Replacement Kitchen cabinet doors

[James Baldwin]

Hi, were considering replacing our kitchen cabinet doors Which would be the best material to use? Baltic birch or MDF. They would be painted and just a flat panel. No rail or stiles. Thanks, Jim

[Jim Becker]

There are tradeoffs between the two materials. The BB (if you can get it) is "stronger" relative to fasteners, such as those required for your hinges. But the edges need to be banded to hide the plywood layers and the surface requires careful sanding to prep for paint. The woodgrain of the top veneer may telegraph through the paint. The MDF face is absolutely smooth and provides the best finish. The cut edges do require filling and sanding to get them smooth. MDF doesn't hold fasteners as well as the plywood, although Euro cut hinges have pretty good support that puts less stress on the screws if that's what your kitchen uses. MDF is also less friendly to moisture. You can use an exterior grade to help with that if necessary.

I've built cabinet doors with both...pick the one that best matches your expectations with caveats in mind.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

MDF is very flat and if you can use that, it is great for painting.

MDF is very heavy and does not react well to getting wet.

MDF costs less.

Also, what part of the door are you thinking for the MDF? The entire door?

I have hardly ever used MDF so i cannot comment on how well it holds screws and such. Last time I used it, I drilled, tapped, then hardened using super glue, and then tapped again. I was creating a router table top and it held up well for years before I gave it away with the table saw I built it into.

If I felt that I could handle all of the other problems, I know many people have built lots of cabinets using MDF. I think baltic birch will take more abuse, but, it might take a lot of work if you want it to have that perfect surface (bondo maybe)...

[Mel Fulks]

I would use a “light weight ,and light color mdf . It looks like wood , not super-strong ,slightly bowed plywood.

[Tom M King]

https://store.ashbylumber.com/products/1-2--x-49--x--97--lightweight-mdf-panel-12522.html

[Rob Sack]

I would recommend regular weight MDF over lightweight MDF. The edges on the lightweight MDF are a lot more fragile than regular weight. As far as hinges are concerned, while it is true that MDF does not hold screws well, the use of concealed hinges such as the Blum Clip Top don't use screws and in my experience, based on their design, hold equally well in solid wood, plywood, and MDF.

[J.R. Rutter]

MDF. Soak the edges with a couple coats of dewaxed shellac like sealcote after profiling, before sanding. Coating the whole door with shellac can also help with grain raise depending on your finish.

[John TenEyck]

Most cabinet shops around me use MDF for their "premium" paint grade kitchen cabinet doors/drawer fronts. It's flat, stays flat, and paints better than most anything else. Moisture is a non-issue as it's encased in paint. Euro hinges hold fine as long as you don't have kids swinging on them, probably even if you do.

John

[James Baldwin]

We're planing on replacing the whole door. I've looked at pre-made and they're a little pricey. Between $35 and $70 depending on size. We'd just be doing flat panel/square edge with maybe the top edge rounded over. I have all the equipment and knowledge to do it but just wasn't sure an what material to use. The other thing is they are not quite a standard size. The 30" cabinet has a 22 1/2" x 28 1/2" door and they are all like that not even measurements. I don't know if that's standard or not. The doors are on the outside of the cabinets not flush. Jim


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[John Kananis]

What's wrong with poplar? For paint grade, I'd use poplar for the frame and mdf for the panel. Paints really well, works easily and cost is very little (especially if you're buying rough).

[John TenEyck]

What's wrong with poplar? For paint grade, I'd use poplar for the frame and mdf for the panel. Paints really well, works easily and cost is very little (especially if you're buying rough).

See the OP's original post.

John

[John Kananis]

Oof... starting to forget things lol. I remember reading that now that I read it again. Thanks.


See the OP's original post.

John

[James Baldwin]

My wife doesn't want any places that will catch dirt and stuff like the doors do now hence a flat panel. Jim

[James Baldwin]

Been discussing the new doors with the wife and what she really likes is two that are made out of oak an a separate cabinet. They have a natural finish on them (lacquer?) That gives them a slight amber color. I'm assuming that they are red oak. MDF is the other option but not the first. I took the sizes of the doors and we will probably hit places like Restore and Second Chance (a local recycle place) and see what we can come up with. I can cut down any that are close to the sizes that we need and then build the rest of them. Jim

[Jim Becker]

My local ReStore is now advertising an actual line of cabinets, although they are all white. But there generally are a few "whole kitchens" of kitchen removals for upcycling available. One thing...they are not selling them individually, at least at first, and they are priced as the whole set.

[Jim Dwight]

amber tint is probably oil based poly. All the lacquer I have used is clear. But there are additives for some that will provide an amber tint to make the results similar to oil based poly.

[John TenEyck]

Wow, how did we get from white to natural oak? In any case, white oak is all the rage these days, not red oak. Pretty easy to tell the difference under a natural finish. White oak never has a reddish hue.

John

[Greg Quenneville]

For comparison, I live in Australia, known for its wacky furniture and feature timbers, not so much for dimensional stability. Every kitchen here is made from some kind of man-made material, and there are lots of magazine-grade kitchens made every day. Since we don’t have a huge market for plywood, doors and drawer fronts are made from MDF, painted. The result can be fantastic, stable and uniform. Lots of prep work on cut edges of mdf, but so too is there on other materials.

If I was again living in North America I would use MDF now despite being raised on solid maple and baltic birch ply.

[James Baldwin]

This the door style that my wife really likes. We'll probable hunt around in the Restore type places and see if we can come up with anything. Any size that we can't come up with I'll probably make. We're going to be making a trip to Portland, Or in the next week and will hit the Restore type places there also. We'll also be visiting Crosscut Hardwoods since their selection is much better than what we have locally. I'm thinking that the door pictured is Red Oak not sure about the finish though. I have a list of dimensions of the sizes we need. Jim
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[John TenEyck]

That looks like a solid slab door. Be aware that that style construction is very unstable. Changes in RH will make it expand/contract and bow more than any other. It needs to be installed as an overlay, with plenty of space in between.

John

[James Baldwin]

Those are installed as an overlay. Any new door would also be installed as overlaid door. I'm into keeping it simple. Any hints as to the type as finish on the ones in the picture? Would kind of like to have them match but I could sand them down and refinish them all the same. Jim

[James Baldwin]

An update. Just visited one of our local Restore stores and pickup 8 cabinets with the style of doors the wife wanted. I took her with me. I can modify the doors to fit our cabinets. It won't do them all but it's a start. The total for the cabinets was $250. It will cut down on the hardwood I have to buy. We're going to hit the Restore stores in the Portland, Or. area next week and see if we can come up with some more. Jim