Cabinet Door Construction.

Cabinet door construction is a detail that is often overlooked. There isn't a lot to cabinet door joinery, but some details are important.

Cabinet doors consist of rails, stiles, and the panels. Rails are the horizontal parts, the stiles are the vertical parts, and the panel is the center part.

Depending on the style your going for, be it rustic, craftsman, traditional, or contemporary, is what the edge profile will be. With traditional style cabinet door construction the door edge profiles are more numerous. The other styles of cabinets are more angular and minimalist in style therefore no door edge profiling is usually done.

Center Panel Styles

The door panels are either raised, flat, solid, or arched. Raised panels give weight and stability to the cabinet door. Flat panels are thinner and normally made of plywood or MDF (medium density fiberboard). Solid panels are where the door doesn't have rails or stiles but it made of one solid piece. Arched panels are the same as raised panels but have an arched top.

Raised panels are the standard due to their stability and weight. They are made of solid wood or MDF.

Solid wood panels are used in the higher end cabinets and can be stained, painted, or waxed.

MDF panels are very stable but in order to finish them they need to have a laminate applied to them or be painted. When laminate is applied it has the possibility of chipping, chips are very difficult to repair. Laminate cabinets are normally at the lower end of the quality scale.

Raised panels can either face forward or reverse. The reverse orientation gives the door front a flat, clean look often seen in Craftsman style cabinets.

Flat panels are thin and made of plywood or MDF, and due to their stability they shrink and expand very little. But the quality is less than a raised panel. These types of panels are found in the lower grade cabinet doors, because they are cheaper to make.

Solid panel doors can be made of plywood and the edges have banding around them. These doors are very stable and have a more contemporary design. These can be found in the lower to mid-range cabinets,

Door Overlay Styles

Door panels are either inset, meaning the faces of the doors are set even with the face frame. The other method is an overlay, either full or partial. A full over lay covers the entire face frame of the cabinet. A partial overlay only covers a portion of the face frame, this is the most popular.

Door Panel Securing

The panels in the center of the door need to float; which means they are never to be secured in any way to the rails or stiles. They simply fit into a recess or Dado.

These are some things to look for in cabinet door construction. I hope you take this knowledge with you when you shop for cabinets and WOW the salesperson with your knowledge!