Custom Cabinet business taking questions

Hello, my name is scott maurer. I'm a 4th generation cabinet maker experienced in kitchen and furniture design & fabrication. Wanted to offer any advice that I could to those of you with interests in kitchen remodeling and/or other room cabinetry. We are located in Perkasie, Pa. for those of you that are local, please stop in. We are currently constructing a new showroom that is directly attached to our shop and will be offering several lines of "stock" cabinetry as well as handcrafted items.

thank you for taking the time to read this post. Am happy to oblige in any way possible.

Welcome! I am sure you will get quite a few questions over time. Tell us a little about your business. Have any pictures of your work?

Thank you for the welcome. Hoping to help in any way i can. I have found that in the last few years kitchen design as well as cabinet quality has become less than adequate. Most folks really dont realize what the possiblities are when designing and should be better educated consumers when it comes to cabinet construction and functionality. Photos of our work are posted in our gallery.

Thanks again,
Scott

I have a question for you. I have a custom dual-sink cherry vanity in my bathroom with a pinkish laminate top. The top's edges are trimmed in cherry. I'd like to replace the laminate with a more modern-looking laminate. Is there a way to remove the laminate without losing the cherry trim? I don't imagine I can just put new laminate over the old alminate, right? Any suggestions? Thanks.

That is a delicate situation. First determine if the cherry molding is perfectly flush with the laminate surface. If the molding is slightly above laminate you might be able to apply a sheet over top. If not you might have to very gingerly remove the molding to do what you would like.

You can try and find a local cabinet maker to match the color of your vanity with new cherry molding in case you incur damage. That is exactly why we offer color matching, sometimes it allows folks to rework a piece that they cannot or dont want to replace.

It is possible for us to assist you if you cant locate someone to color match for you. Not knowing if your close to us or not, it is possible to mail us a piece of your molding so we can match the color as well as the profile and we can ship back to you replacement pieces.

Would be more than happy to help any way that we can.

thank you,
scott maurer

I am building a kitchen in Missouri, the doors are varying widths of beech glue jointed, cut square, no panels, stiles or rails. The problem I am having is that after I had clamped and rough sanded the doors, the weekend came. When I got back to work on monday, I noticed that about 4 or 5 of the 27 doors had pretty severe warping. Now I made sure to alternate the grain patterns in the wood, and I laid the doors flat before I left for the weekend.
What I did to hopefully solve this particular problem is to clamp all of the doors together and place in a warm place for a week. This seemed to work decent, but the problem didn't completely abolish, there is still some slight warping on many of the doors, but fortunately, you can't tell once they're installed because I was able to adjust the hinges so that each door sat flat.

Also, I bought the wood from a reputable dealer (Liberty Hardwood), and they assured me that the lumber had all been kiln dried.

My question, is, is there a way to prevent the warping of these doors before, during, or after building them that I perhaps missed?

Also, is it possible to get edge banding to adhere properly(iron on kind) to MDF core sheet goods? Or do I need to change to a different core in the future? Thankyou for your help in advance.

It sounds like you were able to remedy the warping just fine, but on the next set you make it would be beneficial to run some wood across the grain in some manner. There are several ways to do that; tounge and groove a piece across the top and bottom, screw and glue a piece across the back near top and bottom, etc. Wood is wonderful stuff but has to be controlled to keep the desired shape and size.

I know its hard to believe... I was a shop rat in my past..
We did custom cabinets from a-wood to swiss pear...

One thing my boss did was to check the humidity levels in the house before we brought ANY cabinets to the job.
He would find out that the sheetrockers would want the heat totally cranked to dry things out. Thats exactly what would happen to our prefinished doors.. they would warp if the house was to dry or if the different humidity level was to drastic.

The hard part is going from shop to house.

All the old timers had the shops on site, why do you think all those old mansions are in good shape woodwork wise!!

LISTEN TO THE O"L TIMER"S....They have forgoten more than I know........

InspectorD

hello,

i have a question about my kitchen cabinets. i just recently bought the house i live in now. it was remodeled just before i bought it and the kitchen cabinets are brand new, and made of very nice oak with pine shelving. they looked like they were stained with a light teak colored stain, look very nice. i want to keep them looking nice, especially due to the runoff u get on the cabinets direrectly below the sinks. would it be a good idea to coat them with polyurathane? this should protect the stain from fading, and the wood, right??? thank u in advance for any suggestions

bob

remodelinmo

you'd have to better describe "warping". wood usually bows, cups, or twists. if you cupped, check the grain, if you twisted, check the grain. One way to abolish this is to rough mill you lumber and separate it on stickers so it can grow to the climate. "warm" weather doesn't do much for your wood. remember face, edges, ends. Don't be afraid to face-join your hardwoods, it may be crucial.

bobo60 said:

hello,

i have a question about my kitchen cabinets. i just recently bought the house i live in now. it was remodeled just before i bought it and the kitchen cabinets are brand new, and made of very nice oak with pine shelving. they looked like they were stained with a light teak colored stain, look very nice. i want to keep them looking nice, especially due to the runoff u get on the cabinets direrectly below the sinks. would it be a good idea to coat them with polyurathane? this should protect the stain from fading, and the wood, right??? thank u in advance for any suggestions

bob

Click to expand...

where to begin bob60?

I don't know why your oak cabs would have pine shelves to begin with??? To answer your q,,, no. I wouldn't "coat" your existing cabs with anything, unless you know what the original finish is. Don't worry about "run-off" unless you have a plumbing issue, fix the plumbing issue. If you inadvertantly get the doors wet, wipe 'em dry. The biggest problem wood finish faces is sunlight. Unless they were finished with a sealer and topcoat that is uv protected, the finish will fade or yellow. I wouldn't worry about water, unless they're wet and you know what to do then.

We just had a new house built and new Dynasty/Omega cabinets made of quartersawn oak installed in the kitchen. The finish on the cabinets is a matte finish, and doesn't have to my knowledge any urethane or lacquer. The builder decided to clean the cabinets before we moved in and used (he says) Liquid Gold. Now the cabinets have a chalky look and streaks are also visible. They have tried to take off the coating with mineral spirits, but the best look they have achieved so far is a dull look with minimum streaking. We are holding off treating all of the cabinets until they get a few doors to look good. We had a drawer front replaced for other reasons and the difference is noticeable always, stark in the right light. Someone was just over and told us the finish is ruined. I am looking for advice. I am sure our builder is too.

Copied directly from the website;
We achieve the richness of a fine furniture finish by sanding and staining each piece by hand. Oven-cured to catalyze the top coat, our finishes enhance the wood grain and protect the surface. Omega Armor finishes wipe clean with a damp cloth and require no special care.

Usually this means they don't want you using harsh cleaners.

Very possible the finish could be ruined. A high quality wood polish/wax (not Glade, maybe Briwax, Formby's, Deft or similar brand paste wax) would be my next step unless the cabinets are a glazed finish.

Glazed finishes are unique and must be cared for as the manufacturer recommends. It doesn't take much rubbing to ruin a glazed finish with the wrong product.

Call the manufacturer now and get specific information on what to use.

I have a question about water damage below my kitchen sink. The leak has been repaired and I am ready to fix the warped wood below my sinks. What is the best way to do this. If you need more info, I can provide it.

I could probably offer some suggestions but I have to know what you're dealing with. Can you possibly post a photo?

Also, you should start a new topic with this question, rather than branching off this old thread. You'll get more replies.