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kerrys_gw

Veneer or Solid Panel Cabinet Doors

15 years ago

I must make a final decision about my cabinets by the end of December. I will have medium stained cherry shaker style from Showplace. Does anyone have any experience or advice about veneer versus solid panel doors? I plan to have soft close doors.

Comments (10)

  • 15 years ago

    I'll chime in again. The only veneer doors I've seen don't fair too well as the kitchen ages. Corners looked like the veneer was trying to peel off. Solid would be my choice. But ofcourse that's just my opinion. Someone out there may have something better to say about them.

  • 15 years ago

    They weren't Showplace, but our last house had Shrock? oak veneer, and the doors always seems light (like in weight), and after seven years, the grain seemed like it was starting to raise. It seemed a little rough. I don't know how the construction of the Showplace veneer door might be different. And the fact that it'd be cherry instead of the grain of the oak.

    We just got Showplace maple shaker (Pendleton maybe?) installed, and though we're not in the kitchen yet, I like that they feel like real doors to me.

  • 15 years ago

    The KD we are working with has some beautiful door samples that are veneer. They are heavy feeling and look very exotic. I guess it depends on the quality of the veneer. I believe veneers have imporved greatly and some of the more contempory cabinet companies are offering exotic veneers that look killer.
    My thought though is that if you are doing a cherry which is a less costly wood it may make sence to go with solid.
    Good luck! I'll be going through the same decision myself shortly.
    soesoe75

  • 15 years ago

    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

  • 15 years ago

    We went with the solid wood doors despite the fact that the cabinet maker suggested veneer would be better. The cabinet installer who works for another custom cabinet maker said that veneer doors normally would not last long and commended that we had gone with solid wood doors. He also said that he had never seen any solid doors which got warped because of humidity. I think you should go with what you like...

  • 15 years ago

    In our last kit we had the cabinet maker make our doors solid wood, reverse raised panel. Never had any problems and they were certainly substantial.

  • 15 years ago

    Great thoughts! I am going to talk to my KD and my contractor to get their thoughts. In the shaker style, the only part that is veneer is the center panel on the doors. I will have slab drawer fronts that will be solid wood. I'm betting it will be something only I will notice/care about if the veneer holds up well. I do like the feel of the solid panel when opening/closing the door, but the soft close feature will minimize some of that.

  • 15 years ago

    SOLID - They look different because the grain match is not as perfect as veneer that rolls off a machine - it looks, in my opinion, more natural. Feels slightly different as well. Everyone encouraged us to go with a veneer - my husband was adamant about solid doors. In two years our solid doors have not warped, and we have panels on our refrig freezer columns as well. Ours are reverse, raised panels - so the shaker style faces out.

  • 15 years ago

    Kerrys, if you are getting stained cabinets, I would also vote for solid wood. There are issues with formaldehyde off-gassing with MDF and with some plywood.

    Eandhl and Lucypwd - Are the solid wood cabinets you mentioned painted? Does anyone have experience with solid wood painted doors?

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