Stop overbuilding cabinet doors. Do this instead

Comments · 1.1K

• LI

  @Lincolnstww · 1 year ago · pinned

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• EM

  @emilolguin3087 · 1 year ago (edited)

  I&apos;ve refaced 50 kitchens and baths in our apartment portfolio with doors built with hardwood frames and an MDF center panel. What I&apos;ve learned over the years is that MDF, in a high-humidity environment such as a kitchen or bathroom, tends to puff up at the bottom of the panel where it meets the hardwood frame. &nbsp;This usually occurs around the sink area and above the stove. Sadly, we&apos;vehad to replace many doors. The doors were properly primed and painted with very high-quality waterborne primer and lacquer. I originally used MDF to keep costs down, but I&apos;ve switched to a paint-grade birch panel with hardwood frames regardless of where the doors will be installed. FYI, we apply two coats of primer on the face and one coat on the backside. light sanding in between. One coat of finish paint on the back side and two coats on the front. Sanding in between. &nbsp;We use an HVLP spray gun and apply semi-gloss paint with a 35 sheen. &nbsp; Nice job explaining the process.

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• DB

  @dbf1dware · 1 year ago

  Many years ago, I built cabinets in our living room. The doors were 1/2&quot; MDF with a face-frame made of mitered baseboard molding. Super simple, and ended up a little fancier than shaker-style. After painting, they looked great. No one ever seemed to notice they were not &quot;real doors.&quot; The only tools I had were a circular saw and hand-tools (not even a power sander). All it took was patience with the painting prep and they turned out awesome.

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• BT

  @BTCTim · 1 year ago

  I was a finisher of MDF doors for 8 years at a high end custom shop, and here are my tips:<br><br>Round your edges! If you have a router, a 1/16 roundover is easy to do for the outside edges, and for the inside edges, just some 180 grit paper and 2 or 3 passes is all thats needed. This will help minimize potential cracks in the paint as it dries and shrinks.<br><br>Light coats of primer are key! Do 1 coat for the back, ensuring even coverage. You&apos;re not going to be looking at the back much, so it&apos;s not as important. The front should get 2 coats with a sand in between. <br><br>When sanding primer: KEEP IT LIGHT! The aim is to smooth out the peaks, not sand down to a glorified fill job. Sand through is the enemy. By keeping the sanding light, you have more primer for your paint to bond with. The door should still be completely white. It doesn&apos;t have to be perfect, but it does need to still be as white as possible while being smoothed out.<br><br><br>Before you paint, another SUPER light sand is needed to scuff the primer. We generally used Scotch Brite (burgundy colour) with a light wipe basically. This will increase the surface area for your paint to stick to. Do this between every coat to keep the bond strong.<br><br>Happy Dooring!

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• JA

  @jayblanchard4477 · 1 year ago

  &quot;Don&apos;t let tools be an excuse for not getting something done.&quot; Well said.

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• AM

  @amwtm · 1 year ago

  Thanks for making this video. I have some fancy tools, but I like this because you&apos;re not creating a problem and then solving it with some gadget you&apos;re selling. It&apos;s ... trustworthy.

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• ST

  @steveo9578 · 1 year ago

  You forgot to address the commenters who will claim that you&apos;re not a real woodworker unless you can carve a full entertainment center from a block of wood using nothing but a prison shiv and a spool of twine....

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• ED

  @eddents · 1 year ago

  Showing good, better and best is a service to your viewers and Is much appreciated. Thank-you!<br> It allows newbies to see they can start woodworking with minimal tools and aspire to build with more complexity as time, money and desire permits.

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• MA

  @MacDa-yy8xn · 1 year ago

  Here is a great tip i found on another site for making doors. Make the doors 1/4” bigger in both directions. Build the door the best you can. After the door is fully assembled cut the doors down to the final size. The joints will be perfect on the outside of the doors.

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• WA

  @waltertgtpassi.6035 · 1 year ago

  GFY! 😂 Love it. Adding that to my DIY vernacular.

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• EA

  @eancameron3306 · 1 year ago

  I am a Brit, who is a time (not that sort of time!) served Carpenter/Joiner who learns, enjoys and respects the honest approach to these videos. Learnt on imperial and metric.....potato/patato does it matter so long as you enjoy what you are doing! Great video looking forward to the next one. Cheers

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• AL

  @AloneinRemoteAlaska · 1 year ago

  Over the past few weeks I have been watching a multitude of basic cabinet door construction videos and while I won’t be using MDF, you’re video did more to explain the difference between each construction method than the other videos I have seen on the same subject. Thanks for providing actually useful information in your video.

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