Hello all,
I have a 33 year old kitchen..a butt ugly 33 year old kitchen. My wife and I, for the time being, are not interested in having visible wood grained cabinets. I think I’ve seen extensive detail contruction with MDF, then given a nice paint job. Is it feasible to build a whole kitchen out of MDF? Oh ..and one more thing, I plan to make polished concrete countertops…
Thanks in advance for any insight,
Gerald
Replies
for an inexpensive kitchen upgrade, build the cabinets out of particle board and edge tape exposed edges, i wouldnt use mdf for the casework, its way too heavy
doors on the otherhand can be made from mdf, cut to sixe and router the edges to create the desired profile
mdf takes paint very nicely with minimal sanding, but the edges will really soak up the paint leaving a rough finish that will require sanding between coats
you might consider ordering doors prefinished or vinyl wrapped
I've seen them use mdf to make cabinets on one of the older This Old House projects. You might look through their website's archives to try and find a picture.
MDF provides an excellent surface for paint -- but you do have to give special attention to any cut edges.
If you are hand painting the cabinets (as opposed to spraying), there are several techniques to deal with the edges:
1) press-on wood tape, or make your own 1/8" wood strips that can be glued/nailed.
2) smear the primed edges with joint compound, or any one of the proprietary wood fillers made for this purpose.
3) Using an alkyd paint for a top coat, I can get an acceptably smooth finish on the edges by brushing on 3 or even 4 coats of a latex primer (edges only), sanding between each coat. I use Ben Moore Latex Enamel Underbody.
Yes, MDF is heavy (the price you pay for it being cheap), but it is flat and easy to work with. You do need to be sure that your wall cabinets utilize some sort of reinforced mounting strip, which really is not a problem.
I would avoid particle board; it is just as heavy as MDF, and it will not give you a smooth, painted surface.
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"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
MDF is great for doors as already stated. Personally, I've had better luck making the cabinets from good guality birch ply, hold most fasteners better and you don't have all the godawful dust from the MDF. Edge banding or DIY strips work well. If you're going to take a try at concrete, do yourself a favor and get the Taunton book by Fu Teng Cheng "Concrete Countertops", it's packed with good info, and look at his site for materials as well as Buddy Rhode's website. (Sorry I don't have links handy but I'm sure you can Google em up in a heartbeat). Good luck...
PaulB
I made a kitchen cabinet from lightweight MDF. still heavy as ....
use a good quality paint and I don't think you will see the grain on ply
I used Fine Paints of Europe, its ~$75/euro gal (3.5 l) on ply, no grain hand painted.
PS use legs on the base cabinets, makes your life easier.
bobl Volo, non valeo
Baloney detecter
Edited 11/11/2005 8:51 am ET by bobl
First question...
Are you planning on euro/frameless cabinets or a more traditional face frame design?
I built my cabinets 5 years ago from MDF and instead of painting, I just used clear satin polyurethane to give the doors a "natural" look. Looked great, super inexpensive, and easy. HOWEVER, 5 years on, I'm having problems with staining and water damage. I have a filler panel which touches the floor and where the mop has hit it over the years, it's soaked up water and swelled. I feel that I'm probably going to need to either replace or extensively redo the doors prior to selling the house, unfortunately.
I would look into powder coating perhaps. My recommendation is to paint and make sure you prime really well.
Also, I did concrete for my counters and had excellent results. HOWEVER, you must be prepared to accept staining from acids (think lemons and limes). After 5 years, my counters have a nice patina to them, but that first stain that happened 12 hours after final sealing made my wife and I sick. Concrete is also VERY TOUCHY. Make sure you do lots of research into mixes and finishing, and I would reccomend a practice as well. Another guy I know tried to do concrete after seeing mine and his did not come out near as well...
Good luck.
Melamine-faced particleboard for the carcases and shelves, edgebanded MDF for the doors, poplar for the fillers, trim, etc., birch ply for the toekicks.
Unless you've a good sized shop, and lots of time on your hands, you shouldn't scratch-build all this. Buy your carcases (frameless) from Cab Parts, Scherr's, or Vass, and just make yer own doors.
Thanks all for the great info.
Let me tell you what i'm working with first of all. I have a new shop with a 4000 sq/ft production floor. I recent purchased a 60" x 109" x 10" CNC router table. I usually make scultptures with it, but I know it's potential. Molds for concrete countertops for example.
Secondly, we hate our house and neighbourhood, so the cost is to be kept down, as we plan to move within 5 years. Particleboard cases and MDF or better for the face frames is the way I think I will go.
I have never had to finish an MDF edge yet. I've seen a MDF-like product called Extira. It's supposed to be water resistant. But if they (extira & MDF) don't finish very well, I'm all for the next step up, as long as it's not pine.
Anymore suggestions?
Thanks,
Gerald
I built cabinets for a large walk-in closet (14 x 6) out of MDF - the image is attached. Before this, I have always used birch ply, applied edging, then painted them. The MDF worked pretty well - it really takes paint nice.
Pros: cheap, takes paint well, routes easy
Cons: heavy, edges dent easily, very dusty, you need to seal the edges.
Sealing the edges: I spreay or roll them with oil based primer (Klitz, odor-free) and sand them smooth when they are dry. I have tried water-based primer as well - it works OK, but requires quite a bit of sanding to get it smooth.
The counter top is ceramic tile with stone mosaics.
Thanks,
TTF
Edited 11/13/2005 1:43 am ET by TTF
Thanks TTF,I'll give the mdf doors a try with the Kilz primer. I've used that before with good results (on pine).
Thanks for the input everyone,gerald