This section focuses on all of the options and techniques that we employ to manufacture cabinets. It may be technical in nature, but is worthy to note because of our diversity.

Every cabinet custom built, no stock units.

Your home, your design, to your exact dimensions.

Type of Cabinet Construction:

Framed Construction: Not Available from Carter's.
This type of construction is the "old-timey" way that we have made cabinets since we first started. A cabinet is a 6 sided box. In this case the front of the cabinet is the strongest part, and uses a frame to receive all of the parts. This construction is readily identified by the reveal the doors and drawer fronts show, thus exposing the hinges. The drawers are small because of the presence of the frame. Generally the interiors are wood products finished naturally. Cabinets have been made this way for 200 years or more. Because of the duplicity involved in making a frame and finishing the interior, these cabinets are more expensive when purchased from Carter's Cabinet Shop. This may be the opposite of national trends, because most of the country's larger cabinet manufacturers still build framed cabinets as the norm. There is a specific variant on framed construction, in which the door is inset into the frame, which may or may not be beaded. Carter's Cabinet Shop does not build an inset door framed cabinet. We have currently discontinued operation of this production cell.

Frameless Construction:
This type of construction is also called European or 32mm construction. It started in Germany in the 70's and migrated to the United States in the 80's. The 6 sided cabinet box is reduced to a 5 sided box. This makes the remaining cabinet components stronger and thicker, and eliminates the face frame entirely - hence the name frameless. These cabinets are known for full overlay appearance - the doors and drawer fronts go all the way across the face of the cabinet and the hinges don't show. Some consumers think this has to be done with a contemporary European styled door, but it doesn't. Carter's builds a hybrid version of this cabinet, cladding the outside in a variety of woods and finishes, so that it looks very traditional. We can also style in with a contemporary door so that it would look European. Because of the absence of the face frame, the cabinets have more interior space in all 3 planes, height, width and depth. Also the drawers are some 2" wider inside for the same size cabinet. Carter's Cabinet Shop prefers this type of construction. It is superior in quality for strength and durability; and also less expensive to manufacture. Other cabinet companies consider this an upgrade cabinet and sell it for more. We consider it an upgrade cabinet and sell it for less. It accounts for 90% of our sales. Again this is backwards from the norms, where frameless cabinet sales are only about 30% of the national traffic. We consider ourselves ahead of the times.

Options:

These options could apply to both product lines, but this section is written mostly for frameless cabinets because that is what we do the most.

Exterior Materials Options:

Exteriors can come in three distinct options, woods, paintgrades, and foils.

Wood Exterior Options:

• Red Oak - the standard in oaks, known for it's open grain. Rustic, standard, and premium grades are available.

• White Oak - available as an option, it is whiter in appearance and suitable for some particular finishes.

• Cherry - the classic for richness, it has a closed grain, and has a general pink to red appearance. Rustic, standard, and premium grades are available. Prices are constantly on the rise since the Supreme Court has closed the Allegheny National Forest to timber harvesting. That forest produces most of the domestic cherry hardwoods used in the United States.

• Hard Maple - a classic closed grain wood, selected for its blond / white appearance, generally used for natural and light stains and bleaching or pickled finishes. Darker finishes look cloudy. Standard and premium grades are available. Bowling pins are made of hard maple.

• Soft Maple is similar to hard maple, yet allows a little more off white and gray areas. Moderate blending is also allowed, so this wood should be used as a cost effective substrate for more opaque finishes.

• White Ash is similar to the oaks in grain appearance, yet has a purple green hue to it. It is generally used for a natural or pickled finish. Baseball bats are made of white ash.

• White Birch was the blond substrate of choice many years ago. It is a closed grain wood that finishes well in all light stains. Overcutting has made this a pricey wood, for it is higher than maple and oak right now. Used for toothpicks because of the straight grain.

• Knotty Pine is the one softwood used for cabinet exteriors. You should be forewarned that the wood is soft and will dent if abused. By its name, sound whole and split knots are allowed as well as sap streaks. Offers a rustic appearance. Takes most finishes well. Usually the least expensive wood species available.

• Clear Pine is a variation on the knotty pine. It is mostly Southern Yellow Pine. Knots are eliminated but all of the other characteristics of pine are still present. More expensive than knotty pine.

• Hickory is an open grained wood similar to oak that is gaining popularity in cabinet making. It was used for making hammer and axe handles in the old days. Be careful of the contrast between sapwood and heartwood. It is usually finished with natural or light stains. A rustic grade with knots is also available.

Paintgrade Exterior Options:

• Paint grade 5 piece is a mixture of various hardwoods including maple birch and poplar that have been culled from a transparent finish situation. Still sound wood, it is meant to be covered. Carter's will paint a 5 piece door but will NOT guarantee the finish. We can use this material and prime it for a field applied brush finish. This in not the preferred substrate for a painted finish but available for those with a personal preference in this regard.

• Paint grade 1 piece doors are made of MDF. MDF is an acronym for medium density fiberboard. This material is the substrate of preference for painting because of its flatness and dimensional stability. Once routed properly and finished, this door cannot be distinguished from a 5 piece door.

Foil Exterior Options:

Finishes:

Carter's Cabinet Shop offers a plethora of finishes for your enjoyment. They are divided into 4 categories; stains, multistep stains, paints, foils. We also have an abundance of options to help
give a unique look to your cabinets.

Stains:

Carter's offers the following standard stains.

