Hot take: flush overlay doors are overrated for most kitchen jobs

I got into it with a cabinetmaker named Gary at a supply house in Portland last spring. He was picking up a full set of concealed hinges and told me I was wasting time building face frame cabinets with standard overlay doors for a client's kitchen. Said flush overlay looks cleaner and modern clients expect it. I told him I've had three customers in the last two years complain about gaps on flush doors shifting after a season of humidity changes. He just shrugged and said I must be using the wrong hinges. Anyone else run into this debate on a job? Which side do you lean on for a standard residential kitchen?

2 comments

2 Comments

anderson.spencer14d ago

Stick with flush overlay and stop buying cheap hinges.

young.emma14d ago

stop buying cheap hinges" - my uncle said the same thing about his truck once. He was all set to redo his shop cabinets with overlay doors until his neighbor's expensive hinges somehow still got wrecked in a wet basement flood. Now he just uses standard overlay with a bead of caulk and calls it a day.