This term refers to the amount of cabinet door (and drawer front) that overlays (or hangs over) the cabinet front frame. This dimension is often measured from the hinged, outside edge of the door to the innermost edge of the cabinet front frame. Typically, Haas frames are 1-1/2" wide. Haas manufactures products in three unique overlays.
Door styles with traditional overlays will overhang the front frame by 5/16", leaving 1-3/16" of framing exposed. If two cabinets are installed next to each other, there will be a 2-3/8" gap between door edges. The traditional overlay door style is a more old-world, conservative method of building cabinet doors and is very popular on products sold throughout the Midwest.
Door styles with full overlays will overhang the front frame by 1-5/16", leaving 3/16" of framing exposed. If two cabinets are installed next to each other, there will be a 3/8" gap between the door edges. In order to accommodate crown and bottom moldings, we leave 1/2" of frame exposed on the top and bottom edge of full overlay door styles. Full overlay door styles are more contemporary, popular on the east coast, urban settings, and coastal areas.
For an inset door style, the cabinet door is actually set inside the front frame opening making the outer surface plane of the door flush with the cabinet front frame. Unique hinges are required to make inset styled doors operate. Our inset series of product features a 1/8" gap between the door outer edge and the inside edge of the front frame. Inset door styles result in a very strong Mission or Shaker style of kitchen.
The middle of the cabinet door is referred to as the center panel. The styling chosen for this door feature will help determine the overall feel and cost of your kitchen. Generally speaking, raised and reverse-raised center panel door styles will cost more than flat center panels due to the amount of wood required to make the door.
The most popular choice for a center panel is the raised center panel. Raised center panels are made by using solid strips of edge-glued lumber to form a thick, heavy, beefy center to a cabinet door. The edges of this center panel are then profiled, or cut, in a variety of shapes to call more attention to the door. The weight of the solid center panel also adds a high-quality feel to the cabinet door during operation. Raised center panels provide a rich, traditional look to many cabinet door styles.
Another popular choice is the flat center panel. A flat center panel is often referred to as a veneer panel or recessed door. In this case, a ¼" thick veneer core flat panel is used as the center panel of the door. This style of center panel will often result in a Shaker or contemporary door style appearance. Flat paneled products generally have a lower cost than raised center panels.
This style of center panel is a combination of the above two. A solid, edge-glued lumber board is used to make the center panel of the door. Prior to door assembly, the panel is reversed, so what would typically be the back side of the panel is now displayed on the door front. Reversing the panel provides the more simple and transitional look that is very popular today, while maintaining the solid wood look and feel that is also in high demand.
This style of door center panel is a solid wood, reverse-raised panel style, but with a double bead cut into the panel. This double bead will run vertically on both the door and drawer front (if applicable) and will be on 2" spacing, starting at the center point of the door. Doors with beaded center panels have a very strong Arts and Crafts flair.
These unique doors are made without center panels and are designed to have glass installed so an interior view of the cabine is possible. Often used on cabinets with finished interiors, these doors feature differing grid patterns designed to accentuate the kitchen design theme.
Door styles typically refer to the method used to manufacture the cabinet door. Haas uses three methods of door construction. Doors are clamped and glued under pressure in all methods.
This method, by far the most popular, results in the cabinet door having a vertical glue line where the door rail (the horizontal piece) and the stile (the vertical piece) meet. Haas mortise and tenon doors allow the choice of a variety of edge profiles on the outer perimeter of the door. Various widths of door framing are also possible using this method of construction.
A mitered door is very similar to a picture frame where the glue joint is on a 45-degree angle to the cabinet. This method of assembly allows the use of a variety of custom moldings in the manufacturing of the door, providing a wide range of cabinet styling to fit your tastes. Depending on the molding used, these doors can run from a very simple, plain style to elaborate and detailed.
An applied molding construction method combines the two methods described above. The door is assembled using a typical mortise and tenon technique. After assembly, a mitered, picture-framed piece is laid on top of the door, covering the perimeter of the raised panel area. This framework is then glued and pinned onto the door. This style of door allows for a choice of edge profiles to further customize the door to your tastes while the added framework adds a lot of depth and richness to the appearance of the door.
Edge profiles refer to the shape or profile that is cut onto the outer perimeter of the door. The profile you choose to put on the door will help determine the style of your kitchen cabinets.
On most mortise and tenon door styles, Haas offers the option to select either a slab or a 5-piece style drawer front in the kitchen. A slab style drawer front refers to the drawer front being made from one block of solid wood with the edges profiled to match the door. A 5-piece drawer front is made to look like a short cabinet door. Your choice depends on your tastes and the style you are trying to achieve. Functionally, the two styles work the same.
Listed below are some terms associated with cabinet finishes.
Painted products account for about 25% of Haas’ sales. Paints are applied directly onto wood (typically maple or oak) and contain a lot of pigment. This pigment completely hides the color associated with the wood, but will allow some wood grain patterns to show through. Painting wood is not like painting plastic or metal. The wood underneath the paint will still shrink and expand due to moisture. Painted wood products will probably develop hairline cracks along many of the construction joints found on door and face frames.
Stains used by Haas are applied directly to the wood. A variety of stain colors are available ranging from natural to very dark. The darker the finish, the more wood grain and wood color variations will be hidden from appearance. Dark stains will cover up wood characteristics, as well. Some consumers love wood characteristics while others would like them minimized as much as possible. Many dark stains are applied using a two-pass process where two different stains are wiped onto the product in order to achieve the desired look.
