Appliance Garage Door Kaput!

[Les Brandt]

The appliance garage roll up door in my 01' Patriot decided to start jamming and peel the veneer off the face.

Has anyone had the same issue?

Being a carpenter and understanding the way roll up doors are installed, I don't see an easy fix in replacing the roll up door and assembly. I was thinking of removing the roll up door and putting 2 Solid Cherry doors on hinges to the opening and matching the stain and finish.

Any thoughts? Comments. Other ideas?

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

Les,
The veneer peel looks like it might be caused by it sticking to something on the backside of the door or on the track. I used silicon spray to get my front console door to slide easily. From photo it looks like you could re-glue veneer if you could remove what it is catching on. I think the complete assy can be removed if needed. I did see cabinet doors on an appliance garage at the Kerrville rally (don't remember who's coach) and they looked good.
Steve

[Les Brandt]

That picture was taken before 3 other slats peeled and broke off. It's something in the roll above. I stuck my head in there and don't see an easy fix other than the doors idea I have.

[David T. Richelderfer]

The burl veneer on many of our interior doors also peels at ends and corners.  We have to re-glue them and compress the veneer tightly back into place until the glue dries - usually 12 to 24 hours drying time.  In your issue, applying pressure will be difficult unless the sliding panel is removed for repair.  I am glad I don't have one of those.  I have enough other things that come with their own issues.

[Les Brandt]

I'm thankful the rest of our woodwork in our coach is all solid wood and in pristine condition. The garage door is my only nemesis.

I've looked at the interior of the appliance garage and there isn't enough room to do a traditional straight slide up assembly. The garage doesn't look easy to remove, so the doors seem like the most viable option. Right now I can't get the door to roll up more than a few inches so it's basically useless.

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

Les,
You'll probably have to remove the roll up assy to install cabinet doors. Maybe you'll be able to id the problem and repair it and the veneer per David's suggestion and avoid adding cabinet doors.
Good Luck. Steve

[Edward Buker]

If it is caused by a sticking or a rubbing issue I would put some Johnson's paste wax in the tracks and try gluing the veneer before I would give up on it. It is usually better to repair if you can do that easily.

http://www.amazon.com/Johnson-Fine-Wood-Paste-00203/dp/B0000DIWIM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416098390&sr=8-1&keywords=johnson+wax+paste

Later Ed

[Les Brandt]

If it is caused by a sticking or a rubbing issue I would put some Johnson's paste wax in the tracks and try gluing the veneer before I would give up on it. It is usually better to repair if you can do that easily.

http://www.amazon.com/Johnson-Fine-Wood-Paste-00203/dp/B0000DIWIM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416098390&sr=8-1&keywords=johnson+wax+paste

Later Ed

Too late Ed. I lost some of the veneer already.

However, I did find this:

http://www.cabinetparts.com/c/kitchen-appliance-garages-wood-tambour-doors#loaded

[Edward Buker]

One last thought, I have mixed black painted surface and cherry before and it looks quite nice. You might possibly try that on the several slats that have given up the veneer, or possibly all of them.
Later Ed

[Les Brandt]

So I went out to the coach today (a little cold in there by the way) and layed on my back on the counter, slid my head into the appliance garage and was able to remove and dismantle the roll up assembly.

I found out what caused the issue. There is a spring mechanism that puts the roller under tension. The spring was detached, so when we were trying to roll up the door the veneer sections would bind on each other and gradually peeled the veneer as it is only installed over wafer board.

I managed to "Jerry Rig" the spring mechanism to work and reassembled the door system.
I think I can removed some of the good veneer off the upper (unseen) portion of the roll and glue it on the damaged section. At least I'm going to give it a try!

For those who may end up needing to replace theirs, the link in my post above is were they are available and comes with all required parts.

[Jerry Carr]

Thanks for the link Les I am sure we will have a member that could use this, please post a photo of the finished job  

[Les Brandt]

It took me this long to update the thread cause I waited till nice weather to finish along with the rest of the woodwork needs for the coach.

If you look at the first photo, you will see the veneer that caught peeling up into the corner. After taking apart the appliance garage door assembly and getting it back into place and working, I ended up losing the top row of veneer on the door. You'll see this in the second photo.
Rather than replacing the complete garage door assembly, I opted to get a piece of 1/2" quarter round, stain and lacquer it and pin nail that to the bottom of the appliance garage door frame. It covered the missing veneer on the slide up door nicely and saved me a big head ache and a wack of dough in the process.
The last picture shows the end result. Colour on this was slightly different because I used solid maple quarter round and it doesn't take the stain like cherry.

When you stand back, it's barely noticeable. I can certainly live with that though!

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

Les,
Nice job. Looks good.
Steve

[Edward Buker]

Only you will know...given it is on the top it looks meant to be.

later Ed

[Fred Brooks]

     Les,
  Looks great and like you never had an issue. For those of you out there who have access to a table saw, you can make new "tambour" strips from cherry wood and glue them to canvas with 3M 08090 spray contact cement from Home Depot. Lay them out in the sun for 2 or 3 days until they "tan" and match the rest of the surrounding wood. Apply Minwax gloss polyurathane to make her shine.
     Regards Fred