Changing cabinet stain

Cruiser77 · Aug 26, 2011

So the DW and I really want dark wood and dark interior but so far the only coaches we find that in consistently are Prevost and Newmar both of which are out of our price range. So my question is this...How hard is it to stain the cabinets and change out the countertops? Are the cabinets and stuff put in like home construction? I've done residential construction and remodeling before so I'm thinking I should be able to handle this. We are wanting the dark stuff because we feel like it gives the coach a richer,warmer, more inviting feel. I'm also curious how hard it is to put down tile? Again is it the same principle as residential? Thinking this might open up some more coach options for us as well.

tonyandkaren · Aug 26, 2011

The cabinets are built a little differently than home construction to save on weight. They're usually just framing for the door openings with cabinet bottoms and sides only where needed - no backs or tops. Unless you're looking at higher end RVs the cabinets will probably not be real wood but some type of press board with a printed wood pattern. The doors are usually solid wood. You could lightly sand the doors and use a darker stain/varnish to change the color. I've seen pictures where people have darkened the color on the fake wood parts of their cabinets with stain/varnish too.It looks pretty good.

We haven't had any experience with installing new countertops or new flooring but both of these are commonly done professionally and also by do-it-yourselfers in RV remodels. You shouldn't have any problem do the work yourself. Try googling RV remodeling and you'll probably get some good sites and ideas about what kind of stuff your can do to fix a RV the way that you'd like it.

happycampersrus2 · Aug 27, 2011

Loser77 said:
So the DW and I really want dark wood and dark interior but so far the only coaches we find that in consistently are Prevost and Newmar both of which are out of our price range. So my question is this...How hard is it to stain the cabinets and change out the countertops? Are the cabinets and stuff put in like home construction? I've done residential construction and remodeling before so I'm thinking I should be able to handle this. We are wanting the dark stuff because we feel like it gives the coach a richer,warmer, more inviting feel. I'm also curious how hard it is to put down tile? Again is it the same principle as residential? Thinking this might open up some more coach options for us as well.

Rustoleum has a great product for countertops and cabinets, home depot or loses carry them. We painted our laminate countertops with the countertop paint, really came out nice.

Water Dog · Aug 27, 2011

If you have the cabinet faces that are basically vinyl wrapped with wood grain embossed on them, you might consider just overlaying them with 1/8" hardwood plywood, and staining and clearcoating that. Then all you would have to redo is the doors and drawer fronts.

Marc L · Aug 28, 2011

At the house, to save on stripping all the old varnish, I used MinWax Polyshades (stain & polyurethane in one can). Because it's a varnish, it sticks to varnish, all I did was wash them thoroughly with TSP and roughed the surface with steel wool before applying the min wax. 5 years later, still holding good.

Gary RV_Wizard · Aug 28, 2011

Adding tile is a weight problem in coaches that don't already have it. Use a synthetic instead - modern materials look great .

happycampersrus2 · Aug 28, 2011

there is a new product out by rustoleum, 4 step process to refinishing your cabinets without removing the old finish, doesn't matter if they are laminated cabinets or wrapped with that paper looking fake wood stuff. You might want to look into it. There are some vise's on youtube that show it being done.

Rick Gonzalez · Sep 16, 2011

The wife and I just completed exactly what you are talking about in our rig. Some of the old cabinets were badly water damaged while others were water streaked and faded. We had to replace most of the wood on the cabinet facings, stripping off the old, nearly paper thin wood veneer and replacing it with 1/4" birch plywood which we sanded, stained to color and then poly'ed. The ceiling panels were about the same, we had to replace one entirely and the others we sanded really well and then stained and poly'ed like the cabinets. We think it came out pretty good for a DIY project. As for the counter top, we need to replace ours as well and we've again chosen a piece of 3/4 birch which will be sanded and stained. We toyed around with the idea of installing tile but decided against it for now. The structure of the cabinet where the counter top will be replaced is similar to a household cabinet, though much lighter weight materials of course. The old top seems to be glued on and there may be a few screws in it as well. It looks fairly straight forward and the only real concern we have at the moment is getting the old top off without breaking the wooden frame of the cabinet if the top is really tightly glued down. I think with a little patience and care we should be able to get it off without too much problem. I've included a few pics below.

Good luck on your restore!

Rick

Ernie Ekberg · Sep 16, 2011

there is vinyl tile that looks like ceramic. the darker the interior, the smaller it will feel, visually

Wa_mermayd · Sep 20, 2011

Water Dog said:
If you have the cabinet faces that are basically vinyl wrapped with wood grain embossed on them, you might consider just overlaying them with 1/8" hardwood plywood, and staining and clearcoating that. Then all you would have to redo is the doors and drawer fronts.

I think this is what we are going to do. We are going be re-making the fronts of the cabinets to remove the mirror things that are on the front of some of the cabinets and we've been going back and forth on how to make sure the cabinets all match. There is a guy who just recently did his cabinets and took some great pics. If I can find his posts - I'll link them here.

Looking forward to this discussion! Thanks!
Paula

Wyotraveler · Dec 31, 2011

Instead of the 1/4 inch plywood covering they have luan. Commonly called door skins in several different types of wood. Very thin and light weight. Stains well and you won't add a tremendous amount to the weight of the RV.

pkunk · Dec 31, 2011

As a cabinetmaker, I'd advise to reskin the Face frames with a peel & stick real wood veneer. Stripping the doors and restaining is almost impossible for a home woodworker. Best advise for them is measure each one and buy new. There are many places on the web that custom make doors to your spec and you stain and finish. Or....find a local cabinet shop to make 'em for you. They might also be a great source for a new lightweight solid surface countertop. I'd help if I were close.

Changing cabinet stain

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