I need some cheap but sturdy cabinet doors

[Rich Engelhardt]

I managed to get 8 years out of the old kitchen cabinets @ one of the rentals.
They are starting to show their age now & I have to replace all of them.

The cases are still good & painted white.

I have 17 lower doors and 19 upper doors to replace.

Since it's a rental, I'd like to get by as inexpensively as possible but still have it look decent.
I have a good amount of time to make and finish the doors so price is more an issue than time.

Any ideas?

[William A Johnston]

Rich,

I would check some local cabinet shops in your area and get a quote on MDF raised panel doors and Flat Drawer fronts. On a MDF raised panel door there is only a top side operation on a CNC router to make the door, if you decide you like a Shaker/Mission style door better you will spend a little more money due to the fact it is typically a 2 sided operation. (1) to cut the panel from the top side of the door and (2) to flip the door and rabbet out the inside to accept a 1/4" MDF insert.

When we make MDF doors at the cabinet shop I work at we use a brand called Plum Creek/MDF, the edges seem to paint a lot better than the standard MDF. It is a lot more dense than the MDF you will get at the local box stores.

Are your existing doors exposed or hidden hinges?

Bill

[lowell holmes]

Back in the day. . . . .
We built cabinet doors using 3/4" ash plywood or birch plywood. Ash was considered more desirable in upper scale kitchens.
We used lip mold and brass offset hinges.

You could still do that.

Painted kitchens would probably be birch plywood with lip mold doors.

Locally in Houston, there are some yards that sell full dimension lip mold. My daughter's kitchen is upper scale painted lip mold cabinets, painted.
I matched the doors around a refrigerator surround with moldings from Clarke Hardwood Lumber. Their plywood and molding is full dimension stock.
Look around, you can find it.

I also have shaper cutters that will cut the edge and relief for the old job site molded doors and drawer fronts. You could make them with router bits.
In past history, these doors were stained and varnished or painted. Crisp painted workmanship should take care of it.
You could make your own lip mold.

[Jim Dwight]

In my old shop, I made doors of softwood and "1/4" luan plywood using a router table cope and stick bit. The luan isn't really 1/4 so I caulked around the panels before I painted them. They were certainly good enough for a shop. I also built a kitchette in the basement of that house using boxes of melamine particle board and doors of pickled softwood. Some doors were raised panels and others were glass. That's more work but still pretty inexpensive. You can also get router bits that cut a smaller dado more appropriate for luan plywood and you can get actual 1/4 plywood or MDF. MDF takes paint well.

For a rental, I would look at doors of softwood and flat panels painted to match the cabinets. You ought to be able to rough out the doors in a day or two. Painting takes longer unless you spray. I sprayed my shop doors.

[scott vroom]

I managed to get 8 years out of the old kitchen cabinets @ one of the rentals.
They are starting to show their age now & I have to replace all of them.

The cases are still good & painted white.

I have 17 lower doors and 19 upper doors to replace.

Since it's a rental, I'd like to get by as inexpensively as possible but still have it look decent.
I have a good amount of time to make and finish the doors so price is more an issue than time.

Any ideas?

Not much info there. Do you have the tools to make your own doors? How much $ are you budgeting for all 36 doors? Do you want cope and stick doors or CNC? If real wood, poplar (visible grain) or maple?

In any case, if your time is free then you can make most any type cheaper than you can buy providing you have the tools.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Do you have the tools to make your own doors? How much $ are you budgeting for all 36 doors? Do you want cope and stick doors or CNC? If real wood, poplar (visible grain) or maple?
Yes - I have all the tools I need to start from scratch with rough sawn wood.
Jointer, planer, table saw, 3.25 HP Milwaukee router mounted in a table - plus the bits. I'm open to buying new bits also if the style calls for it.
I plan on cope and stick since I don't have a CNC.
Poplar is the cheapest I can buy. Maple around my parts is pretty costly.



Are your existing doors exposed or hidden hinges? Existing are hidden cup hinges.
I used Liberty I bought in bulk from Home Depot for cheap. (prior to knowing any better.)
That's one of the problems. I used 5/8" overlay cup hinges, which Liberty no longer makes and Home Depot has run out of.
They break fairly often on heavy use doors, like the under sink doors where the garbage can is located.
I plan to replace all the hinges with exposed hinges.
Since that would leave nice big holes where the cups are, I figured now would be the time to replace the doors also.

[ian maybury]

Might you get away with low cost off the shelf stock doors from somebody like IKEA? Even if they required minor mods they might be a cost effective and convenient option...

[Pat Barry]

I managed to get 8 years out of the old kitchen cabinets @ one of the rentals.
They are starting to show their age now & I have to replace all of them.

The cases are still good & painted white.

I have 17 lower doors and 19 upper doors to replace.

Since it's a rental, I'd like to get by as inexpensively as possible but still have it look decent.
I have a good amount of time to make and finish the doors so price is more an issue than time.

Any ideas?

What were they made of? Why did they fail, or are they just out of style?

[Rick Potter]

Poplar frames with 1/4" flat MDF panel. Put a Shaker style bevel on them. On a rental, I would simply make them an overlay door with spring hinges.

[Jim Dwight]

If hinges are your issue, they can be replaced. I often by from this place:

http://www.wwhardware.com/cabinet-hinges/cabinet-furniture-hinges/standard-european-hinges

They have a large printed catalog which is handy, especially for European hinges. The 5/8 overlay is a function of the baseplate you use. They sell the hinges and baseplates separately. You also have an adjustment on the hinge, of course. The printed catalog helps pick out the right parts but you should be able to do it on-line.

