There is a very simple answer as to why you have cracks in your painted cabinet doors. Wood expands and contracts while paint is a rigid finish. It’s that simple!
Wood continuously expands and contracts as it absorbs or releases moisture. A continuous stress exists because wood moves and paint does not move. The framing on a door is made up of individual pieces of wood. The rails, top and bottom pieces, have grain that run left to right. The stiles, left and right parts of the door frame, have the grain running vertically. The pieces comprising the frame of the door are expanding and contracting in conflicting directions. This tension creates stress at the joint where these wood pieces meet. The paint, being a rigid finish, cannot take all this movement of the wood. Stress cracks are the result. All this can happen even before the brand new cabinets are unloaded off the delivery truck and brought into your home. This is part of living with a painted finish.
You can view the impact of moisture on your wood doors by looking at the outside profile of the door. The edge profile is usually the last detail put on the door and it is sanded before it is painted. The outside of the door is flush when it is finished. If you have offsets on the edges where the stile meets the rail then you have a moisture problem. Please be aware that this is not considered a defect. There is no way to control wood movement due to moisture.
The center panel of a wood door is made up of multiple pieces of wood. These pieces are glued up to create the widest part of a cabinet door. Each piece of wood in the center panel is unique. Each one will react differently to moisture. Vertical lines can result from this tension between the multiple pieces of wood. This type of crack is not as common as the others but it can happen. If it does occur then we cannot go back to the factory for a free replacement door. This is a result of painting a wood center panel.
In its final destination, a wood product will try to find balance with its environment after going through full hot and cold, wet and dry seasons. The wood product will get more stable and the cracks mentioned in this piece will become less common.
In summary, cracks in a painted cabinet door are not considered a defect. These cracks do not result in any loss of integrity in the cabinetry. They are merely cosmetic. Painted cabinetry is the most popular product choice today. We produce hundreds of painted kitchens
every year. We are not trying to sway you from your decision to purchase a painted set of cabinets. We are just making you aware of the realities of a painted cabinet.
Thank you very much for your attention.
Jimmy Gavalas
The Kitchen Cabinet Guy
Atlantis Kitchens
