Polyurethene vs vacuum form doors

[srslam]

We are looking to update our kitchen. Some kitchen companies have told us that vacuum form doors are superior to polyurethene doors. Others have told us that polyurethene is better. Does anyone have experience or an opinion on this ? Thanks.

[Sybarite]

If your are basing your judgement criteria on durability rather than costing I would say that resin/two pack/polyurethane is the superior product.

Vinyl/Thermolaminate/Vacuum Form is a thin skin of relatively soft material which is heated to softness, sucked down on and then glued to the door.

Two Pack/Polyurethane is a resin type coating sprayed on to the door and then baked hard - the same as some finishes used on cars.

As well as being tougher, a two pack finish will be more crisp along the transitions of any profiles machined into the doors - vinyl wrap, by nature of the vacuum form process tends to "round out" any sharp edges, especially internal profiles.
Vinyl is also known to have some issues with exposure to high levels of heat and humidity - which can be a serious concern in a kitchen.

The downside of Polyurethane is that it tends to be a bit "brittle" and can get chips knocked out of it that can be a problem to repair.
However, anything that puts a hole in your painted door would also probably cause similarly irreparable damage to a vinyl door.

Vinyl is marginally cheaper than poly and offers a range of "textured" woodgrain finishes not achievable with painted board.

If given the choice I would specify a polyurethane/ two pack finish over vinyl/foil wrap every time.

But I would also choose a flat colourboard finish ahead of either of these if I were primarily concerned with strength and durability.

Respect,

[pharmaboy2]

agree with all the above based on my own experience with living with the things, and the polyurethane was worst for longevity because it chipped around the edges of the doors (the doors had a square edge finish when really they should be 1 or 2mm pencil round.

With kids we went with a hardboard finish and 2mm hardedge - this went against the grain as we wanted a metallic PU finish in a sleek modern kitchen, but after much discussion it became apparent that the board with edge was a level of magnitude tougher and superior (just happens to be cheaper which is originally why we didnt want it). Adding good quality bench tops, appliances and some glass cupboards dresses it up - now quite common for architects to specify board products in expensive homes.

[srslam]

Thanks so much - great replies