TheSamba.com :: View topic - Cabinet T-Moulding "Shrinkage" Repair

Sun Mar 22, 2015 3:40 pm

I was tired of looking at the unsightly shrunken T-Molding around my cabinets and tables. I thought about replacing it with NOS if I could find it at a reasonable cost. No luck there. Another option was to replace it with grey aftermarket molding so I ordered some. The color isn't quite right and just barely covers the edges of the melamine so I wasn't too happy. I decided to try and repair the original molding the best I could and "live with it". I used a heat gun on the low setting to remove the molding from the cabinets. This made it very pliable and as I was removing it I noticed it was stretching! After removing and cleaning it I decided to crank the heat gun on high and go at it while pulling tension on it. this worked great! I kept the heat on the back side to keep from burning the exposed side. Hanging the molding from a clothes line with weight at the bottom kept it straight and manageable. Left them to cool and removed the weight. I left them overnight to do any shrinking they might do. I went to re-install them and found they had grown a couple of inches. Trimmed the extra and re-installed them.. They look like new and it didn't cost anything. Now what to do about the yellow staining on the headliner...
Pics to follow...
Tyler

Moulding over the stove re-installed..Looks great! :) Happy Camper

Sun Mar 22, 2015 4:22 pm

Nice work!

Sun Mar 22, 2015 4:28 pm

Thanks :wink: I have been lurking around here long enough and thought I would become a member and give back a little.

Sun Mar 22, 2015 6:10 pm

Passenger Front Curtain Rail Before and After.

Mon Mar 23, 2015 7:02 am

65Tops wrote: ....Left them to cool and removed the weight. I left them overnight to do any shrinking they might do. I went to re-install them and found they had grown a couple of inches. Trimmed the extra and re-installed them..

something to consider is to stretch them only as much as you need.

I propose that 'over' stretching them and then cutting the extra will leave you shorter in a shorter amount of time as they re-shrink over the long term.

Mon Mar 23, 2015 9:51 am

I only needed to cut off about half of an inch on the longest one. I also used gorilla glue on the ends where they fit into the grove. Hopefully that will keep them from moving again if they decide to shrink.

Mon Mar 23, 2015 1:21 pm

Great tip - so nice and simple. Thanks for this one.

Wed Apr 01, 2015 9:13 am

thanks!

Wed Apr 01, 2015 9:23 am

65Tops wrote: Now what to do about the yellow staining on the headliner...

Learn to live with it.... nothing short of replacing all the interior and headliner material will change the fade.

Wed Dec 07, 2016 1:43 pm

Thanks for the great tip here. After a few hours with the heat guy, every cabinet in the Westy is now t-trim happy.

Wed Dec 07, 2016 4:56 pm

nice, it's on my list of to-do

Wed Dec 07, 2016 8:56 pm

Sweet! Finally, I don't have to open my wallet!

Tue May 19, 2020 3:43 pm

BRILLIANT!

Give this guy an Oscar. And a cold beer.

Tue May 19, 2020 3:50 pm

From my vintage trailer days and facing the identical issue and in the absence of a heat gun, the remedy was dropping the edging into a pot of boiling water for a a couple of seconds which produced the identical results. I have yet to try this method on my Westy materials as yet, but shrinkage is definitely is an issue here too.....

Tue May 19, 2020 4:36 pm

coqwesty wrote: From my vintage trailer days and facing the identical issue and in the absence of a heat gun, the remedy was dropping the edging into a pot of boiling water for a a couple of seconds which produced the identical results. I have yet to try this method on my Westy materials as yet, but shrinkage is definitely is an issue here too.....

Agreed. I've done this a few times with a Vanagon and a Bay, and it works like a charm. I boiled it for a few minutes and then pulled by hand to gain a bit of length back. The only thing to note is what Vanis13 suggested a few posts up. Only stretch as much as needed. It might take a couple tries to get it the right length. But if you over-stretch, you have to trim the excess and it will cause issues later on when it shrinks again. It doesn't seem to be a permanent fix, and I think it becomes something you'll end up having to redo every few years, but it's really not that big of a job and beats forking out coin for all new moulding.

Tue May 19, 2020 5:46 pm

I find that if I use 5 minute epoxy in the channel at each end it helps lock it in place better against future shrinkage.

Tue May 19, 2020 5:57 pm

This must be the season. I did my front table a few weeks ago. I used some construction cement to secure the trim. I'll report back in a few years on how it holds up.

Tue May 19, 2020 6:17 pm

I may just dust mine with sildenafil citrate every now and then.

Tue May 19, 2020 6:28 pm

A few weeks back I did the same thing using the heat gun. I left one end in place and stretched it to length on the cabinet. At each end a used a hot glue gun to hold it in place.

Bus2

Tue May 19, 2020 7:08 pm

dobryan wrote: I may just dust mine with sildenafil citrate every now and then.

Noooo! You do not want to do that as it just gets hard and looks old.

Instead, be gentle with the trim, warm as necessary, stretch, and then insert in the slot.

This will have to be repeated from time to time as others have noted above, but perfectionists may decide to stop the shrinkage by daily stretching.