Cabinet manufacturers often shy away from painting on solid wood to avoid inconsistencies (keep in mind, wood is a living entity and doesn't always cooperate the way we want it to). Solid wood could have knots, divets, grain vairances, or any multitude of other issues making it difficult to get a smooth finish - especially with white.

With all of this in mind... plywood may have the same types of issues, in regard to an inconsistent canvas. The cabinet manufacturers that I work with and sell often prefer some sort of "paint grade" material, like HDF or MDF, as it has a smooth and clean finish. White, especially, is a very unforgiving color when it comes to inconsistencies.

I would take a look at the plywood doors and see if they are up to your standard, as using what has already arrived will be the easiest / quickest solution for all involved. But if you notice inconsistencies, or bumps / lumps in the finish, I would opt for the MDF.

Best of luck!

My understanding is that solid wood panels are more prone to shrinkage and therefore to paint cracking at the seams. I have solid MDF doors. The benefit of solid MDF is that you do not get the paint cracking that happens with a 5-piece door (4-piece frame plus solid wood or plywood or MDF center). Here is a good summary of door construction: https://www.allstyle.ca/difference-between-solid-wood-and-mdf.html

Yes, to jump onto what's already been said, real wood will warp over time. They place a wood veneer over plywood for stability. There is no such thing as 100% solid wood cabinets. Only face frames and the frames of paneled doors and drawers are 100% solid. They are thick enough to stay stable and are cut from aged pieces (can't have any moisture in the wood). I think you're going to be fine with the plywood you already have. I'm sorry that there was a miscommunication with the manufacturer. That can be frustrating.

My wood doors aren't all wood either. The rails and styles are solid walnut and then the middle is 1/4" ply with a wood veneer. If you want solid wood doors you are getting into $$$.

If we were to get raised panel doors and paint them white does anyone know if they would be solid wood and if so less prone to visible cracking due to the material?

Cracking at the joints is what your can expect from wood as it does swell and shrink with ambient moisture in the atmosphere seasonally. I am not bothered by this as it has been that way since we started painting furnishings. i look at it as 'natural'.

I do not like MDF or HDF as the hardware (hinges) can easily become stripped as MDF (medium density fiberboard) is not solid wood rather powder and polymers tightly compressed. The longevity of plywood is a bonus and the plywood used for quality cabinets do not usually have Knots and such.

I vote for the Plywood

If you get raised panel doors they will either be solid wood or an mdf panel ( with veneer over it ). The more detailed the panel or sharped the edges are then it will be solid wood ( you can't cut and route out an MDF in a fine a detail as wood. Frankly it is not the end of the world either way. It is a center panel - if its flat then MDF or plywood is best. IF its raised , then its all about the decoration.

If you look at the detail at the center panel - that usually indicated a solid wood raised center panel.

When you looked at the door sample, was it labeled? Or was there a conversation about what you wanted??

What is the brand of cabinets? They may not offer a solid wood center panel in a painted finish. Many companies are moving away from that.

Hopefully this can all get figured out for you...

Hi Debbi When we were picking out the cabinets we said we wanted all wood doors. The kitchen designer said that for the full panel door they would prefer to use plywood as the center panel but if we were ok with the possibility of cracking then we could have an all wood door. He wrote in an e mail that we could have an all wood door . However, when it was delivered they did the center panel in plywood. The delivery invoice had a different code than what was discussed and written on the blueprints. The kitchen designer that worked with us was "let go" and now the owner is saying that the particular company does not provide a painted door that is all wood. He acknowledged that the cabinets delivered were not the ones on the blueprint but said what was in the email from the former employee is not in the product line.

So what is your goal? All the pros here have told you that what you got is what they would suggest, that a ‘solid wood’ door is much more prone to warping cracking etc versus the door you received (solid wood stile and rail with a plywood panel). Is there a reason you want ‘solid wood’. If you just want a discount from the supplier ask for that- you might get it just because they don’t want to eat the cabinets. If you want a cabinet that will hold paint well and not warp stick with what you’ve got.

If you want Shaker style cabinets with solid wood doors, you can do what the Shakers did and use a raised panel with the decorative side facing the inside of the cabinet. They can then be finished as you desire. You’ll find lots of threads debating paint vs conversion varnish, and discussing MDF. This may well mean you going to a custom cabinet shop and not through your current supplier.

Solid wood panels will expand and contract with changes in humidity; MDF panels will not. Expansion and contraction leads to apparent "cracks" in the paint. (MDF has its downsides, but stability is a major positive attribute.) The surrounding solid wood rails & stiles on the outside of the door may also expand and contract.

We had all wood maple kitchen doors before that were varnished. I wanted to have all wood again and I feel that I was mislead. I would have seriously considered a stained door for our renovation in order that I could have had an all wood doors again or at least wood rails and stiles and a veneered wood interior panel.

You got a better product. Stop the hankering for a worse performing product, due to some silly wood prejudice. MDF is the by far the best performer for painted cabinet, hands down. Plywood is second best. Despite your uneducated wood prejudice that won’t listen to reason. There is zero reason to have a hissy over this.

"I wanted to have all wood again..." ...and then have them painted white so that nobody can tell they are wood.

OMG.

Just move on. You got the better door for the long run.

MDF paints up beautifully

Stained wood does not show the movement at the joints that painted wood does. Because wood moves with changes in temp and humidity, the paint at the joints can crack - and this is usually not acceptable to people who just bought new painted cabinets. So, most cabinet makers do not want to make solid wood doors that will be painted. They will use MDF (stable as to movement) or MDF combined with wood - often maple because it paints well. I have stained cabinets with solid wood frames and solid wood paneled doors. The seasonal movement does not show on the stained wood.

This pic:

Solid wood (oak) door rails and stiles that have been painted - crack at the joint. (One reason that painting previously finished wood cabinets does not always go well.)

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The crack looks natural as it is what happens to painted wood. I personal am not bothered by that crack- it is at a natural joint. The cracking does not occur in the middle of the panels. But I realize this is a personal preference and may bother others. I call it character.

However your question is what to do as you paid for one thing and received another. I say you already know what you want to do. Return them and get a full refund and wait for new cabinets to be made. It will delay your project several weeks. This is a huge investment and you will be living with it for years. Get it the way you want it.

we were told they would be full panel ( told the entire door would be wood) painted white. They are however plywood centers and the rails are solid maple .

As you said, 'a misunderstanding'. You didn't understand the lingo because the door you got is considered 'all wood' in the industry.

The panels for raised panel (or reversed panel) doors are made by edge glue strips of solid wood together to create a wide panel. This is a more stable construction than using on wide board (which would be nearly unobtainable anyway.) What you get is pieces of wood that vary between heartwood and sap wood and all points in between. Wood from different trees grown in different locations. Each piece of wood will behave a little differently, expanding and contracting at it's own individual rate. OK for a stained door; a poor choice for a painted door.

For a painted door, you really do want an engineered center panel, be that a MDF panel or plywood. Plywood is stronger and lighter in weight than MDF or even the solid wood/ glued up panels. A solid wood panel, like the glued up raised panel doors that I described are not the best choice for a painted door. The glued up panel doors will probably look fine initially but there is a good chance, a few years down the road, that small differences in the characteristics of individual strips of wood will reveal themselves.

Personally, I would accept the doors that you got and rest easy that it was a happy mistake.

I never understand why wood is the choice for painted cabinets and i for one do not find the cracks in painted wood in any way attractive. You have what is considered all wood since plywood is wood, so either that or wait weeks for MDF centers

"I do not like MDF or HDF as the hardware (hinges) can easily become stripped as MDF (medium density fiberboard) is not solid wood rather powder and polymers tightly compressed."

This would only be true if you weren't using cup hinges. The cup does the work, the screws only have to hold the cup in place.

