I’ve been designing and building custom cabinets for a few years and have “discovered” a problem that I wonder if others have dealt with.
Coffee makers usually sit on the kitchen counter beneath an upper cabinet and the heat and steam they generate eventually causes problems with the upper cabinet. Crock pots and electric skillets create heat and steam too, but coffee makers are used far more frequently. On my eight year old cabinets, the upper cabinet face frame is beginning to separate and the finish has begun to get rough. I’ll be touching mine up in the next few weeks as part of a “facelift” we’re doing preparing for #2 daughters wedding. It would be great if I could do something to “permanently” fix this problem.
Has anyone come up with a way to deal with this?
Thanks
Replies
Make yer coffee on the island.
No island. It's a galley kitchen and there's no room for one. - lol
Change the upper height to give a bit more clearance (which is similar to moving the c.m. to the island).
Just another 6" of space above the c.m. makes it much nicer for filling it with water (and opening the lid for the water, inserting filters, etc.) A row of cup hook usually does not go amiss, either, in the "rest" of the space (you want it to be a bit "oversize" for when you get that really nice c.m. for xmas or whatever <g>).
how'bout a shield. Some of the small appliances mount nder the uppers and they are designed with a heat shield that directs airflow out the front. Barely noticeable if done right.
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Put the CM close to the hood vent and turn the exhaust on when you are making coffee.
Most people pull the coffee maker out to fill it with the resevoir with water and the basket with coffee. Why not leave the coffee maker out until the brewing cycle is finished, most of the damaging steam won't touch the upper cabinets.
Those coffee makers that mount under the cabinets, who's brilliant idea was that?
This isn't one of those under-cabinet mounted coffee makers. I quit using those years ago after almost wrecking a cabinet door. - lol
I posted this question in the hope that someone had a "magic bullet" solution that I just wasn't smart enough to have figured out yet. I guess there really isn't one. - lol
The heat shield idea sounds interesting - I may look into that. Running the stove exhaust fan while brewing the coffee isn't an option. Most people 'prime' the coffee maker before they go to bed and set the timer so they have their coffee as soon as they get up.
I suppose that I'll just have to keep an eye on my cabinets and touch them up more frequently - and make sure that my future designs include plenty of open space somewhere so coffee makers, crock pots, and electric skillets don't steam the finish off of any upper cabinets.
Edited 3/9/2005 9:10 am ET by Dave
Dave, thinking as a consumer and painter here.
I do like Piffin suggested, but not as complex. I mounted a piece of laminate on the underside of the cab.
As for the face frame, thats tricky, My coffee pot has been there more than 10 years and I drink about 2-3 pots a day. The top of my latest pot has a big vent and steams at the end of the cycle. I havent seen any damage so far.
For the face finish, you are stuck with your cab finish, but there is no reason that the edge and back (of the face frame) that is underneath, cant be covered with spar varnish or some other moisture resistant product. Think exterior or bath, also glossier if its paint.
If you want it ballistic, boat finishers cut the first few coats of varnish with turps so that it really soaks in the wood, then slowly change the % to the normal varnish. Just cutting one time will give you better results.
umm one last thought is to un-trap the air. If there is a place that you can cut a not so noticeable notch that is closer to the undersurface height that might release the steam enough so that it doesnt 'soak in'.
-zen
Dave,
It just so happens that watching HGTV the other night they had a special on kitchen trends for 2005 (I think that's what it was called) Anyway, the featured a built-in coffee maker that goes flush to the backsplash wall. It has a direct water hook up much like a refer's ice maker. I believe it's direct wired too. It looked really nice, but unfortunately I can't remember the name.
Later,
Jim
That almost sounds like the coffee maker I had years ago - without the water connection and hot wiring. I thought it was really neat until I saw what the steam was doing to the cabinet doors. I dropped the thing like a bad habit. - lol
My kitvhen cabinets are painted, on the bottom of the upper above my coffee pot, I added a coat of thinned epoxy.
It's a Miele. Ya really gotta be passionate about your coffee to drop over 2 grand on a coffee maker! Only McMansions need apply - LOL!
http://www.vacandsew.com/coffee_frame.htm
My feeling is that fundamentally there is no fix for this problem. It's even worse with electric rice cookers. All this steam is inherently inimical to glued composite materials.
Perhaps open solid wood shelving instead of an upper cabinet above the coffee making station? Maybe we need to rethink here. Why does a kitchen have to consist of cabinets with doors? Open shelving is more efficient.
Whoa there, Dog. Let's not get hasty with this "no-door" concept. Most of my cabinets sell based on the doors. Take those away and they're just boxes with boards in them. - lol
For frequently used items, sometimes I think the doors just get in the way. Glasses and cups and so forth.
From a strictly functional standpoint, I agree but there's also a 'neatness' problem. If you're gonna store stuff where all the world can see - you gotta be neat........and that ain't one of my strong suits - lol.
Some sort of a muffin fan mounted way back outta the way to blow that stuff away...You can buy 110v muffins by the way so you dont have to fool with xformers...