Looking around your kitchen, most of what you see are cabinet doors. But what is behind the doors?
There are two main styles of cabinet construction. The traditional style is known as “face frame”. This means that there is a solid wood, usually 3/4” thick frame applied to the face of the plywood box. Face frames serve several purposes:
The raw front edge of the plywood “case” (or box) is generally not considered a finished surface, so the face frame covers the edge and provides a smooth surface to apply paint or lacquer. It also helps protect the plywood from damage by splintering and moisture.
Face frames provide stiffness to help keep the case straight and square. This rigidity makes a perfectly level and plumb installation easier, and keeps your doors better aligned over time.
Alternately, a cabinet can be built without a face frame, and this style is known as “frameless”. Instead of a solid wood frame, frameless cabinets have a veneer of wood or plastic glued over the front edge of the plywood case. Frameless cabinets tend to be somewhat more economical, and allow easier access to the full space available inside the cabinet. When designing a more modern kitchen with tightly spaced doors, frameless is the preferred construction style.