What is your interior RH? 30% is about ideal. If you're down to the typical 10% with forced air heat with no humidifier, then I'll bet that your skin feels about what that looks like.

Oh, it's definitely dry. But if that's it, I guess I don't understand why KD and cabinet rep find this very unusual...something they've never seen before. I cant imagine I'm the only one with dry interior and painted wood?

My house is sooo dry and my furniture - not even my painted furniture cracks. What if anything are they going to do about it?

Are the doors plywood panel? Whenever you paint over veneer, the veneer is so thin that it develops hairline separations with moisture changes. They call it 'veneer checking'. Very common. The problem is exacerbated on painted doors when the company uses a rigid enamel type finish that cant 'move' with the wood veneer beneath it. Some finishes will use a vinyl base to them to allow stretch a little bit and this reduces or eliminates the problem.

If the doors are plywood/veneer panel and the cabinet company is using an inelastic finish, it will probably happen again. If the panels were solid wood or MDF, you would not be seeing this kind of cracking, I would not think.

Lily, they are replacing all the doors. They were very apologetic and ordered replacements for all the doors I needed + installation (I declined install, as we can do that ourselves) Cabinet Joint, thank you for that very detailed explanation! These are maple veneer panels, and that is where all the cracking is observed. There is little/no cracking on the "rails". Maybe we got a bad batch of finish? The cabinet rep and KD have never seen this before, so it must not be as common for them. The KD has been doing this for a long time (I don't know the cabinet rep) Anyway, I will explore options for humidifying my interior air.

Would they let you upgrade to all wood so you don't have to worry about it happening again? Even if it was a fluke?

I personally dont see this very much on the doors we sell (matter of fact, I dont think I have ever replaced a door for this reason), but its probably because Conestoga Wood (the company whose cabinetry we sell) uses an elastic finish with a vinyl base. However, they clearly disclaim this phenomenon, saying that paints over veneer can develop this checking and it may not be warrantied. Since there is nothing they can do to prevent it, they choose to not expressly warranty it - although I know for a fact they would still stand behind it. I think it is simply their way of trying to 'scare' the customer in to either an MDF panel or a solid wood one.

Anyway, I like Lily Spiders idea...Maybe get them to put in writing that if it happens again, you want them replaced with a solid wood panel (with a reverse raise so the face is still flat). Good luck. I know this must be very frustrating!

Bumping this thread because I'm alarmed -- how common is this type of cracking with painted cabinets? I've heard people talk about cracking with painted cabinets, but I thought they meant the little line that appears between the center panel and the sides (stiles?). I could live with that, but this type of cracking is really unattractive. I also live in PA (although on the other side of the state from sstrazisar) and am considering painted cabinets, so I'm concerned. Is the solution to make sure the panels are either MDF or solid wood?

I saw this once---back in the 80s---on a door sample a builder grade cabinet line. Most companies use paint grade (mdf) center panels now.

This is why many cabinet companies use MDO plywood for cabinet sides that will be finished. It provides a superior finishing surface. Even if you still get the ignorant wood purists railing that it's ''not plywood''.