Poor finish on cabinets.

dbbls59

Well-known member
The finish on the cabinets in our Big Country is coming off. We have the light cherry finish with the real dark stain in the deep depressions. First I noticed it on the kitchen cabinets, then in the bath and now in the bedroom. It is like the stain didn't penetrate the wood but just laid on the surface. We have had the unit less than 2 years. The finish on our older SOB was still good after 9 years. So much for "good Amish cabinets". Can they be refinished without stripping all of the old finish off?

An update on this post. As suggested I called Heartland customer service. They ask me to send them pictures and they would forward them to the cabinet maker. I have now heard back from Heartland. They said the cabinet maker agreed to replace the doors and drawer faces. They would not pay shipping however but Heartland said they would ship them to me. How's that for Customer Service!

Thought I would let you know how things turned out. I received the doors and drawer fronts. While installing them the drawer fronts went on fine, except for one which was the wrong size. I refinished the old one and used it. As far as the door fronts, when they drilled the holes for the hinges they were 1/8 inch closer to the edge of the door. This was OK for a single door but for the two door arrangement, it left a big gap between the doors. On some I added spacers between the hinge and door frame to make them work. On one cabinet, I just used the old doors after refinishing them. I also gave the new and old doors and drawers another coat of varnish. I did this to all the cabinets in the trailer. I will say Heartland did their part.
 
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MTPockets

Well-known member
We had some water spotting on ours and used an outdoor clearcoat. This protects and solved the spotting issue. Look is the same.
 

Greengas

Well-known member
The finish on the cabinets in our Big Country is coming off. We have the light cherry finish with the real dark stain in the deep depressions. First I noticed it on the kitchen cabinets, then in the bath and now in the bedroom. It is like the stain didn't penetrate the wood but just laid on the surface. We have had the unit less than 2 years. The finish on our older SOB was still good after 9 years. So much for "good Amish cabinets". Can they be refinished without stripping all of the old finish off?

Does the big country have a 2 year or 1 year warranty? If it has the two year, I would take it in for warranty repair. There is no reason the finish should be going bad this soon and if it is still under warranty there is no reason why you should have to fix it.
 

TravelTiger

Founding Texas-West Chapter Leaders-Retired
I'd contact Heartland. They may offer a fix, if they've had other complaints maybe they had a bad batch of stain or something.


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Garypowell

Well-known member
I had a couple of doors crack and with a phone call and a couple of pictures I had new doors. Your problem might be a little trickier since you might want all doors replaced for fear of the future.

I would go go straight to heartland as a few screws and a door is changed...but again if they agree to all doors it might be a different matter.

Oh, oh, my new doors matched perfectly and no problems since.
 
We have a 2013 BC and our cabinets are doing the same thing. It looks as if the stain just dried on the surface of the wood and is flaking off.
 

Bobemuzzy

Active Member
I am a Kitchen Designer retired. I had a franchise with a high end cabinet company call Quaker Maid Kitchens. They had a hand rubbed stain finish on there cabinets with atop coat of conversion varnish. Great finish until someone in the spray department decided to spray the stain on and not wipe it down then put the top coat over the stain. We had the same problem until they went back to the old way of staining.
 

dbbls59

Well-known member
I called Customer Service and Terry Hayes ask me to sent him some pictures. He said they had never had this complaint before but he would show the pictures to the manufacture and they would let me know. I thought Customer Service was a representative of the manufacture.
 

priorguy

Well-known member
You called Heartland customer service not the cabinet manufacturer. HL is the client of the cabinet maker and checking on your behalf as you are they're customer.


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We are experiencing the exact same problem with our 2011 3510BC. Especially to the kitchen cabinets near the heaviest use area (lower kitchen cabinets & bathroom vanity). Our hardware 'finish' is also wearing off of any of the 'more used' cupboards (ie the cupboard where we store our cups, etc). Is anyone experiencing those problems?

Thanks for posting this. We just may give Heartland a call. It has been so discouraging that we were almost thinking of painting our cabinets, but that is a HUGE undertaking and I don't have the energy to take a project that large on.