When I described making doors of softwood I was talking about the stuff with knots sold at the big box stores for shelving. You have to be a bit careful about where the knots are located but it is significantly cheaper than poplar here. You also need to use Kilz or another good stainblocking primer. Poplar would be more fun to work with. Even clear softwood would be easier to deal with but the grain of softwood can be an issue, even when it is clear. Poplar is less contrary.

It's also possible to rip up 3/4 MDF but it isn't very strong and is nasty to cut up.

Cheap and quite a sturdy door would be melamine particle board with edge banding. I don't love the iron on but it usually works. Solid wood would dress it up a bit and be more durable.

[ian maybury]

Refinishing and the repair of problems is very often a viable option. There's an awful lot of basically sound frame and panel hardwood kitchens that get thrown out for want of a little TLC, or because they are not fashionable any, or whatever...

[Rich Engelhardt]

What were they made of? Why did they fail, or are they just out of style?
They were made from the original 1950's era 3/4" plywood inset doors. I reversed the doors so the inside was on the outside and added a false cope and stick rail around the outside perimeter.
They are just getting "tired". The hinges are getting weak & all the doors are cocked to one side or the other.
They are also getting somewhat beat up - - the paint on them is chipped and some grime is ground in pretty well.


Poplar frames with 1/4" flat MDF panel. Put a Shaker style bevel on them. On a rental, I would simply make them an overlay door with spring hinges.
That's more or less what I had in mind.

[Jeff Duncan]

If you can get soft maple in your area it's a much better wood for cabinet doors…..especially on a rental. Poplar is going to get beat up really fast. In my area soft maple is not much more than poplar so price isn't a big factor. Soft maple doors with a 1/4" or even 3/8", (better), mdf panel and you have a pretty minimal investment in materials for some nice looking long wearing doors.

good luck,
JeffD

[Matthew Hills]

What are tax implications of doing it yourself vs. contracting to local shop/cabinet-door place?

Matt

[Rich Engelhardt]

I can buy enough lumber to make sure I have plenty to do the job.
What's left over, since it's not something that can be returned, I have to eat myself...
Not that I'd abuse that or anything - but - I was really trying to come up with some way to use cherry instead of poplar. ;)
Anyhow - since farming it out will run over $500 and it's not really a replacement of something damaged, my accountant will probably want to depreciate the cost.
I'm thinking I can do it myself for around the same amount and end up just expensing the cost of materials.

I'd farm it out if time was short, but, I have a lot of time to fabricate the doors. I can stretch that out over the whole Summer and Fall if I want.

[Daniel O'Neill]

If hinges are your issue, they can be replaced. I often by from this place:

http://www.wwhardware.com/cabinet-hinges/cabinet-furniture-hinges/standard-european-hinges

They have a large printed catalog which is handy, especially for European hinges. The 5/8 overlay is a function of the baseplate you use. They sell the hinges and baseplates separately. You also have an adjustment on the hinge, of course. The printed catalog helps pick out the right parts but you should be able to do it on-line.
.............


I just bought some stuff from them and it was pretty good. They have a good catalog of stuff.

[Rick Potter]

Just my opinion, but renters and European hinges don't mix, especially in less costly rentals. They are too easy to knock off, people lean on the bottom doors, kids swing on them, etc. Then the occupant, who doesn't want to tell you what happened, tries to put it back together with 16 penny nails. My choice is heavy duty, full swing hinges, like the ones older houses came with. They take a lot of abuse, and replace easily.

PS: If you only got eight years out of the present doors, I will modify my original proposal to go along with Jeff. Soft maple frames with 3/8" MDF panels, run a small chamfer bit around the inside to break the edges, and chamfer (or round over) the outside. This will help avoid chipping of the edges from hard use. Don't even think about using hollow core doors.

Eight years is not very long. I have a section 8 house that has a kitchen from 1976, which will get a whole new kitchen when it goes vacant. Doors have been redone once.

[Phil Thien]

Just my opinion, but renters and European hinges don't mix, especially in less costly rentals. They are too easy to knock off, people lean on the bottom doors, kids swing on them, etc. Then the occupant, who doesn't want to tell you what happened, tries to put it back together with 16 penny nails. My choice is heavy duty, full swing hinges, like the ones older houses came with. They take a lot of abuse, and replace easily.

If my brother were here he'd be saying "continuous hinges."

He was head of maintenance in a school district.

The kids destroyed EVERYTHING.

[Fred Chan]

If it's not a high end rental then it's more economical to just replace the hinges and knobs. Cabinets are already white so just spackle sand and paint the doors.

[Rich Engelhardt]

PS: If you only got eight years out of the present doors, I will modify my original proposal to go along with Jeff.I'm fine with the 8 years.
The doors probably have another couple of years left in them, but, they are starting to look a little tired and droopy. Plus they could stand a good coat of paint.
Here's what they looked like 8 years ago when I redid them.
My wife had me on a real strict budget - real real real strict - like $200.00 for the whole thing!
She bent a little on that and excluded the cost of the floor.



Just my opinion, but renters and European hinges don't mixI share that opinion. Cup hinges just work loose too easy. Once they work loose, they break almost right away.
Maybe Blum hinges would have held up better, but, there's no way I'm going to sink that much money into these doors.