Attach door to kitchen cabinet side panel??

[steve-u]

My wife wants me to look into dressing up her kitchen. Our house is 15 years old and our kitchen has pretty decent oak cabinets but the ends/sides of the cabinets are just covered with veneer that has faded on couple of cabinets. She has noticed in HD/Lowes that you can get kitchen cabinets that essentialy have doors attached to those ends to make them look more upscale like the side of a fine roll top desk. I checked and found out that our kithchen cabinets are still being made in the style and stain we have. I am thinking about ordering some doors to use as she wants.

Now what I want to know is what would be the best way to attach the doors to the sides. I am thinking maybe glue and a few finish nails?? If glue should be used what would be good glue for that purpose? I have a PC finish nailer at my disposal if that would make the job easier. Thanks for ay advice. The pictures give you an idea of what I am trying to do where I took using an existing door as an example leaning it against a cabinet side.

Thanks, Steve

[jAngiel]

You could always use screws through the inside of the cabinet.

[RayintheUK]

James has it right - screw through from the inside. Slightly elongate the pilots horizontally - this will allow absolutely accurate positioning before final tightening, plus a small range of movement in case of humidity changes in the door. Use cup washers on the inside and practice on a piece of same-thickness scrap to get the screw length right!

Ray.

[steve-u]

You guys are great. I never even thought of that! How deep should I drive the screw into the door? They are 3/4 inch thick. Maybe 5/8 inch?

Steve

[Pappy]

Why not add a shallow extension to the end about the depth of a spice cabinet? Not much added work and it is functional then.

[RayintheUK]

How deep should I drive the screw into the door? They are 3/4 inch thick. Maybe 5/8 inch?

That would be fine - just be careful not to screw into the panel.

Ray.

[cabinetman]

Spice rack would be cool, or cookbooks. You could also use thin double sided carpet tape to hold the panel until you screw it in place.



"I'M NEVER WRONG - BUT I'M NOT ALWAYS RIGHT"

[steve-u]

Thanks for the ideas about spice cabinet or book rack. That may work in one or two places. I have 6 ends to cover.

Steve

[jabe]

James & Ray got it right, clamp it in place & screw it from the inside. If you cann't clamp it have your wife hold it in place, Ray's method of making a slotted hole allows for adjustment. The length of the screw will depend on the thickness of the panel and your cabinet side. I usually use screws 1/4" shorter than the total thickness of the 2 panels I'm attaching. All my cabinet end panels are screwed on from the inside & cap the exposed screw head with a matching cap. Fastcap sells a vareity of peel & stick caps PVC or real wood, finished or unfinished, www.fastcap.com