FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions


Yes, all wood products will slightly change dimensions with changes in relative humidity. Cabinet doors are no exception to this humidity change rule. Here is a brief summary of why wood changes, and what you should expect from your doors.. Any wood product, with a moisture content of about 7% (normal for wood products inside a home) will be at equilibrium (not take-on or give-off moisture) when the relative humidity is 30%. The change in door dimensions occur when the relative humidity varies from the average 30%. If the humidity goes down the dimensional change to the door will be minimal and most likely will go unnoticed. If the humidity increases up to 40% or even 50%, the change will also be minimal. When you experience humidity levels over 70% changes in door dimensions will occur and the extent of the changes will depend upon the length of time the humidity stays at the high levels. A properly finished cabinet door will react slowly to higher humidity, but within a few weeks of high humidity the door will stabilize at the higher humidity and it’s width expansion will be completed. The width of the fully humidity-expanded door (with slight differences between wood types) will be between 1/32-inch and 1/16-inch wider than the width at 30% relative humidity. Length expansion, because of wood grain structure, will not be noticeable.

The panels in doors and 5-piece drawer fronts will either be Poplar, Alder, or MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard). The frames will be either Poplar or Alder. Slab drawer fronts will be Poplar or Alder. The Poplar, Alder, and MDF take paint very well.

No we don’t offer Glued-up Slab cabinet doors. Glued-up Slab doors are simply not a reliable design because they are very likely to warp with changes in relative humidity.

Yes, each door has a minimum width and a minimum height. These minimums are listed on the door style page of each door we make. We also have a minimum price for doors and 5-piece drawer fronts. The price of each door style can be seen in the “Please Select Wood Specie” drop-down menu of each door order page, this price is per-square-foot, with a minimum price of between $9.90 and $14 each.

Our manufacturing time varies from 13-to-17 working days, depending on the style of door you have chosen. Our average manufacturing time is 15 working days. Delivery time is determined by Fedex and is dependent upon distance, which varies between 1 and 5 days. So the total time from placing your order and delivery to your home will usually be between 20-and-26 working days.

On Mitered cabinet doors center rails are not used but on Cope & Stick (traditional) doors a center rail is placed in all doors over 48-inches.

We use only the highest grade in all our wood selections. We do offer both White and Red Oak but there is a lot of confusion relating to these woods. The specie White Oak is different from the specie, Red Oak, and the color of White Oak is very different from the color of our Red Oak. White oak is usually gray in color, very dense, and is mainly used to make whisky barrels and truck flooring. White Oak is not usually desired in Cabinet Doors because it is a darker gray color, it’s heavy, and it has a smell that most people don’t feel is especially pleasant. Red Oak ranges in color from deep-red at the Southern end of the growing range through a light “wheat color” in the Northern end of the growing range. Our Red Oak comes from a subsection of the Northern range. We buy this from mills in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and Northern Wisconsin. Red Oak from this region has tight growth rings due to the cold northern climate, and a very-light wheat color due to the local soil conditions. Our Red Oak is much lighter in color than White Oak and it is considered to be the best quality Red Oak in the world. It’s the best and that’s why we use it in all our Select Oak doors and drawer fronts.

Yes you can. If you order Slab Drawer Fronts along with Cabinet Doors, we will machine the same edge on your Slab Drawer Fronts that is machined on your doors. But, if you are ordering only Slab Drawer Fronts and you want one of our other edges simply state in the “Additional Instructions” area of the order form that you want a different edge. We will be happy to email a PDF showing all of our edge choices. Just email us at sales@cabinetdoor.com and request the PDF or our edge details.

YES! Any order over $1,000 will be shipped free. Even on some orders under $1,000, if the order is heavy enough to palletize, we can ship by truck. The main reason for the freight saving is weight. We are limited by Fedex to keep weight lower per box so that the driver can lift the box. There is no weight limit for truck shipments. So instead of packing a dozen boxes, we build and pack one pallet Large orders, over 25 doors can usually be packed on a pallet and shipped by truck. The larger the order the greater the saving. For large orders we always check Truck Shipping rates against Fedex, and if we can save you money on shipping we will refund the difference.

Custom Cabinet Makers limit the size of doors in their designs. These limits have evolved over time to insure that the cabinets and the doors will be reliable and trouble-free. The rule-of-thumb is that door heights of up-to 80 inches are seldom a reliability problem. Door widths, however should be kept to under 24-inches. The reason the width is an issue is because wood expands or shrinks in width with changes in humidity, far more than it changes in length. These humidity-caused width changes can actually cause the expanding panel to push the door frame apart. By keeping the panels below 22-inches (and our allowing for 1/4″ of panel expansion room in the stiles) we remove the possibility of door failure due to increasing humidity.