I Am Doing A Great Deal Of Research On Replacing My Kitchen Cabinets
Every Place I Go To Uses Differant Terms. Can Someone Help. What Is A Butt Door No The Hinges Veneer Frame Vs Sold Frame With Veneer Panel I Think I Have Found A Cabinet Web Site That Sells For Much Less The My Local Home Improvement Stores But I Want To Get It All Righ
-- JAMIEB
The Terminology Notwithstanding, You Do NOT Want To Buy Any Cabinets Without Being Able To Fondle Them In Person.
Go somewhere locally ... you will not be sorry that you did.
As for buying from a website, only if you can visit their facilities. So you know EXACTLY what you are getting. Remember though in Kitchen design the Counter tops and space will have the most effect since the majority of your time is spent in prep work. If money is tight think first about the counter top and sink, then the flooring, appliances then cabinets. As for cabinets themselves Construction is actually more important then material. Solid wood depending would be paramount, but remember someone can make shit out of anything wood, particle board, ply and cardboard.
as for your questions it's not always as easy because some company's define things differently. Veneer is always a venear, whereas solid frame could mean solid wood, solid composite etc etc. Over all get a Lee Valley Catalog... it will help you to see the terms many use...........
First, think about the features that are important to you:
When in the showroom, look at the drawers very carefully. The quality of materials, construction, glides etc. is usually pretty indicative of the quality of the rest of the cabinet, in my experience.
I like the imported cabinets where they run the doors through an aggressive wide belt sander, putting an amazing cross-scratch pattern on the stiles.
What a decorative effect!
Be careful with that one- while it may be true with big-box cabinets where everything is made in one factory, it's often (though not always) the case that door fronts and drawers are made by an outside vendor in smaller cabinet shops. In that case, the drawers can be much better or worse (usually better, truth be told) than the cabinets themselves.
Well, I'm sure that happens but it's not very common, IMO.
In any event, the drawers are still worthy of special attention. There's much more to go wrong than there is with the frame -- fronts falling off, bottoms dropping out, glides failing etc.
And I'm not suggesting that one ignore the rest of the cabinet; just giving the drawers some extra attention.
they don't charge extra for the non-skid surface? Mac
Damn, Malch! I thought your name sounded familiar and after looking at your page I saw the Best Comm part...
You were one of the many early users on Best that taught me the internet and got me started out writing web pages... back before Al Gore even invented it!
VERY small world!
Mac
For sure... Not a good thing to be raiding the refrigerator at 3am and having a drawer stick closed or come all the way out and land on your bare foot... DAMHIKT
Mac
Very big network ;-)
Also very nice to meet again!
Really? It's been three for three in my experience. Seems foreign drawer vendors can dovetail quicker and cheaper than cabinetmakers, and raised panel doors were the same story. Might just be my area, but that was what I have seen. I'll admit it left a very sour taste in my mouth, but I wasn't the boss. In each case, the cabinets were sold as custom handmade cabinets.
I'll agree with that one, no reservations.
I'll give you that one, too. I was just pointing out that the drawers may be the jewels of the cabinets, and it pays to be careful when it comes to evaluating the whole. It's amazing the short cuts some relatively "high-end" shops take to get product out the door.
Jamie By your question I am assuming that you are looking at 'handmade' or 'bespoke' kitchens. The frame (stile and rail) of the door is usually made of solid wood and many cabinet makers (including Norm from the New Yankee Workshop) use veneered panels for the centre of the doors. Veneered Ply or MDF is more structurally stable than solid wood, but IMHO can never be a true replacement for solid timber.
If the doors are butt hung then they use butt hinges (ie the type you get in household doors) and have a more traditional appearance to the MFI type method which use Euro hinges and doors are set on the outside of the carcase. This is a matter of aesthetics of what you prefer.
There are many companies, as eluded to already, who claim to do handmade or bespoke kitchens, but who in reality are merely buying in componens from companies with CNC machines. While the quality is often excellent in these products, I do fee they have a cheek saying they are handmade and charging the prices they do.
The cabinet chose is most critical. MFI and the likes use Laminated chipboard. Some people use veneered MDF, others Ply and others build in solid wood. Whilst I will sometimes build in solid wood, I usually use marine grade ply for this purpose as this give the desired strength and stability to last a very long time and put up with any future dishwasher/washing machine leaks.
I personally make drawers using dovetail joints, but this is not necessary and you shouldn't be put off a kitchen just because it doesnt use this method. It is time consuming, very strong and very aesthetic, but there are many other jointing methods that give more than enough strength and are much quicker to produce.
Finally runner chose is also important. These can take some abuse in a kitchen. Its worth looking at the runners on your chosen kitchen to assess whether they look substantial enough.
Hoping all this helps Calum Sabey (Newark Traditional Kitchens 01556 690544)
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