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Remodeling Design Dilemma Kitchens

Mdf vs. wood cabinet doors

6 years ago

We're getting ready to remodel our kitchen and we're planning to do white cabinets. One designer told us that we might want to consider the line of cabinets w/ mdf doors because wood expands and contracts and with the white paint, we'll eventually be able to see the little hairline cracks where the wood is joined together. She said it'll be much more visible with the white/light colors. I'm not 100% sold on mdf doors though. Has anyone else run into this with their cabinets? What would you recommend - wood or mdf?

Featured Answer

PRO

Patricia Colwell Consulting

6 years ago

last modified: 6 years ago

I agree with your designer wood expands and contracts so anywhere where the wood is added or joined can open up tiny spaces in the painted door . MDF is what I always reccommend to clients that want painted cabinets a much more stable material.

Comments (6)

klem1
6 years ago
It's not where wood is joined,it's between panel and frame. It's not a door material problem,it's a finishing problem. Panels should be finished before assembly. If you ask enough people,you will get different opinions,how many designers have you talked to? The designer doesn't live there,you do. Use what please's you.
Becky Hanlin thanked klem1
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Basically, MDF is less prone to movement(expansion/contraction) due to seasonal temperature changes than solid wood. The construction of a raised panel door necessitated the panel be installed without glue/fasteners to allow for that seasonal movement. An example of allowing =for that movement in a dining room table is when the builder makes slots for the fasteners between the top and base instead of locking the top to the base with screws/glue. However, most MDF will retain moisture when in a wet condition----standing water is a flooded basement---for instance. There is a possibility, IMHO, that dripping water off the counter could land on the panels and seep into the groove made for the raised panel. Enough of that and the MDF would swell, causing the rail to crack. The type of wood used also has a bearing----oak is less absorbent, but looks terrible(IMHO) painted without filling the grain. Maple is good, poplar absorbs moisture more easily. It boils down to the climate and uses in your kitchen to determine the construction materials---as well as your wishes. Sounds to me like you'd rather have the wood---and real wood raised panels for the same price as MDF panels is a good deal----or the MDF panels are way overpriced.
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MDF - Medium Density Fiberboard Medium density fiberboard, or MDF, is a composite wood product similar to particleboard. It's made out of wood waste fibers glued together with resin, heat, and pressure. MDF is appropriate for many applications, from cabinetry to moulding, because it is smooth, uniform, and won't warp. MDF has many advantages over plank wood, particleboard, or high density fiberboard. It's very smooth because the wood fibers used in its manufacture are uniform and fine. This makes it have low "tear out," which means that when sawed, the end has a smooth cut instead of a jagged edge. This also means that a coat of primer and a couple of coats of paint take well, leaving an attractive, finished surface unlike other composite wood products. MDF also has a mild reaction to moisture, meaning it won't warp or swell in high-humidity applications like a bathroom cabinet. here are some old links http://www.thathomesite.com/forums/load/wood/msg0422465719842.html?7 http://www.thathomesite.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg052132034578.html?16 http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg11121915306.html
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MDF is fine depending on the brand of cabinets. I'm assuming they mean just the center panels are MDF? I'm in SW Florida and went with all wood because that's what the Amish cabinet maker I used uses. I'm not quite in the house yet, but I knew going in that there would at some point be some hairline "cracking" of the joints. I'm fine with it as to me it's part of the beauty of wood. YMMV.
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MDF is the preferred material for painted cabinets. Solid wood moves around too much, unless you have perfect in home humidity control. Then your coatings crack.
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PRO
Carolina Kitchen & Bath
6 years ago
A painted cabinet is a painted cabinet - it has its own features and properties. Many cabinet doors have a wood frame and an MDF raised center panel. That means the wood in the panel won't expand or contract but the frame is still hardwood. Ask if that's what she's talking about or is it an MDF panel that's been routed out to look like a raised panel door. If it's the second, then you'll have an MDF panel that looks like it's been machined to look like a raised panel door.

Don't be scared of wood doors, they've been making them and painting them for centuries.
Becky Hanlin thanked Carolina Kitchen & Bath
skmom
6 years ago
My hubby designed and built all of our cabinetry for our kitchen remodel. The cabinet doors are actually solid maple for the shaker style frame part and the inside of the panel is actually maple plywood. The plywood is still a floating panel inside the door part... that gets kind of technical about the building procedure, but it was cheaper than using solid maple that he would have to join... He sprayed the paint on after the doors were fully assembled.
You can see in the closeup photo that there are some hairline cracks in some of the seams where the shaker frames meet. I can honestly say they don't bother me a bit... they're not at every seam, but they are here and there. To me it is just a reminder that we have real wood under that paint and it's part of the character of the kitchen. But you would have to judge that for yourself, what bothers you is likely different than what would bother me. Our kitchen is a mix of solid wood and plywood, but my hubby refused to work with MDF. (The cabinet boxes are also maple plywood, the insides of my cabinets and doors are left a natural color with just a clear shellac coat on the inside.)
Becky Hanlin thanked skmom
kariyava
6 years ago
Look at both MDF and painted wood doors in person before you decide. My KD recommended the same thing, I put the two doors side by side, and the MDF looked really fake. I am fine living with normal hairline cracks.
Becky Hanlin thanked kariyava
Judy Mishkin
6 years ago
we have mdf as the center panel of our painted maple shaker cabinets. we have multipart wood crown molding in adjacent rooms. it took 3 years of repainting the cracks in the crown molding in spring before the wood got 'settled in'. our cabinet doors have never had an issue. i'd listen to your designer.
Becky Hanlin thanked Judy Mishkin

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