The finish on the cabinets in our Big Country is coming off. We have the light cherry finish with the real dark stain in the deep depressions. First I noticed it on the kitchen cabinets, then in the bath and now in the bedroom. It is like the stain didn't penetrate the wood but just laid on the surface. We have had the unit less than 2 years. The finish on our older SOB was still good after 9 years. So much for "good Amish cabinets". Can they be refinished without stripping all of the old finish off?

An update on this post. As suggested I called Heartland customer service. They ask me to send them pictures and they would forward them to the cabinet maker. I have now heard back from Heartland. They said the cabinet maker agreed to replace the doors and drawer faces. They would not pay shipping however but Heartland said they would ship them to me. How's that for Customer Service!
 

Ray LeTourneau

Senior Member - Past Moderator
I am a Kitchen Designer retired. I had a franchise with a high end cabinet company call Quaker Maid Kitchens. They had a hand rubbed stain finish on there cabinets with atop coat of conversion varnish. Great finish until someone in the spray department decided to spray the stain on and not wipe it down then put the top coat over the stain. We had the same problem until they went back to the old way of staining.

My Son works for a cabinet maker (Cain Millwork) and all of their wood finished cabinets are hand rubbed then sprayed with top coat. I'm guessing it's a cost factor with RV's though. IF they used high end finished cabinets in our trailers it would surely affect the price point. Our 8 year old Bighorn isn't really showing any problems with the cabinets but our dining chairs show signs of use. I wonder if it's because Heartland has gone away from actual Oak finished cabinets to a different tone and a different base wood.
 

Dave49

Well-known member
I will argue the point of never having a complaint. My finish on the kitchen drawers were bad before the first year was up. I contacted Heartland about it and they said the same thing. Send them some pictures and I did. Come back and told me they couldn't do a thing about it as it was normal wear.

On the other hand Heartland as done me right on other things!
 

MTPockets

Well-known member
When we ordered our BigHorn the hand rubbed finish was an option for an extra $$$, which we did order. We noticed right away anywhere water got on the finish it spotted. I never reported this to Heartland (should have) but decided to apply the exterior finish clear coat. No change in appearance and spotting/protection is still like new after 2 1/2 years full time use. Agree, owners should not need to complete their RV, and, I've learned that some things discussed repeatedly are ignored and even discouraged - example: poor roof ladder plastic end caps and mounts that leave a flimsy ladder. (Owners left to fix this also)
 

JohnDar

Prolifically Gabby Member
Makes me wonder if HL and others have gone to low VOC or water-borne finishes to meet EPA restrictions on VOC's. Jury amongst many woodworkers (hobby and pro) is still out on how good they are, especially the combo stain/finish products. Personally, for my hobby cabinetry projects, i won't use them.

You can "hand-rub" any finish, even varnish, just by diluting them properly. I actually prefer a "wiping varnish" over brushing it on. Makes for a smoother finish with no runs or drips.
 

porthole

Retired
Makes me wonder if HL and others have gone to low VOC or water-borne finishes to meet EPA restrictions on VOC's. Jury amongst many woodworkers (hobby and pro) is still out on how good they are, especially the combo stain/finish products. Personally, for my hobby cabinetry projects, i won't use them.

You can "hand-rub" any finish, even varnish, just by diluting them properly. I actually prefer a "wiping varnish" over brushing it on. Makes for a smoother finish with no runs or drips.


I'm with you on that John. But could you imagine doing that on 10,000 trailers a year?
 

JohnDar

Prolifically Gabby Member
I'm with you on that John. But could you imagine doing that on 10,000 trailers a year?

Not sure when or even if they changed, but the finish on my cabinets is still good as new. Must be something about the finished light oak cabinetry vs. the newer darker colored stuff. And there are lower VOC varnishes that can be diluted to wipe on or spray on. I prefer the Pratt & Lambert #38. Works great over dewaxed shellac.
 

Westwind

Well-known member
Wish I could say ditto, ours are a mess, the finish has come off the cabinet doors under the kitchen sink and vanity and it coming off where our hands touch the cabinets when using the knob to open the cabinet door. I've made up my mind that I can take the doors off my FW and refinish them without going through the hassle of contacting Heartland and then having them go to the cabinet maker to only be told the trailer is out of warranty.
I don't know what or how they used to finish these cabinets but it is not a cabinet finish, it definitely doesn't hold up to use of any sort. It's one of the only disappointments we have with our FW and unfortunately when we are in it a daily reminder.
 
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