Pantry door help

[bmuir]

I have a pantry that I am redoing for my son. The pantry is formed by two 24" deep 2x4/sheetrock walls. Its opening is 24" wide by 79" high. It will have a face frame around the opening.

The questions revolve around doors. The full overlay doors will be constructed from poplar using stub tenons and 1/4-inch grooves. The doors will be painted.

The back of the grooves will be routed out and frosted glass inserted into the opening. Which of the following would give the best, most stable doors for a pantry?

1. One door approx. 24x79? This door would have four rails: top, bottom and two in the middle (three panes of glass).
2. Two doors approx 12 x 79? These doors would also have four rails: top, bottom and two in the middle (three panes of glass each).
3. Divide the face frame near the middle, two doors, one approx 24 x 31 and the other approx 24 x 48 (one pane of glass in each door)?
4. Divide the face frame near the middle, four doors, two approx 12 x 31 and the other two approx 12 x 48 (one pane of glass in each of the four doors)?

Thanks,
Bill

[drumpriest]

I would probably break it into 4 doors, personally. Poplar with stub tenons may be a bit on the light side joinery wise for a 79" door. Also trying to keep that flat would be somewhat difficult. Even broken into 4 doors you are at 48", a nice tall door for a 3/4" cabinet door format.

[Bill in Buena Park]

Bill, what is the planned width of the stock you'll be using for your stiles & rails? The wider the s/r, the more glue surface between the s&r, the more stable the frame, even before factoring in additional rails (mullions?) for added stability; but any solution requires the balance of asthetics.

I think Keith's vote for the 4 doors makes sense - smaller doors require less width on the s/r, leaving more room for glass, and provide the best access and stability - but wouldn't this option require a rail (mullion) in the middle of face frame where the upper and lower doors meet? Is that acceptable in your design?

I think the 2 long door option would work also, but wanting for wider s/r, you'd loose a little area for glass. 24in-wide doors would want wider s/r also, but would have a wide swing - may not be as practical as two 12in-wide doors with smaller swing.

[just started]

Have you considered pull-out pantry units? They make stuff much easier to get to at the back of the shelves.

[cabinetman]

I have a pantry that I am redoing for my son. The pantry is formed by two 24" deep 2x4/sheetrock walls. Its opening is 24" wide by 79" high. It will have a face frame around the opening.

The questions revolve around doors. The full overlay doors will be constructed from poplar using stub tenons and 1/4-inch grooves. The doors will be painted.

The back of the grooves will be routed out and frosted glass inserted into the opening. Which of the following would give the best, most stable doors for a pantry?

4. Divide the face frame near the middle, four doors, two approx 12 x 31 and the other two approx 12 x 48 (one pane of glass in each of the four doors)?

Thanks,
Bill

This is the way I would go.
.

[Popeye]

I would go with either two or four doors. They will be lighter and less prone to warp. But I would also consider doing pullout shelving, it makes life a lot less easier trying to find things in a deep cabinet. Pat

[pelligrini]

I'd divide it in two and combine a pull out cabinet on the bottom and do a pair of glass doors on the top. The pull out would make the lower things easier to get to and I do like the look of glass door panels.

Around my house if it were near any traffic area the bottom glass would probably get broken fairly quickly. Not sure if I would do a pair of pullouts on the bottom, or one wide one. Probably would depend on what's going into it. If it were mainly for dry goods and canned goods a pair of 12" pull outs would be in order.

[dlminehart]

I'd really avoid having glass where an errant knee or elbow could go through it. Upper kitchen cabinets are one thing, pantry doors another. I assume you've looked into the cost and availability of tempered glass? Not cheap! You'd need to special order it to size, as you can't cut it after it's tempered.