Random thread maybe, but some of you may be in the position i'm in.
My kitchen needs a refresh, the carcasses are fine, but the doors arn't to my taste and the colour is vile.
I got several quotes for new doors, there's 18 of them, the cheapest was just under a grand for a basic melamine covered shaker.
I thought I could do better, cheaper and with a higher quality, cue 2002gimps guide to making shaker doors
I went to B&Q as it was a Sunday, I suggest going to a timber yard for more cheaps, either way I grabbed 5, 9mm thick, 8x4 mdf boards. These came in at £14 each, I took them to the poor sod at the saw bench and had 1.5 sheets ripped into 100mm styles, the rest were cut to my door sizes. Go on a quiet day and you'll get this done for free without them moaning.
This is my door kit
I got the pva out and gave the stiles a liberal brush
Before hand i'd knocked the inner edges off with a palm sander to add a groove where they join. Wear a mask, mdf is worse than asbestos, thats a fact!
I clamped the feck out of it, and walked away for an hour, if you have a millionty-eleven clamps you could start another door
After an hour I did another door, and another etc. I left them for 24 hours to fully cure before giving them a damn good sand, remembering, my mask again, not a dusk mask, a proper respirator, I happen to like my lungs.
Next up I primed them, I used a quick drying primer as mdf needs painting on all surfaces as quick as poss really, as it takes on moisture and warps when its unprotected
Hung, ready for the top coat in the colour of your missus' choice
I also bought some 18mm mdf and edged the all units as it gives a clean look, I 'made' my own pelmits out of pine strips, these both stuck out 20mm past the units to really edge the doors
Total cost is under a ton, bearing in mind 18 is a fair few units and my wall units are 900 tall instead of the standard 720, so most will be cheaper.
It took no special skills at all, if you get the mdf cut, you really don't have much to do at all, the most time was taken in the sanding to remove the joins at the edges.
So here we go, hopefully this thread will inspire others to do the same, being so cheap has allowed me to order real oak worktops which makes the missus happy
Cheers
Phil
Oh, use a damn respirator, I may of mentioned that...
My kitchen needs a refresh, the carcasses are fine, but the doors arn't to my taste and the colour is vile.
I got several quotes for new doors, there's 18 of them, the cheapest was just under a grand for a basic melamine covered shaker.
I thought I could do better, cheaper and with a higher quality, cue 2002gimps guide to making shaker doors
I went to B&Q as it was a Sunday, I suggest going to a timber yard for more cheaps, either way I grabbed 5, 9mm thick, 8x4 mdf boards. These came in at £14 each, I took them to the poor sod at the saw bench and had 1.5 sheets ripped into 100mm styles, the rest were cut to my door sizes. Go on a quiet day and you'll get this done for free without them moaning.
This is my door kit
I got the pva out and gave the stiles a liberal brush
Before hand i'd knocked the inner edges off with a palm sander to add a groove where they join. Wear a mask, mdf is worse than asbestos, thats a fact!
I clamped the feck out of it, and walked away for an hour, if you have a millionty-eleven clamps you could start another door
After an hour I did another door, and another etc. I left them for 24 hours to fully cure before giving them a damn good sand, remembering, my mask again, not a dusk mask, a proper respirator, I happen to like my lungs.
Next up I primed them, I used a quick drying primer as mdf needs painting on all surfaces as quick as poss really, as it takes on moisture and warps when its unprotected
Hung, ready for the top coat in the colour of your missus' choice
I also bought some 18mm mdf and edged the all units as it gives a clean look, I 'made' my own pelmits out of pine strips, these both stuck out 20mm past the units to really edge the doors
Total cost is under a ton, bearing in mind 18 is a fair few units and my wall units are 900 tall instead of the standard 720, so most will be cheaper.
It took no special skills at all, if you get the mdf cut, you really don't have much to do at all, the most time was taken in the sanding to remove the joins at the edges.
So here we go, hopefully this thread will inspire others to do the same, being so cheap has allowed me to order real oak worktops which makes the missus happy
Cheers
Phil
Oh, use a damn respirator, I may of mentioned that...