Thread: Kitchen door project

Originally Posted by richo69

The next project I have been "assigned" is to reface our 90's style laminate kitchen...
I am considering building simple timber panel doors out of Tas oak and finished with a gloss (or Semi gloss) paint. While the caracss for the additional unit will be MR MDF.
A few things Im not sure of are:
a) assuming the door insert will be floating veneered ply (glass for top cupboards) what thickness would you recommend (considering 60X19 for the rails as I already have heaps of it) for both Veneer and glass?
b) what type of paint is best suited to finish them and how best to apply (question may be best suited to the finishing section) for both kitchen and bathrooms (next task)
I.e 2pac, Arcylic, Enamel etc
c) is there a better timber or finish alternative that will be able to withstand Kids, Heat etc from cooking and Heat/humidity/moisture from aquarium?

I did initialy consider 2Paced MR MDF but as i need to reface odd size doors off the shelf flatpack stuff is unavailable and custom built seems too exxy, may be too "plain" for our decore anyway...

If you are going to paint the doors, why not use MDF for the panel. I've built cupboards with 6mm MDF and 3mm MDF panels and 3 is a bit thin, but 6mm is strong enough.

You could also build the doors completely out of MDF. I've built some with a 12mm thick panel and 6mm thick by about 60mm wide glued on the front to simulate a framed panel. Painted, it looks pretty good.

As to paint, you should search the forum about dangers of breathing fumes from 2pac, unless you are going to get someone else to paint them for you.

The Vic ash you already have being 60 x 19 might not be asthetically wide enough for you for a frame, depending on the door size. I suggest you make one door to see if your spouse likes it. Also consider having the rails wider than the stiles for asthetic reasons. IMO 60mm will be good for small doors like in a kitchen.

Tas Oak is not a fashionable wood for kitchens at the moment (too light) so you might consider staining it rather than painting it? I saw a magazine at the newsagent yesterday (one of the Aussie ones I think) that had an article on wipe-on finishes (not just Danish oil but polyurethane as well).

Painted shaker doors (plain frame with flat panel) are "in" and easy to make. A tip for cleaning is to chamfer the top edge of the bottom rail so less dust collects there. Actually I've seen the same style door (in a top-spec kitchen) made out of recycled Jarrah with clear finish and it looks good (no bog in the holes made it clearly recycled timber). So maybe you could do that with your Tas Oak.

Another thing to consider when building cabinet doors is that timber often doesn't come with an even thickness between pieces, so if you don't have a thicknesser that may be an issue. Or an excuse to buy another tool. It's bloody hard to even up the thickness after the door is made.

Totoblue,

I like the idea of the shaker door with the chamfer on the bottom, i might give it a try, I can get a mate to paint the doors in 2pac or what ever (he is an automotive sprayer). The doors on the kitchen are about 600 wide each. I saw a kitchen yesterday that was a simple laminate with a very thick edge banding, so this may be worth lookning into as well, as it may be more durable???

richo

You really sound like you know what you are doing! I have a challenge question for you:

My kitchen & bathroom cupboards are made from white veneered particle board (mdf). The veneer on the doors is thin and chipped, so I believe that painting them won't help. My budget is limited and I am considering covering these ugly cupboards by gluing b-board directly onto the old doors to give my kitchen a new look. Do you think this will work? If not, can you suggest the cheapest way to reface my cupboards without re-placing the doors?

Thanks,
Jan

I installed a new kitchen about 7 years ago and being on a limited budget, made the cupboard doors out of 16mm MDF.
The edges were just rounded over on the router resulting in a clean, simple look.
Undercoated and two coats of semi gloss - no sign of wear on any of the doors nor are any affected by moisture.

Hi richo try to built shaker door with the chamfer on the bottom ... they are also more attractive and also less costly....