Drawer Boxes Must Be Durable
One major enhancement you can make when refacing your kitchen cabinets is to change your weak and wobbly drawers with new replacement drawers. You’ll wonder why you waited so long once you have new drawers which are sturdy and easily slide in and out of your kitchen cabinets. Replacement cabinet drawers can be made using many different methods – each with its own advantages. Be certain you educate yourself about all of your drawer options before you begin your kitchen cabinet remodeling project.
Cabinet Drawers – Finding the Right Material
Normally kitchen cabinet drawers sold as “wood” are made from either solid wood or a synthetic wood product such as medium-density fiberboard (also known as MDF). While drawers constructed of fiberboard are typically much less expensive than solid wood, you definitely sacrifice quality and strength for cost. Truly well-crafted kitchen cabinet drawers are made of wood to withstand heavy weight. Real wood cabinet drawers not only improve the aesthetics of your kitchen cabinets, they also endure much longer than other options.
Keeping Those Drawers Together
Typically, kitchen cabinet drawers are constructed using one of three different joint systems: dovetail, butt, or mortise and tenon joints.
Of the three, dovetail joints are the strongest; they are held together by trapezoid-shaped pins which lock the edges of the boards together. Dovetail joints are available in several designs, and while they are slightly more in price, the durability and stability they give to your kitchen cabinet drawers are incomparable.
The mortise and tenon joints are held together by mortise, a pocket in the adjacent edge of the board which holds the tenon – a peg which extends from the board’s edge. This type of joint is an ancient and highly effective technique known for its strength and simplicity.
The butt joint is often found in kitchen cabinets. Unlike the durability and stability of the previous two joints, butt joints are merely glued together; thus, there is no support from interconnecting boards. If you were to choose this option, be sure the joints are reinforced for additional stability and strength.