Economical kitchen cabinets

My experience has been a little different. HJ. I once lived in a 1959 Detroiter singlewide, and the construction was surprisingly good. Yeah, it had ugly paneling (LOL) but the kitchen cabinets were real wood, and when we ripped up the dining room carpeting, there was a wooden parquet floor underneath.

The 1991 Rebel singlewide I have now is a piece of crap, though! The exterior walls are about 3" thick, the kitchen counters aren't even formica (some sort of particleboard/cardboard hybrid), and the bathroom sinks are PLASTIC!

So my subjective judgment would be that trailers have gotten flimsier over the years. Of course, it's possible the first one was a top-of-the-line model when new, while the one I have now was clearly built of the cheapest possible materials right from the get-go.

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"I love all of this mud," said no one, ever.

Particle board didnt hit its real hey day until 70s and 80s. More plywood used in the 60s stuff, most had plywood floor, and very thin plywood panelling in 60s, but the cupboards were going particle board even then. However walls were 2x2 and cheap paneling on inside and aluminum on outside. There was no sheathing.

Mobile homes are, or at least were (they have become expensive) the tar paper shack of the modern era. And I'd take a traditional tar paper shack over a particle board trailer any day. But most areas wont allow shacks while they will allow trailers, at least newer trailers. Thats the latest scam, you finally get your mobile home paid off and the local govt says its too old to be allowed, get rid of it.... Gotta squeeze the dollars out of those poor people...

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"What would you do with a brain if you had one?" -Dorothy

"Well, then ignore what I have to say and go with what works for you." -Eliot Coleman

When we moved into our old farm house a couple of months ago the original 1940 handmade kitchen cabinets were painted a combination of aqua and brown with faux brick pattern painted on the sides. We debated replacing them but they were structurally in good shape and had all the built in shelves at the end, built in silverwear compatments etc. so we ended up painting them, sealing all the gaps and trimming them out and they look great now and very old fashioned. We even took the nasty hinges and almost art deco handles and soaked them in CLR and reused them.

You might be able to find some old kitchen cabinets out of a remodel or tear down and redo them to fit your kitchen. Ours are all solid wood and it has the feel of my great grandmothers old farmhouse that I have such fond memories of. I've seen used cabinets for sale around here for less than $100.00 for the whole shebang.

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www.salmonslayer-simplelife.blogspot.com

Thanks for all your suggestions--we are looking at several options including new, used, and building our own cabinets. We ordered the book that TnAndy recommended (and another about building drawers--the hardest part in our eyes). Jill, while looking at cabinetstogo.com we found our corner shower too.

We had help building a monitor barn and now are finishing our living quarters in one wing of it pretty much ourselves. We're learning new skills as we go so why not consider cabinets too?

My father had a patern-maker friend who built things on the side show him how to make simple 'custom' cabinets. He made the sides and exposed bottoms from simple pine shelving W/ simple 1x2 pine for interior bracing and plywood tops & bottom toe kicks. He used the same 1x2 for the vertical face frame and a 1/3 top & bottom w/ a 1/2" notch the width of the door.

His inner door fit the face frame opening made from 1/2" ply covered w/ a larger layer of knotty pine veneer. The drawers were made the same way sliding on 1x2 runners slicked w/ beeswax.

The interior shelves were plywood on 1x2 braces. The backs were open to the wall w/ 1x2 stringers to tie the sides together and where he screwed them to the wall.

Mom and Dad added wrought iron looking hinges & pulls and shelac then varnish for a finish. and formica on the top.

Over the stove & sink he added a simple thin plank w/ the lower edge scaloped making a valance for that 'finished' look.

Since they now sell pine shelving already edge glued wider than 11.5" it would be even easier for an amature to make cabinets like this.

like jolly said. find a local (i don't ship so can't help you) cabinet guy to cut the job for you. you put it together and finish it. i do this for a number of contractors and folks doing their own stuff.
a few suggestions: (depending on your style) go frame less.
it'seasier to put in drawer slides. it's less material(cheaper). you have full access to the inside of your cabinets.
if your cabinet guy has a bander. have him band it for you.
the great partical board debate.. yes it has had a bad rap. now the chips are made differently. adhesives have changed. look at the edge of a piece. the better quailty you can see how large chips are in the center. smaller tightly packed smoother chips on the outer layers.
think of everything about a cabinet is a box. a drawer is a box. a drawer front is just a flat box. face frame is a box with dividers.
use full extension slides on your drawers. cost is more per slide. a plus is you get to see what is in the back of the drawer. you can put a 22" deep drawer in a 24" cabinet. hold a tape to one of your existing cabinet drawers and see the difference.
put drawers everywhere but under the sink. it makes it easier as we get older to find whats in the back of a base cabinet.
mrs. muckett check your private message

That's a mighty few words, but a mighty big idea. Frameless is easier than face frame...Danny Proulx was the guy who always advocated and wrote the books about building the frameless styles....I need to get one of his books, myself...

There are also nifty little plugs for those holes that you can get to either match your wood, or contrast it.
Personally, we're going to go with something along the lines of what Cabin Fever did. 2x4 frames with nice paneling on the visible sides. That way they're completely custom to our needs.
The drawers will be plywood boxes.

And, if we're not in the mood to do anything fancy for drawer fronts/doors, we'll just buy some from Lowes/Menards/Home Depot.

Personally, I think cabinets are fairly easy so far as "furniture" goes. You're just making boxes, afterall. But I agree, the drawers are a little more challenging!

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~*~Erin~*~
SAHM, ranch wife, sub and quilt shop proprietress
the Back Gate Country Quilt Shop

as suggested, pocket cutters are great. use mine all the time. i've been thinking of building a face frame cabinet backwards. so pockets are on the face of the cabinet. using oak. then using the plugs in walnut as an accent. might give it a cool look.

so you don't have to fill any holes.
for drawers use 3/4" stock. pocket front and back on the outside. drawer front covers holes.
pocket cabinet top and bottom on outside. if you can see pockets on the bottom of wall cabinets while sitting at the kitchen table. use a 1/4" piece of plywood. do this after install. one long piece can cover a number of cabinets.
to mount the faceframe. pocket top.bottom and sides on the outside. if any cabinets need a finished end. add a 1/4" ply panel to cover the holes. if a cabinet that needs a finished end is a drawer unit or the holes pockets do not bother you. pocket this one side inside. no need for 1/4" panel.

Cabinet makers take out perfectly good "old cabinets" all the time and replace them with new cabinets. You may be able to get some perfectly fine cabinets cheap or free, if you talk to a couple cabinet makers about your needs.

here's our used cabinets
http://i938.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1276728186

I know what framed is, but how does a frameless work? What do you fasten the door hinges to? Pictures please!

How about a gazillion of them?

http://www.google.com/images?q=frame...ed=0CDIQsAQwAw