What Is A Frameless Cabinet Construction?
What Is A Frameless Cabinet Construction?
Frameless cabinets are built without a frame on the front, giving them a simple, box-like shape. This construction method is quicker and easier because it eliminates the need for building face frames and using specialized screws.
With their clean, modern appearance, frameless cabinets can blend seamlessly into a room and are a great option for contemporary and modern home designs, in contrast to the traditional appearance of face-frame cabinets
Frameless cabinets are a modern and popular design for kitchens in America, inspired by the European way of manufacturing cabinets. These cabinets do away with the face frame, leaving just the box, with doors that are attached directly to the sides of the box for a sleek and contemporary look.
To make up for the absence of a frame frameless cabinets have a thicker box to ensure strength and stability. As the doors are mounted directly onto the sides of the box, this type of cabinetry only supports full-overlay doors and the cabinet and drawers themselves are larger than those with frames in order to cover more area.
Pros Of Frameless Cabinet Construction
The benefits of using frameless cabinets include:
Ease of mounting shelves: The absence of a center stile in the design allows for easy sliding of shelves straight into the open cabinet, making the process much simpler than with framed cabinets that limit access.
Increased storage space: Without the presence of a face frame, there is more room to store larger appliances and other items within the cabinet.
Sleek and modern aesthetic: Frameless cabinets with doors and drawers that are nearly flush offer a smooth and sophisticated look in a kitchen, which cannot be achieved with framed cabinets that always have visible frames. Choosing slab doors for these cabinets creates a truly seamless look.
Open shelving option: The lack of frames around the cabinet openings allows the option to omit the doors entirely and create open-shelf storage.
Frameless cabinets can be easily customized after installation, for example by refinishing, repainting or replacing the door styles. This is possible due to the full overlay doors design, which allows for simple replacement of the entire cabinet doors.
Moreover, the lack of frame provide the flexibility to change the drawer sizes as you desire, allowing for example to replace two small drawers for a bigger one and vice versa.
Cons Of Frameless Cabinet Construction
The cons of frameless cabinets include issues with hinges that need frequent adjustment, a more difficult installation process, and reduced sturdiness compared to framed cabinets.
These cabinets are often made from MDF rather than hardwood, which can lead to hinges that need continual adjusting to keep doors straight. Installing them can be challenging due to the need for precision, and they are less sturdy than framed cabinets.
However, frameless cabinets are trendy and popular, and can be seen as a style statement with added storage and accessibility benefits. They may cost more due to the high demand, though economy brands such as IKEA may be more affordable.
Materials Required For Frameless Cabinet Construction
If you’re planning to build frameless cabinets, there are a few important materials you’ll need. Firstly, you’ll need rigid board such as plywood or medium-density fiberboard (MDF) for the cabinet structure and shelving.
You’ll also need an edge banding material to cover up raw edges of the boards. For hinges, you’ll either want concealed European style hinges or full overlay style hinges which do not require face frames. Finally, if your design requires doors and drawers, cabinets often call for metal slides for smooth operation and door pulls or handles for easy opening/closing.
With all these materials on hand (and maybe a little patience), you can easily construct beautiful frameless cabinets!
Steps Involved In Frameless Cabinet Installation
Before installing frameless cabinets, use a level to check if the wall is plumb. If the walls are not plumb, as is often the case in older homes, you may need to use wood shims to adjust the cabinet’s placement. To make the installation process easier it is recommended to install the upper cabinets first.
This allows you to avoid the inconvenience of having to lean over lower cabinets to access the upper ones, and also provides more support when installing the heavier frameless cabinet boxes.
Finally, it’s a good idea to attach the cabinet doors and drawers after the cabinets have been installed on the wall as this will make the installation process easier by reducing the overall weight of the cabinetry.
