painted wardrobes

[peterlappo]

Hi,
I plan to install some painted wardrobes in space 3.9x2.6 m with two sets of doors, one about 2m and the other 60cm high in my Victorian house. The depth has to be less than 55cm due to an adjacent door. There will be seven shaker style doors 50cm wide with end infills to leave room for a light switch. Inside I plan to use a mixture of elfa shelves as I already have them and some fitted shelves. I was planning to use MDF but I'm wondering if this is best option especially after I visited my local DIY store and saw that most MDF less than 18mm thick was warped. By the way a carpenter who is fairly young will be doing the woodwork and I will be doing the painting. As he will be building to our spec I'm concerned that what we are doing will look a bit rubbish after a couple of years. A bespoke furniture builder which I'm pretty sure would do a good job gave me a rough estimate of 10K which is well outside of my budget.
And as a bit of background my house, which we bought a few months ago, came with a "hand made" kitchen which is pretty rubbish, hinges dropping and loose screws and I don't want the same for the wardrobes.


My issues are
1) Is MDF the best choice or should we use solid wood? MDF is very flat but can have furry edges and doesn't take screws as well as solid wood, but what are the alternatives given the knots will be an issue with paint?

2) What thickness do you need to ensure the doors don't warp but are not so heavy that they drop?

3) What sort and how many hinges do you need on the 2m high doors to stop them dropping?

Before we begin I was going to build a prototype door and paint it just to see how it would look and feel.

Anyway I was wondering what people think and any help would be appreciated especially on the choice of wood?

Thanks
Peter

 

[Chems]

Building something like this out of MDF is probably the norm.

If you are worried about the MDF in the door you could make the frames from Tulip wood and the middle panel from MDF, that's what I'd do.

50cm isn't a massive door so probably 18mm would be ok, and to avoid dropping good quality hinges and fitting.

 

[chippy1970]

You say its being built by a young carpenter might be best to ask him to make you a small sample of the doors so you can see if he does a good job.

MDF will be fine or as said above use timber for rails and stiles with mdf panels.

£10k sounds a lot for one wardrobe who ever gave you that quote must be gready :lol: or too busy

 

[BradNaylor]

Hi Peter,

I do a lot of jobs such as this and £10k seems well over the top! My guesstimate would be around £3500 fitted and primed ready for final painting.

If you're determined to do it yourself, a few pointers;

Don't use MDF from a DIY store. Go to a specialist panel or board supplier and buy Moisture Resistant MDF from a top manufacturer such as Medite or Finsa. It is an infinitely better product and will save hours in the painting. The edges don't go furry!

I would use 22mm thick MDF for the door frames with 6mm or 9mm for the door panels. The wardrobe carcasses can be 18mm

Don't use butt hinges. As you rightly say MDF doesn't take screws into the edge too well and butt hinges are a pipper to fit anyway. 35mm concealed kitchen door hinges are perfect for a job such as this. If you want inset doors then cranked hinges are available.

Personally, I wouldn't like to tackle a job like this without full commercial workshop facilities. It's not a project to be completed on a workmate in your driveway!

Why not Google local cabinetmakers to see if you can find a more reasonable price? Or if you're in the NW of England, PM me!

Cheers
Brad

 

[jasonB]

I would use MFC (Melamine faced chipboard) for the carcases but decent stuff not 15mm contiboard in white if you want to keep the costs down or a wood grain effect looks better.

Doors 22mm MR MDF styles & rails with 9mm panels, kitchen type concealed hinges.

If its faceframe then this can either be done in the same MDF or tulipwood/beech.

For supply and fit of unpainted I would be looking for £1000-1200 per meter run on average.

All the painted stuff in this album and this one are done as above

Jason

 

[matt]

Have you considered a breakfront style to get round the minimum depth imposed by the door?

I'd use MDF. Tulip wood face frames and door frames, with panels in MDF too.

 

[peterlappo]

Thanks for the advice, most helpful.
I hadn't thought of breakfront, a good idea and something to think about.