah, I see. Yea, that would be one disadvantage on laminate tops - not terribly stable over time. Short of getting a replacement from the manufacturer, not sure what you could do to fix it. Maybe you could overlay with another material?

 

[mmhouse]

I would aggressively escalate your problem with BH. Receipt or not they are clearly their cabinets and they are clearly not holding up as any reasonable person would expect after a relatively short period of time. I would extensively and politely (but firmly) document the problem in a letter with photos to the company CEO.

You'll find his name, address and phone number here (the press release refers to fitness products but as far as I can tell furniture is another division of the same company).....

http://www.bhnorthamerica.com/BHFH/reso/BH_Fitness_Growth_103008.pdf

 

[2K4CE]

Thanks for all of the suggestions.

I'll give their tech support one more shot, then I'll escalate.

Failing that - any material suggestions?

 

[hilld]

If you paid via credit card, you might be able to look up your purchase there, it won't list the details, but it should give you the date and amount paid for your cabinets, if it was a check, you should be able to find that as well, if it was cash, you would be out of luck.

 

[2K4CE]

I did, I sent an email to Discover hoping they could find it.