Haas offers a variety of opaque stain colors. Opaque finishes are achieved by using two different colors of stain. The first pass achieves about 75% of the desired color while the second coat is designed to bring out a lot of wood graining details.
Hang-up refers to the tendency of two-pass or opaque stains to puddle into corners or edges of profiles on the door. These areas will appear very dark due to the amount of pigment left behind after the stain dries. The hang-up areas will vary a great degree depending on the door style and edge profile ordered on your product. This feature can result in very elaborate and interesting final appearance of certain finishes.
Glazes are a high-pigment, deep-colored material that is applied directly onto the edges and corners of products. These glazes are used to develop a strong, two-toned look and tend to stay where they are applied in a sharp line offering an appealing, contrasting color to the paint or stain underneath.
Highlights are similar to glazes because they are used to attain the two-toned appearance. Highlights tend to “run” more than glazes and will appear to feather into the finish more than a glaze. Highlights are also available on either painted or stained finishes.
All stained and painted product have a clear material sprayed over the entire surface once the color is set. This clear material is often called a topcoat and is what provides the cabinet finish with durability. Haas uses a UV-cured method of applying topcoat to most stained products. A conversion (chemically activated) varnish is used on painted and certain opaque finishes due to their chemical makeup.
A variety of artificial wood distressing is offered by Haas. These features are designed to provide different levels of a worn or used look to stained or painted products. These distressed areas are done manually and do not effect the durability or structural integrity of the product.
Haas uses red oak that is harvested and processed from forests in the Midwest of the U.S. Red oak is a strong, open-grained wood that takes many different colors of stain extremely well. Haas offers red oak processed in both flat-sawn and quarter-sawn varieties.
Maple is a strong, closed-grain wood that is predominantly white to off-white in color with some small amount of tan or darker mineral streaking possible. Maple is harvested from forests in the Midwest, as well as Pennsylvania.
Hickory has been a popular choice for an open-grained wood alternative to red oak and preferred by consumers who love “real wood”. Haas uses hickory lumber from managed forests in the Midwest region of the U.S. Hickory is known for its wide variation of color, ranging from almost white to a deep brown. Darker stains will help to tone down this color range, but will not completely eliminate its variation.
This elegant, multi-colored wood has a predominantly pink to pink-reddish tone. Cherry will darken and mellow with age, most noticeably on more lightly stained cabinets or cabinets exposed to excessive sunlight. Cherry is considered by many to be the most prized cabinetry wood grown in America.
This method of cabinet assembly features a solid wood frame around the front perimeter of the cabinet. This frame provides a solid base for hinged doors to be mounted as well as a base for cabinet ends and tops/bottoms to be attached. This is the most typical method of cabinet construction and is the easiest for installation. All Haas cabinets utilize this method of construction.
Popularized in Europe, this method of construction involves thicker end panels and cabinet tops and bottoms than framed cabinetry. These thicker panels are generally doweled together and provide a mounting point for the hinges for doors. This method of cabinet construction is not used by Haas Cabinet.
Typically cabinet manufacturers fall into one or more of three unique classifications depending on the overall selling cost and features associated with their products.
Stock cabinets are generally lower priced with fewer choices of door styles and finishes. Extra features are usually kept to a minimum to lower manufacturing costs. Stock cabinets are also often inventoried at a cabinet dealership for quick delivery to clients. However, inventorying products can lead to severe restrictions on colors and door styles available. Very limited size modifications may be available for a fee on stock cabinets. Stock cabinets are generally available for immediate installation or have very short lead times (1 to 2 weeks).
Manufacturers who are considered semi-custom usually offer a large variety of door styles, wood species, and finishes. Variations of standard features are also available on semi-custom cabinetry. Typically the width, height, and depth of semi-custom cabinets can be modified if needed and a large group of accessories is usually available to fit a variety of consumer requests. Semi-custom cabinets have a slightly longer lead time than stock, usually running 3 to 5 weeks between order and delivery.
Custom manufacturers typically build their products one kitchen at a time. Custom-built products usually have the largest variety of door styles and some will even match finishes on their products to whatever finish you desire. Custom cabinets are typically built to whatever sizes are needed for your installation. Because of this variation, custom cabinets usually have very long lead time, sometimes 6 weeks or more, and cost more than typical cabinets.
A veneer is a thin piece of wood (usually 1/32") that is sliced or otherwise cut from a log. This wood is then glued over a substrate (particleboard or plywood) so that it can effectively be used in cabinet construction. Typically veneered products are made of better grades of lumber but, since the lumber can produce an incredible amount of surface area, generally veneers can significantly lower the cost of cabinets material.
The “ultimate” recycled product, particleboard consists of wood chips pressed together and glued under pressure. The resulting board is then, typically, covered with a melamine or wood veneer material to enhance the appearance and is used in a variety of situations for cabinet manufacturing. All Haas particleboard passes CARB II standards for formaldehyde emissions.
Plywood is made by slicing lumber into thin (1/16"–1/8") sheets and then laminating them on top of each other until the desired final thickness is met. The resulting product is often much stronger and resistant to fracturing than solid wood of a comparable thickness. Most plywood is covered with a melamine or wood veneer and is used in a variety of situations for cabinet manufacturing. All Haas plywood passes CARB II standards for formaldehyde emissions.
In order to provide a solid, smooth, non-shrinking surface for maple doors ordered with a painted finish, we will substitute HDF for the maple center panels. This material is specifically designed to be painted and helps eliminate issues like panel shrinkage inherent in painted wooden products.