To your point, in the store fixture manufacturing business, we would glue a strip of poplar along the hinge side of a door, then laminate the door. The piano hinge would screw into the poplar instead of the MDF.

If you had a solid wood panel in your doors, come winter or a dry time, the solid wood would shrink to the point where you would see raw wood where the paint could not reach into the groove that the panel sits into. I've seen them shrink 3/8" depending on width. Consider yourself lucky that you got the plywood panel. You would with out a doubt be cursing the solid in a couple of seasons.

Now, there is the question of the misunderstanding. Did you misunderstand what you were getting or were you indeed misinformed, & charged for one and got another? That, unfortunately is not something we can help you with. Many times customers hear what they want to hear. There are times though where Designers/Salespeople are uneducated in their own product. Many kitchen suppliers/fabricators will put a name to their door style. For instance, my one supplier has a shaker style door known as the "Yorkshire" that uses an plywood panel when being painted. The exact same style door with a reverse solid wood panel is known as the "Harbour". They look exactly the same painted. The panel is the only difference. One costs more than the other because of the solid panel. From your end, you need to discuss what you looked at, paid for and what you got. Is it you saw 2 door styles & assumed you were getting the solid?

What ever the financial outcome, your kitchen will look beautiful when completed & only you will be able to tell the difference when it comes to the panel.

Thank you Joseph, I should have stated that my bathroom cabinet is suffering from the stripped screws that were directly screwed into MDF constructed cabinet. I do not have cup hinges therefore the work of my piano hinge has come out and in its current state I am unable to tighten it as much of the crumbling MDF material is no longer there. I do intend on using some wood glue and toothpicks to fill the hole so I can reattach the hinge and get a few more years from this cabinet.

I apologize that my experience does not apply to all hinges. I was sharing a reason not to embrace MDF that had not been raised in the thread.

Interesting discussion and obviously a controversial topic. First to clarify I was told by the kitchen designer that we were getting a solid wood door. We discuss it several times and I was told about the likely hood of cracking. The order was placed as a full panel ( which I was told was solid wood and was being painted ) however when it arrived the invoice showed that the order had been switched to the lower cost alternative, a plywood panel. I was not informed of this by the company I just happened to review the invoice order the installer had with him. We are now being told that the company will not make an all wood painted door even though the previously employed designer sold us this option. I based my decision to get painted white cabinets on the statement that I could get all wood. Why...because I like real wood. I would rather have the imperfections that come with it and be able to touch it up than have the other products.

Interesting discussion and obviously a controversial topic.

I don't see that much controversy. Most cabinet makers are resistant to solid wood panels for painted cabinets. The reason is simple, despite the idealized vision of graceful aging you have in your head, a crack running down the middle of a panel just looks bad. If 100 people tell you they want solid painted panels at least 40 of them are going to call back when the cabinets do exactly what you said they would.

Most people who like real wood, like the real wood of 50 years ago. In my life wood has gotten a lot worse, I am laminating more stuff today because good wood is impossible to get.

The more detailed the panel or sharped the edges are then it will be solid wood ( you can't cut and route out an MDF in a fine a detail as wood.

Just FYI, MDF routes and cuts much better than wood.

Solid wood “character”.

The problem with the solid wood as shown above by live_wire_oak is that the frame & solid panel assembly was poorly executed. What I mean by that is; panels should float in the groove. They should not be glued in. They could be pinned in the centre top & bottom which would allow the wood to expand & contract in the groove from the centre of the frame outward. Some manufacturers will use flexible spacers set into the groove which still allow the panel to float but push against the spacers during expansion. Although you want the panel to float, you don't want it too loose that it will "chatter" when opened & closed as it makes contact with the frame. If they are glued-in, or not allowed to float, you get what is shown above.

"Cracking at the joints is what your can expect from wood as it does swell and shrink with ambient moisture in the atmosphere seasonally. I am not bothered by this as it has been that way since we started painting furnishings. i look at it as 'natural'. "

Agreed. I always hear people using this as a reason for not having wood doors. My cabinets are 25 years old, raised panel, solid wood. I painted them 2 years ago. I love them. And yep I see tiny hairline cracks each winter, and they close up again in the spring. Big whoop. Same thing my crown molding does.

