Cabinet doors can be, framed or frameless - neither of which have anything to do with whether the cabinet itself is framed or frameless. Either door can be used on either cabinet type.

The term door style actually refers to the type of panel that is used on the door. There are four major types of door styles: Slab/Flat Panel, Recessed Flat Panel, Raised Panel (Solid), Raised Panel (Veneer). There are countless variations of these basic styles.
(Mullioned, glass, concave, convex, and other specialty doors are discussed in Cabinet Door Styles - Part 2)

Frameless Door (Slab / Flat Panel )

The term slab is most often used to describe wood doors that have the appearance of a solid piece of wood, with no raised or recessed profile.

Due to the nature of wood, these doors are actually made of several pieces of solid stock lumber joined with adhesive, then cut to size. The wood strips used to construct the panel may not all match in graining and color.

Typically, the door's strength comes from the manner in which the pieces of solid wood are reversed as they are glued, providing cupping and warping resistance

Some manufacturers do not use the reverse gluing method.

Instead, wood strips are group together (vertically or horizontally) and reinforced with battens (strips of wood) across the back side, going in the opposite direction of the boards on the front side. Some are made of a single panel with grooves cut to resemble separate boards. A batten door gives a kitchen a rustic country look.

Laminated slab styles are made of a substrate material such as particleboard or flakeboard, then covered with the manufacturer's choice of laminate. Slab door styles may have detailed or plain edge profiles.

Framed Door


The cabinet door frame is like a picture frame. Separate pieces of wood, engineered wood, medium density fiberboard (MDF), or solid hardwood surround a panel in the middle.

The vertical sections of the frame are called stiles, and the horizontal sections are rails. The fame can range anywhere from 1/2" to 3/4" thick.

The rails and stiles are joined together using one of three methods:

Mitered Joint
Mitred doors and drawers have a frame that is joined by a mitre joint at the corners. A mitre joint is a 45° cut on both the stile and the rail. This joint runs diagonally from the inside corner of the frame to the outside corner.

Mitre cut doors are used on doors that have a fancy detail on the stile and rail that would be difficult to form with a Cope & Pattern joint (see below).

Miter joints are also used on inexpensive doors because this type of joint is easy to make.

Tenon & Mortise Joint
A traditional tenon and mortise joint (similar to tongue and groove) is the most common, and provides strength to the joint. Each end of the rail has a tenon (extension), which fits into a pocket (mortise) cut into the side of the stile.

Cope & Pattern Joint
This type of joint is often seen on furniture grade cabinetry.

Cutting tools are used to cut the rails (horizontal) and stiles (vertical) which result in two pieces, each a mirror image of the other.

In addition, a slot is cut into the rail and stile for the center door panel. The shape of the cut allows for a greater glue area, resulting in a stronger joint.

Recessed Flat Panel
A recessed flat panel door, starts as a flat piece of wood, then the frame is made to go around it.

The visible difference between the recessed panel and the raised panel is very noticeable, and can give a slightly more contemporary feel to a kitchen or bath.

This style also allows for a center stile down the middle of the door, creating a look that is hard to duplicate with raised panel doors. The panels can be smooth, grooved, or decorated.

Raised Panel - Solid
Even though the panel is called solid, it is not usually made of a single piece of wood. Wood expands and contracts with changes in humidity, and this can cause the door to split and crack.

To counteract the problems of natural movement in a solid wood center panel, the panel is usually constructed using several pieces of solid stock lumber glued together. The wood strips used to construct the panel may not all match in graining and color. As in the case of the slab door, the door's strength comes from the manner in which the pieces of solid wood are reversed as they are glued.

The panel is then cut on all four sides, so the center is higher than the edges. The face of the panel is usually flush with the front surface of the stiles and rails, with the edges forming a tongue which fits a corresponding groove cut into the door frame.

The groove is slightly larger than the panel's edge to allow the panel to float in the frame. This simply means that the panel has room to expand and contract during humidity changes, reducing the risk of the panel cracking or splitting.

Raised Panel - Veneer
Veneer is simply a thin slice of wood taken from a log, rather than a heavy board.

Instead of solid wood strips, the core (substrate) of the veneered panel is particleboard , or in some cases plywood, which gives the door much more stability than wood. The veneer slices (leaves) are edge-glued into a face. This face is made to fit the size of the panel. The method of matching the veneer edges determines the final appearance of the door panel.

A veneered center panel has a continuous graining, which some people prefer to the variety of the solid wood panel. While the final assembly into the frame is the same as for solid panel doors, veneered panel doors are less expensive than solid wood.

The Square, Cathedral, and Arched doors are usually available in stock, semi-custom and custom cabinets. Combinations (shown in bottom row) are available in some stock and semi-custom cabinets. Custom cabinets can be made using any combination. The actual cut of the door will vary by manufacturer.

Square	Cathedral		Arched

Raised Solid Panel with Laminate Surface
In this door, a single slab of MDF (medium density fiberboard) is routed to give the appearance of a center panel, and frame. Flexible vinyl is laminated to this substrate, using industrial adhesives applied with heat and pressure. The stability of MDF makes this door type especially resistant to cupping and warping. These doors are an inexpensive option to the raised panel wood door, and offer wide variety of color options .

See Also:

An Introduction to Cabinetry Stock, Semi-Custom, Custom Cabinet Quality - Part 1 Quality Cabinetry - Part 2 Cabinet Door Styles - Part 1 Cabinet Door Specialty Styles Cabinet Door Types Cabinet Hardware		Solid Wood Cabinetry Cabinet Materials/Finishes Engineered Wood Cabinet Wood Finishes Cabinet Basics - Wood Veneer Bathroom Vanities
related pages: Cabinet Allowances, Budgets, Costs Kitchen Allowances, Budgets, Costs - Part 1 Kitchen Allowances, Budgets, Costs - Part 2

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