Expert: Jamie Yocono - 3/5/2004

Question
My wife wants a new layout for the kitchen, and she deserves it.  Therefore, new kitchen cabinets. I am hoping to get a good custom work to last for many years to come.  I am confused as to the material for the kitchen cabinets.  Questions; What wood should be my prefered choices in terms of durability and looks? (maple, mahogany, walnut,..) What type of wood panels will I have to procure? (3/4 in, solid wood panel,..)  What should I avoid for the wood cabinets?  
Thanks in advance.

Answer
Hi Efrain,

Wow- this turned into a long answer, so grab a cup of coffee and put your feet up!

Although making kitchen cabinets is a difficult undertaking, it's certainly a project that is doable for people who have basic tools and some skills. There are 2 books that I consider to be the best on this subject, and I recommend that you try to find a copy of each one. I have seen them on eBay, so perhaps you can save some money and buy them there if you can't find them at your local Borders or Barnes and Noble.

Basically, there are 2 kinds of kitchen cabinets, face frame cabinetry and frame-less cabinetry. The face frame cabinets are the traditional cabinets what have a 1 x 2 face frame that is applied to the plywood box of a cabinet. Frameless are more modern and do not have 1 x 2 frames. They use a better hinge which is fully adjustable, which is often a problem area for traditional cabinets.

Anyway, the 2 books that I recommend are books on each different style of cabinetry.  The first is Making Kitchen Cabinets by Paul Levine, Here's some info about that book:

Building high-quality cabinets in a basement shop is possible by
watching Paul Levine's video. He will convince you that creating a beautiful kitchen is as easy as building one simple cabinet several times over. Levine's system saves time, anticipates mistakes and allows for corrections. All you need is access to a small workshop with a table saw a router and some common hand tools.

What's more, your cabinets will be as handsome as they are strong, featuring sleek lines, hidden hinges, colorful laminated surfaces and warm wood trim.

By watching Levine you'll learn how to:

*   laminate plastic to plywood for easy-to-clean surfaces
*   cut tongue-and-groove joints to assemble the cases
*   rout dovetails for sturdy, solid-wood drawers
*   install trouble-free drawer slides and adjustable hinges

You see first hand how a professional builds a quality cabinet in a small basement workshop. That's valuable information when you consider the cost of a kitchen remodel these days.

The second book to check out is the book on traditional cabinetry. It's a very valuable book, if that is the style cabinet you wish to build. The book is:

Building Your Own Kitchen Cabinets
(Layout, materials, construction, installation)
by Jere Cary

This book tells you in clear, straightforward language everything you need to know to custom-build your own kitchen cabinets -- even if you've never tried a large-scale project before.

You'll learn about preparing material estimates and cutting lists, buying wood and hardware, cutting and assembling the parts of each cabinet, and finishing the final piece. Nothing is left out, from laying out the cabinets to installing them in your kitchen (whether or not the walls are even or the floor is perfectly level).

And all of this information is presented in step-by-step sequence, with the help of over 150 detailed illustrations.

OK, both books are published by Taunton Press, which is the home of Fine Homebuilding magazine. A few years back, there was a great article about building kitchen cabinets on a budget in their magazine. Anyway, you might want to do an index search and try to locate that article, it would be worth your time.

My choice for the better of the two books is Paul Levine's book. His style is simple, versatile, and you can build his designs with a minimum of tools. The design is modern looking and easy to customize.

Finally- to answer your questions.... I generally use a cabinet grade plywood for kitchen cabinets. Solid wood is costly, VERY labor intensive, and is prone to movement with humidity changes that are sure to happen in a kitchen.  So a good 3/4" plywood would be my recommendation. As for the cabinet back material- cabinet backs have 2 real purposes: the first is to conceal the wall behind, and the second is to help "square up" your cabinet box. So 1/4" plywood will do the trick just fine.

Cabinet grade plywood, which generally has less voids and better interior plies than regular plywood is what you want to buy. Don't get the cheaper stuff. This is no place to skimp.

Here's a tip- at my plywood supplier, they sell 2 types of cabinet grade plywoods: top grade and shop grade. To my eye, there isn't much difference except about $45 a sheet.  My shop grade Oak plywood is about $45 and the better stuff is close to $90 a sheet.

Here's another tip for cabinet bottoms. I like to use a 3/4" melamine MDF, which is medium density fiberboard that has wood veneer on one side, and plastic (melamine) on the other side. Sometimes lumber companies sell certain colors cheaper than others....like a sheet of light gray melamine MDF might be cheaper than white. So ask if they have some off colors or close-out deals.

The reason I like the melamine MDF is because when you use it, you don't need to line your cabinets with any protective papers. The melamine is clean looking, and even better, it's easily cleaned. So it saves you some steps, some money and looks great.

OK, I think I gave you enough to think about for right now!  Avoid solid wood, find some high quality cabinet grade plywoods, and start sketching out what you need.

Good luck...this is a big undertaking, but honestly, if you have some skill, some tools, and these books, you will complete your project just fine.

Please feel free to write back if you have any other questions.

Jamie Yocono
Wood It Is! Custom Cabinetry
Akron, OH