I would like to use wood painted cabinets in my new kitchen, but Ive heard the paint cracks at the joints. Any recommendations?
Hairline cracks are unavoidable, as each piece of wood expands and contracts at its own rate, Each style and each rail and each panel is subject to changes in the humidity and will move on its own. Every wood species behaves this way, although maple is probably the most stable. The hairline cracks are less noticeable on dark colored cabinets than on light colored cabinets. There are some other options you might consider. They are low maintenance and not subject to the hairline cracks you see in paint over wood. Thermofoil cabinets can give you a highly decorative door style through a process that molds a vinyl-compound sheet to a cabinet surface. A polyester finish is a synthetic compound that is sprayed onto a medium density fiber- board. It’s tough, but it can chip and is not easily repaired. A high- pressure laminate cabinet can give you a large variety of colors with a tough finish but not a lot of choices in door style other than flat. A melamine finish is a low cost, low- pressur
