Custom kitchen cabinets are a personalized and unique storage solution designed specifically for your kitchen space. These cabinets are tailor-made to fit the exact measurements of your kitchen and can be crafted from a variety of materials, including hardwoods like maple or oak, or engineered woods like MDF. Many high-end kitchen manufacturers frequently employ MDF in some applications. MDF has advanced significantly, it no longer warps because it is more dimensionally stable.
Since there are several quality levels, MDF is no longer synonymous with low-priced, do-it-yourself kitchen cabinets. Regarding resale value, urban dwellers who care about the environment would prefer MDF over wood, although individuals in smaller towns in more rural areas might favour wood.
Different Types of MDF Kitchen Cabinet Doors
I believe that MDF can function as a solid wood equivalent for constructing traditional 5-piece panel cabinets, which feature doors made up of two vertical stiles, two horizontal rails, and a central panel. Doors, frames, or end panels constructed using MDF in this manner have a quality that is comparable to that of soft maple or poplar, the two most commonly painted hardwoods. Dimensional stability and the fact that MDF is a composite material, which allows for easy assembly, are its benefits. The doors won’t ratchet when they are closed firmly after a few years. The kitchen cabinets have a very substantial feeling because MDF attenuates at low frequencies as well. They are also durable since the surface is as hard as oak and has a comparable density.
Since MDF doesn’t have the same seams as wood, it takes paint better and won’t fracture or split where wood may. The major advantage of real wood, in my opinion, is that it raises a home’s prospective worth as a selling factor.
MDF Comes in Various Sizes, Which is an Advantage
If the client requests it, we can paint wood doors. If a client insists on wood, we typically try to persuade them to choose a shaker v-groove door or a mitered door, which has the v-groove on the frame at the vertical joint. Due to the mitered doors’ unique construction, the paint does not fracture to the same extent because they do not extend and contract as readily. Nevertheless, a wood-mitered door would cost you significantly more than an MDF one.
Why choose a stain finish if you desire wood?
Think about wood with a very faint stain.
Buyers cannot identify if the doors are made of MDF or hardwood when they are being sold second-hand, if they are built using 5-piece panels.
A wood frame with an MDF middle panel that provides extra solidity and a wood look from the wood-painted frame is the compromise.
The drawback of MDF is that you can’t strip it if you decide you’d rather have genuine wood in the future. Eventually, the shelves will budge. Obtain plywood shelves that match the interior or use natural lacquer if you choose MDF face frame. Despite being tougher than wood, the MDF we use absorbs water more quickly. The finish rests on top of the material, not penetrating it. Both wood and MDF can be water damaged. MDF cabinets are prone to damage, according to my experience. I believe that harm occurs more quickly. The fact that the finish is on top and separate from the timber in part explains this.
Different Types of Wood
The top line in our custom kitchens features solid wood doors, thick, high-grade plywood cabinet boxes, and solid wood dovetailed drawers all around. Although more expensive, this choice has superior quality and is long-lasting.
The MDF fibres may slightly expand if water penetrates the lacquered coating. Water can certainly harm wood, but my impression is that it doesn’t spread permanently in the same way.
The feel and appearance of the wood are, of course, advantages. Additionally, I would choose wood if you want to retain this kitchen for a very long time. Custom cabinetry trends are ever-evolving. If you decide you want a different finish in the future, you can always strip wood. If your cabinets are well-made, you can change their appearance and they will still be worth something in the future. The board absorbs the finish with wood, improving its resistance to spills and moisture. We use solid maple for the shaker-style frame of our kitchen cabinet doors.
The shaker-style frame portion of the kitchen cabinet doors we make is made of solid maple, and the interior of the panel is made of maple plywood. Inside the door section, the plywood is still a floating panel.
We finish our cabinet and door interiors with clear shellac varnish in their natural color, and we make the cabinet boxes from maple plywood. This page discusses custom cabinets.
Can you picture an MDF cabinet turning into an antique with any value? My home has new and antique wood. The kitchen and bathroom have new cabinets. The rest are antiques. I have a lot of antique wooden furniture in my house, including my grandmother’s old baby high chair. They have endured through the years.
Additionally, if you choose bespoke cabinets with a face frame, the backs of the frames are usually unfinished. We use a clear shellac varnish to leave the interiors of our cabinets and doors in their natural color, while the cabinet boxes are made of maple plywood. MDF is inferior to wood in terms of resistance to moisture. I would advise a European cabinet without a face frame if you opt to use MDF.
Wood can shrink, leaving an exposed finish line in a door’s central panel. We at Unica Concept always provided touch-up kits to our clients just in case. No one ever returned to us with an issue.