I have hard maple solid drawers and shaker fronts on my new island. Painted white. ZERO cracks on those.

Not talking about crap wood as was posted in live_wire_oak' examples, either. That's a whole other issue.

A good quality cabinet company makes sure that all the pieces of the cabinet door are painted completely so raw wood will not appear with shrinkage or expansion.

No cabinet maker is painting wood before joining which is the problem with painted joined wood doors, nor are they painting rails and stiles before assembly so I find it rather odd that they are painting the panels, but it can happen.

Without meaning disrespect to any comments, showing a picture of the movement of the doors at the expansion gaps or at the rail and stile joints is not why cabinetmakers shy away from solid wood panels. It is what ci-lantro was talking about.

A 12" maple panel is going to move a quarter of an inch tangential and an eighth of an inch radially with a 6% MC swing (which is a lot but you are in a kitchen). You can certainly get a bigger piece of wood to break by backcutting the panel which increases both the required separation force and the force supplied. I would argue that thin solid wood panels have more stability than backcutting wood panels as modern glue is already stronger than wood and you can really cut down on the radial movement, but that is often debated.

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I am not really taking a position one way or the other. If you ordered solid wood, you should get it. If they don't offer it then they should work towards some resolution for you.

Painted wood cabinet doors expand and contract and the paint cracks. This is less of an issue with MDF because the door is all one piece.

Painted wood cabinet doors expand and contract and the paint cracks. This is less of an issue with MDF because the door is all one piece.

The OP and most people are not discussing solid MDF doors, the rails and stiles are wood with a plywood panel. Solid MDF doors have other issues that are just as serious as wood shrinkage.

live_wire_oak you got me on that one - I never had a crack through the middle of my center panels. The character I referred to was the paint cracks at the joints (corners) of the finished constructed panels (rails and stiles) where the pieces meet.

As Design Loft- explains a quality cabinet maker .................

I must have been lucky with my maker to not have the center panels crack. I did have solid wood center panels- though they were not one continuous piece of wood. they were like the photo below. Made in Canada by Glenwood- 12 years painted and only cracks at joints.

With many of the examples if this cracking occurs could you not just sand lightly and touch up with matching paint ?

Yes, I suppose you could- but the wood will continue to move seasonal and this would need to be done every year. Again the small cracks at the joints can be considered natural character of painted wood. It is all in the eye of the beholder. If that look bothers you- then perhaps a 'manufactured' product is best for you. Wood moves causing cracks.

You could, but the next year it will be cracked again, because the wood will continue to move - expand and contract. Also, touching it up may depend upon the "paint" as often the "paints" that cabinet manufacturers use isn't traditional latex or oil type stuff.

I am hearing that you were sold and paid an upcharge for the promised solid wood center panel. That would be my sticking point. I would be asking for a refund on that point, at least. If you can find a manufacturer that offers what you feel that you really want, then ask for a full refund and buy elsewhere.

Yes it has just been confirmed that our doors that were delivered to our home have wood rails and stiles with a MDF center door. However the designer was told in writing that we wanted solid wood doors and he confirmed in writing that we were getting solid wood doors. He did warn me of the issues of painting wood but we said we were fine with the issues and wanted solid wood painted.

There should be no obstacle to getting a refund. The next question - do you want to continue to do business with this company and accept what they offer or wait for a new order to be made?

Whatever you decide continue to keep written details- it is such a shame this happens.

So lets forget about the solid panel vs plywood vs MDF - everyone has their opinion and if you want the solid wood no matter what - we should focus on how to help you with that.

What brand of cabinets did you purchase?? They have already made one mistake - lets make sure they don't offer a cabinet door with a wood center panel.

Next question - what did you sign for on your contract? It really doesn't matter what conversations were had or emails were sent then bottom line is what what actually spec'd out and signed for.

Let us know!