Mitered vs Cope & Tenon Cabinet Doors
janralix
12 years ago
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12 years agoRelated Discussions
mitered corners vs. rail & style
Comments (8)I guess you're talking about window and door frames, right? In our new build, I've chosen to use a very dark stain for almost all the woodwork in the house. My carpenter and my painter went round and round on this point, but in the end they both agreed rail & style was the way to go. The painter told me that yes, mitered corners can move w/the seasons, but he was confident he could grout the slanted meeting points where it would never show. As good as he is, I disagreed. My carpenter and I discussed forgoing mitered corners because 1) more time-consuming, demanding more time and care therefore more expense; and 2) going w/a contemporary look in the home overall, we decided mitered corners subtly communicated a more traditional home style. I'm really happy w/my choices, and I believe over time - w/this dark stain - I'll be even more pleased I chose rail & stile. Reasons to choose mitered corners, in my book, would be because you're going for a more formal look (take that a couple of diff ways ... formal over casual, traditional over contemporary), or if you're doing a more intricate molding in additional to the simple door and window trim. Many of the more formal molding styles can come pre-cut w/mitered corners, and if you're going to be installing a lot of molding, that's a definite consideration. Here's some pictures of my dark-stained rail & stile trim: two doors; personal opinion is that if you're doing a simple baseboard as well, rail & stile door trim flows much better ... truly seamlessly, I guess! A look at the trim unfinished; also, notice the dark trim around paneled ceiling - I think it would have been more difficult to get corners this perfectly aligned if they'd been mitered: Just FYI: all the trim in the house, all the tongue&groove on the ceiling, everything has been custom-cut on site. I have issues w/pre-cut (buy it by the length at Lowes) trims and moldings. JMHO, of course....See MorePainted cabinet doors...Will 5 piece mdf with miters still crack?
Comments (4)No cracking thus far (again this is with maple frames and MDF centers for the painted cabinets). If I didn't know they weren't all wood (because I bought them that way), I wouldn't know they weren't all wood. But I agree the all MDF mitered can be less convincing. Get quotes on the different styles to see what the actual difference is, but the CRP-10/Monarch Square is definitely going to be less $$$. More detail is more expensive and it also provides more places to get dirty. Raised panels are nice too, the flat panel matched the other original 100+ year old doors and cabinetry in my house better. Ironically, even though it matches the old stuff well I also think its also a little more modern looking at the same time. I started out with a very similar door style to yours (possibly even the same) just because we liked it when we saw it in the cabinet shop. But after thinking it through and understanding the different options along with the pros/cons I ended up with the Monarch Square which was cheaper, more durable, and I think (more or less) equally attractive....See MoreKitchen cabinet doors mitered PROBLEM
Comments (37)We have a whole house humidifier. It wasn't that expensive to purchase and have installed. It is a shame that the contractor and cabinet company didn't talk about humidity causing expansion and contraction. We keep our house at around 38% we have only had condensation on our windows twice when we had extreme cold outside like 12 degrees. Our custom cabinet builder and I became friends during my build. He said it was a good thing we had a humidifier. He had a job once where he made painted white shaker cabinets; he installed them in their new home in the winter before their HVAC unit was installed. That was a bad choice.... The paint cracked on every single cabinet because of how dry the house was and the wood shrinkage! Because he is a good person he now recommends that the furnace and a whole house humidifier be installed before he sets cabinets. Sorry that these guys aren't budging. I would contact their customer service and threaten them with the poor reviews you will post about how terrible their company is to work with. You should at least get a credit since they may not replace the doors. 35k is a lot of money!...See MoreCope and Stick or Mitered for Painted Kitchen Cabinets
Comments (10)We are doing hard maple white painted cabinets, with the 45 degree bevel shaker style (thanks Beth H. )! 1/2" panel middle for some heft. I would like the ability to sand & repaint in the future so really think solid wood doors are best for us. We currently have 26 year old white painted solid oak cabinets that have zero splits or paint warping (mitered joint). Possibly bc where I live it's like 95% humidity year round (yech!). Also, the fact that when MDF gets wet it can balloon up and warp if left on. cd7733 - We are near Houston as well. That's good to know that your cabinet guy and builder recommended cope and stick. I went to our cabinet shop, and asked a million questions but of course forgot to ask benefits of cope and stick vs mitered. But I always feel like asking the guys who are going to be making a profit off of the product- they have incentive to recommend the cheapest option and then make more profit. So glad to be able to ask on here. Did you go with solid wood or MDF for your drawers and doors? BeverlyFLADeziner - Good point, I need to ask what they will guarantee. Thank you for pointing that out. And thank you for the suggestions and pics on the door style, very helpful....See Moresombreuil_mongrel
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