Upcoming large cabinet door build. When is big too big???

[Justin Pfenning]

My wife and i are adding a walk in closet off our master bedroom. I'm planning to build cabinets 24" deep, and around 84" tall, that can be configured for 1 rod for long hanging items like dresses, 2 rod for hanging shirts and pants, or single rod for shirts with pull out drawers. I'm looking for suggestions on the cabinet width and door configuration. Over all I will have about 16'-20' of closet cabinets. The design is still in process.

The doors for the cabinets will be a 3 panel style to match our interior doors. Door material is still up for debate. My wife would like these made from walnut with walnut plywood panels, but building them from paint grade maple and mdf panels is also an option.

Size options:
24" wide with 1 full overlay door 24" wide - the downside to this design is the extra plywood cabinet material needed
36" wide cabinet with 2 full overlay doors 18" wide each- 36" wide cabinets are more manageable for installation
48" wide cabinet with 2 full overlay doors 24" wide each- requires the least amount of plywood for the boxes, but the boxes are going to be difficult to move into place.

What about door size? Is it possible to build a door 24" wide and 84" tall and have it remain flat, and not twist up into a mess? How thick should a door this size be? How many hinges? Four?

What am I forgetting to consider? How much will I struggle with good quality domestic prefinished plywood being bowed or warped? I use to use the import stuff, but switched to domestic for the thicker maple veneer and better core. I wouldn't say its always flat though. Making standard kitchen cabinets allows breaking the sheet into smaller pieces minimizing any existing warp. With these tall cabinets, I can't rely on that.

Anyone have experience with this type of build out?

[Jared Sankovich]

I would want 1.25" as the bare minimum thickness on the rails and stiles. You are basically building a passage door, and would want similar construction. The clearest, best, straight grain ideally QS lumber for the stiles you can find (or stave core and veneer)

[Paul F Franklin]

Have you considered skipping the doors? If it's a walk in closet with a door, you won't really need to worry about dust, and think of the time you will save, 10 seconds at a time, not opening and closing doors to put stuff in, look for stuff, take stuff out, over and over for the rest of your life! We've never had cabinet doors in our walk in closets, frankly the idea never occurred to me. But then, no one's ever accused me of having class :rolleyes:

In any case, it will be easier to keep narrow doors flat than wider but it will be a battle regardless. Well seasoned, straight grain stock for the rails and stiles is a must, and it needs to be finished carefully to slow moisture transfer as much as possible. A 48 x 84 cabinet is a monster, I'd stick with the smaller options.

The hinge manufacturers usually have a chart showing number of hinges based on size and weight of door; I'd check for that once you decide on the doors dimensions and construction.

[Richard Coers]

+1 on no doors. It's just one more step to get at the hanging items. Of course making flat big doors is possible. But getting 100% is the hard part. Quarter sawn door frame material would be a necessity.

[Warren Lake]

was in an expensive home where the owner had all the doors and door cases made then put them in himself. The doors were poplar and made well and stained to look like walnut. this guys instal was very good. He put ball catches top and bottom so each time the door closed it was held at the top and bottom so both doors side by side lined up and stayed that way.

[Tom Bender]

We have a short hallway from the bedroom to the bathroom. A closet each side 10 feet long with 4 doors on each. Without the doors it would be hideous and the cats would live there. The doors are 24" wide hollow doors. Works really well and looks good. Don't forget to put in lights.

Why does a walk in closet look bad? It gets to store clothes sure but also luggage, sporting equipment, shoes, etc.

[Cameron Wood]

If it's a walk in closet, put a door where you walk in (which will probably stay open) and just make open shelving/rods.

[John TenEyck]

If you decide on paint grade, then I would use soft maple with mdf panels and glue them in. I'd make them 1-3/8" thick by whatever width best fits the design. The glued in panel construction eliminates any risk of sag. The stile/rail joinery need not be complicated. Mortise and stub tenon, with an additional loose tenon is more than sufficient. I've made several passage doors this way and they are very solid and take paint great.

[andrew whicker]

I am lucky enough to have a vacuum table. So I could use that to make panels and so far when I've made panels that way, they come out flat.

Also I was making some doors that were big for me (5ft x 18 inches I think). On some of the stiles I needed to laminate the maple so I used the vacuum table for the lamination and those were my straightest stiles.

[Justin Pfenning]

Thanks for the comments and ideas everyone. I have some new options to explore for sure.

[Justin Pfenning]

Hey everyone, I'm dusting off this thread. My wife has decided we need doors on these cabinets, and ultimately, I agree with her, so the build begins. I'll be building 10 doors 24"x87".

My end goal door thickness is 1.25", and the door will be a 3 panel, with 1/4" MDF panels. These will be painted.

My material choices are Poplar or soft maple, both flat sawn, not quarter sawn. Cost wise they are similar. Weight wise they are similar, with maple being slightly heavier. Assuming they are both dried and acclimated, is one better than the other for long term stability? Which would you pick?

Should I push the thickness up to 1.38" for added long term stability?

Should I purchase 6/4 or 8/4 material and mill it down, or buy 4/4 material and laminate boards to 8/4, then mill down to finish thickness?

I'm going to learn a lot on this project.

[Phil Gaudio]

For what it's worth: I installed these built-ins years ago and it approximates the dimensions you mentioned in your first post: 20 feet wide by 8 feet tall. The largest doors are roughly 36" tall x 21" wide. I used quarter sawn stock for stiles/rails and they have not moved.
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