Solid Wood Cabinet door vs 5 Piece Cabinet Door

3 years ago

We are redoing the kitchen and will be selecting wood cabinets stained a natural color. We are hoping to use someone local to support our community and I've gotten numerous estimates. I have learned that quite a few of the local shops order their doors and drawers from outside vendors. Ones that are doing all the work in-house are using a CNC machine to cut their own doors.

One of the vendors who uses the CNC process cuts their wood doors out of a single piece of solid wood. Another vendor uses a similar process, however, he only cuts the frame out of a single piece of solid wood and he then uses a MDF panel to allow for expansion/contraction (a two-piece door).

Most of my research on wood cabinets talks about the traditional 5 piece door as being best quality. I can't find any info on how a solid one-piece door might hold up. I've seen the product and it looks pretty solid but I can't help but wonder how it will hold up over time with the heat and moisture in the kitchen. It seems like it would be more prone to warp.

WDYT? Thoughts? Comments?

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Comments (3)

PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
3 years ago
Solid wood doors were in almost every MCM kitchen ansds tood the test of time so I need to know what style you are going with for sure.
PRO
retired
3 years ago
Two things you need to know about solid wood.

1. Wood moves. You cannot stop it but you must allow for it. It is anisotropic. I tell people it's analogous to people putting on weight. If I put on 50 lbs, I would not get much taller. Wood expands (and contracts) minimally in length (along the grain) with absorption (and desorption ) of moisture. It will expand and contract more in two directions, (a) radially, from the center of the tree out and (b) tangentially, along the growth rings, i.e., around the circumference. For most woods, the tangential is approximately double the radial. This is why if you see some dried firewood, you'll usually see a pie-piece shaped crack/void. It's also why plain-sawn wood can cup. If I put on 50 lb, I'd probably put on a significant "beer belly" (front to back) and a little bit less of "muffin top." (side to side) This is why you would never put a solid door inset into a cabinet. In the dry season, it'd have a big gap and in the wet season you may not be able to get it open. As to whether or not it might warp, it depends on how the wood is chosen and what the grain pattern is like. Quarter-sawn wood will have maximal expansion in thickness and minimal in width and less tendency to warp, other things being equal.

2, Wood has planes of weakness and planes of strength. Did you ever see martial arts hit a piece of wood and have it break? Did you ever notice that the grain is running up and down and not between the hands supporting it? Otherwise, they could probably never break it. The wood is weakest up and down the tree. In your second scenario, the grain will be running perpendicular to the rails (horizontal pieces) and if that's only a couple inches wide, it will be very weak. Compound that with the expansion issue above and this is not an option I would ever choose.

That is why the "5 piece" AKA frame and panel, is the most common construction method. The rails and stiles have maximum strength and minimal cross grain expansion. If the panel is plywood or some engineered wood, it will have minimal expansion. If it's solid wood (AKA raised panel) then its expansion and contraction is within the stiles' grooves.

Solid wood doors often have internal expansion joints and battens on the back to retain them.

Engineered woods do not have these issues. Sometimes a sheet, say MDF, is routed out to look like a raised panel, but it's really still just a sheet of MDF. If the corners are rounded and not square, that's the tip-off.

https://www.popularwoodworking.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/WoodMovement.pdf

https://www.thisiscarpentry.com/2010/09/03/moisture-content-wood-movement/
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Kerrys.... The way it has been explained to me by my CabGuy....depending on the style door, and depending on the over all height, and depending on the wood, solid wood doors (especially slab style) can possibly bow/warp slightly over time. Plywood will not warp. One can get plywood that is made completely of a single species of wood. And if you get the better quality veneered plywood, you should be able to refinish them a couple of times as the veneer will be thick enough to handle it. CabGuy assures me that I will not have issues of delamination, etc. with the plywood he will use. Now that I have selected my wood species (as of today), my GC/CabGuy is going to make sample doors for me - one out of veneered plywood and one of solid wood, stained and finished for me to decide which way I want to proceed. I'm not sure my input will help you much in your decision making. : / Pepper
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Creative Design Cabinetry
3 years ago
Like byhammerandhand said.

Solid Wood Cabinet door vs 5 Piece Cabinet Door

Comments (3)

Patricia Colwell Consulting

retired

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