This is an upgrade we should have done ages ago!
The acrylic slider doors on our overhead cabinets had gotten quite a few scratches on them during our travels. Seems that no matter how tight you keep your ship, there's always something that'll shimmy its way over to that acrylic, tagging it just enough to ruin the nice smooth surface.
I stopped by Tap Plastics in Portland a couple weeks ago to see what they had in the way of materials. They had the same stuff we started with (slightly frosted, matte on one side, glossy on the other) but we wanted something a bit more durable. I was looking for something textured (kinda like the striped acrylic they have in some of the Serenity Airstreams) but all the stuff I saw looked too shower-doory. I took a few samples back to the Airstream to decide, and we ended up going with a more white-ish acrylic, glossy on both sides (tougher to scratch). I dropped off the old doors and they cut identical sizes for us, complete with sanded finger holes, ready at noon the next day.
I thought the white might be too opaque, but it's not. The whiter look of it is actually nice and clean when the lights are off:
…and plenty warm with the lights on:
Six new custom doors cost us $190 bucks. I kinda think that's a bit less than we'd have paid to buy a new round of sliding doors from the Airstream factory, don't you?
Also, if you wanna get funky they've got tons of colors to choose from (orange!). So check your local plastics place if you need new slider doors!
How did you remove them…seems difficult and just don’t lift right out.
In our Airstream, I just lifted the back one out first (by the finger holes), up, push back, then down and it comes out of its slider. They you do the front one, and then they can both come out of the opening easily. We had a little sticking with the ones in the kitchen and it was a little hard to get them back in, but they were that way to begin with. If I’d thought about it I might have had the plastics guys cut those two doors a smidge shorter, but they slide just fine now that they’re in.
Well done! They look awesome, and yes I think you got yourself a really good deal.
Thanks Leigh! I’m pretty happy to be rid of the scratched up ones!
how do you like the round sink – pros and cons
Thanks
Van
Love it. No cons. I like that you can put a big pot in it…don’t miss a double sink or a rectangular sink at all. I’ve heard some people do, but I don’t. 🙂
When I worked at Capitol Records, in Hollywood, it was very close to Roscoe’s Chicken & Waffles. I sat at the counter one day, and in walked Muhammed Ali, which was a thrill. I asked the cook to make me his favorite dish, which was a Waffle (duh) with chicken livers. The livers were covered in a brown gravy, and the part of the waffle that wasn’t covered got maple syrup. I know it sounds weird, but when the gravy met the syrup, it was some form of heaven.
That’s a cool story, Richard!