• Alpine

• Mesa

• Nutmeg

• Bordeaux

• Chestnut

• Espresso

• Eucalyptus

• Ginger

• Heather Blue

• Natural

• Autumn

• Harvest Gold

• Honey

• Colonial

• Washington Cherry

• Cordovan

Also the following cleartone stains are available

• Crystal White

• Antique White

• Classic Burgundy

• Creamy Butter

• Designer White

• Ebony

• Frosty White

• Sage

• Sandstorm

• Slate Blue

• Chesapeake

Carter's also will do custom stains mixed to your preferences.

Only certain species are selected with certain stains. The lighter stains are generally used for the blonder woods, while the darker stains are reserved for the darker woods. A complete stain library is available of all the woods with all of the finishes recommended or allowed for that wood by contacting your salesperson. This is a complex area, and you should be sure to discuss all of your options.

Multistep Stains:

Sometimes called antiquing, glazing, or pickling, or bleaching - most mean the same thing. Carter's offers white, brown, sable, caramel, and pewter glazes over the finishes above. These tend to alter the appearance of the finish and enhance the look dramatically. There are also undercoat dyes with rub throughs. These 3-4-5 step finishes should be considered on an individual basis.

Paints:

Carter's Cabinet Shop will paint a 5 piece door but NOT guarantee it. Talk to your salesperson about this. We can cleartone a 5 piece door if you desire. We prefer to paint MDF. Our standard color is a Designer White in either a matte or semigloss sheen. We can paint to any other color, custom mixed and tinted for your approval. Because we spray our paints, we cannot use readily available paints. If you tell us to paint your cabinets Benjamin Moore 123 Linen White, we will not use that paint, but mix one to match.

Foils:

Foils are available in:

• Frosty White Matte

• White Satin - our most popular, looks and feels like paint

• Antique White

• Embossed White

Finish Options:

You can see from above that finish combinations are endless. Now lets make it even more complicated by adding the following options:

Drawers from A-Z

There are three things to consider with a drawer; the drawer front, the drawer box and the drawer runner. Detailed below are the options that we can mix and match from when building your cabinets.

Drawer front

There are generally three styles of drawer fronts. They can be done to compliment or match the door style you have selected. Again, this is a complicated area, and we have a deep product line here. Be sure to discuss this area with your salesperson in detail.

• Slab 3/4" fronts - plain to compliment a particular door

• Slab 5/4" fronts - plain with a raise or machined edge to compliment a particular door.

• 9/8 Sandwich fronts - rich appearing with an edge and a panel raise to accent a particular door

• 3/2 Sandwich fronts - same as 9/8 but with a 1" panel raise.

• 5 piece mortise and tenon 3/4" fronts - to match a particular door. Raised panel.

• 5 piece mitered 3/4" fronts - to match a particular door. Raised panel.

Drawer box

• Standard drawer box is a 1/2" thick white vinyl drawer

• Second standard drawer box is an integrated side/slide drawer Blum Metabox®

• Third drawer is a 1/2" thick wood drawer box

• Fourth drawer is a 1/2" thick wood drawer box with dovetailed corners.

• Fifth drawer box is a 5/8" thick wood drawer box with dovetailed corners.

Drawer runner

All drawer runners are warranted for LIFE.

• Standard runner is an epoxy coated runner on nylon bearings - 75#

• Second standard runner is an integrated side/slide drawer Blum Metabox®

• Third drawer runner is a concealed undermount Solo 262

• Fourth runner is an Accuride ball bearing slide. for telescoping applications.

• Fifth runner is an upgrade concealed undermount Tandem by Blum®

Consult your salesperson and the showroom for examples of each of these applications. We have a drawer that suits you.

Doors from A-Z

There are things to consider when selecting a door; it's style, edge, panel raise, and framing bead. Our showroom now features a library of some 150 different doors. When you consider the options of 64 door styles with 28 different edges, with 4 different framing beads with 10 different panel raises, you can see that we offer 76,160 different doors. See your salesperson for details about how these options [most available as no charge changes] can really fine tune the way your kitchen looks.

Style:

Boy are there some choices available here:

• Mortise and tenon raised panel doors

• Multiple panel raised panel doors

• Square raised panel

• Cathedral raised panel

• Crescent raised panel

• Arched raised panel

• Flat panel doors

• Mitered Raised Panel

• Mitered Flat Panel

• Applied Molding Raised Panel

• Complex Raised Panels

• Special Raised Panels

• Quarter Circle Radius Mullions

• Slab Doors

• Batten Doors

• Louvered Doors

• Shaker Designs

Edge

There are 28 edges available to fine tune the way your kitchen looks. See the showroom doors or the build a door kit for specifics. Most of these edges can be changed at no charge.

Panel raise

There are 10 panel raises available, all as no charge changes to the way your cabinet door will look. See the showroom doors or the build a door kit for specifics.

• Slant

• G Cove

• M Bead

• U Cove

• RM Raise

• Presidential

• Louis XIII

• P Raise

• Reverse G Cove

• Chamfer Raise

Framing bead

There are 4 framing bead options that can be changed at no charge. See the showroom or build a door kit for specifics

• Regular

• Elite

• Ogee

• Square

Door Hardware

Our doors are normally mounted on a Blum Clip hinge with a 125° swing. This is a self closing hinge with 3 way adjustment capability, that is warranted for LIFE.

Decorative Hardware

Carter's Cabinet Shop has access to an exhaustive collection of decorative hardware from the finest sources available. Please see our showroom for details.

Accessories: