What Are Select Grade Cabinet Doors At Cutting Edge?
Updated November 27, 2024
Discover the benefits of select grade cabinet doors, including their superior colour consistency, and how they can enhance your projects.
As a cabinet maker or contractor, navigating the many material grades in the cabinet door industry can be overwhelming. Each grade comes with unique quality expectations and recommended uses – but the lack of standardization across manufacturers only adds to the confusion. One company’s “select grade” may not match another’s, leaving you wondering what you’re really getting.
The stakes are high. Choose the wrong grade, and you risk dissatisfied customers, costly replacements, or even discounts that cut into your bottom line. On the other hand, selecting a higher grade than necessary can unnecessarily inflate costs and erode your profit margins. How can you confidently choose the right material grade for your project?
At Cutting Edge Doors & Woodworking, we’ve spent years refining our material grade options to make your decisions easier. Our select grade material, the highest quality we offer, is designed for those moments when only the best will do.
In this article, you’ll discover:
- The quality expectations select grade cabinet doors must meet
- What impact choosing select grade has on the price of your order
- When it’s worth the investment
By the end, you’ll be equipped to decide whether select grade cabinet doors are the perfect fit for your next project.
Quality Expectations for Select Grade Cabinet Doors
When you order select grade material, our team has specific quality requirements that apply to the order. You can expect almost perfect cabinet doors.
The entire face of every cabinet door will have consistent color and a uniform grain pattern on the flat surfaces of the door. This applies specifically to flat surfaces because curved or beveled profiles are cut into the wood and can have grain and color variations.
For example, if you order select grade Rift Cut White Oak, we only allow rift cut grain; no quarter sawn or flat cut grain is acceptable on the flat surfaces of the door. However, quarter sawn or flat cut grain may be visible on any profiled edges of the door.
Select Grade Cabinet Doors Are More Expensive
The higher quality expectations of our select grade cabinet doors mean that they are 20% more expensive on average than our standard grade cabinet doors.
Different wood species or door styles can increase the price difference. Select grade plywood panel doors are usually around 20% more expensive, whereas select grade solid wood doors can be up to 60% more expensive.
More expensive wood types (like Walnut or Rift Cut White Oak) also have a larger price difference between select grade and standard grade.
Why Does the Door Style Impact the Price?
Door styles can range from very simple to very detailed and complex. On the simple side of the spectrum, we have a veneer slab door and a plywood panel shaker-style door .
On the complex side of the spectrum, we have a mitered raised panel door and a plywood panel applied molding door:
As the complexity of a door style increases, it takes more time to produce the components for each door.
5-piece wood doors have (surprise, surprise) five pieces: two stiles, two rails, and a center panel. Below, you can see a picture showing the five components of a door:
However, you can choose to have either a plywood center panel or a solid wood center panel.
The mitered raised panel door style has a solid wood center panel. This center panel has several strips of wood glued together into a slab. The slab is then profiled into the panel shape before we assemble the door.
The shaker-style door has a plywood panel which is cut out of a 4’ by 8’ sheet of plywood material that we order from our supplier.
For comparison, one solid wood center panel takes about 7 minutes to make while one plywood panel takes about 30 seconds to cut.
Complex door styles already require additional time and material. When you upgrade a complex door style to a select grade material, the price increases to help allow for the increased material sorting time.
Why Does the Wood Species Impact the Price?
Availability and demand for a wood type can increase the price difference between select grade and standard grade cabinet doors.
Rift Cut White Oak is an example of this. This product has increased in demand while becoming less available, causing the price to skyrocket over the past few years.
For these reasons, it is more difficult to get Rift Cut White Oak material that works for select grade orders. Select grade Rift Cut White Oak orders can be anywhere from 30%-80% more expensive than standard grade Rift Cut White Oak orders.
You Should Order Select Grade Cabinet Doors If…
You should order select grade cabinet doors if you or your customer expects consistent color and grain pattern. If the overall appearance of your (or your customer’s) cabinet doors must be very consistent, it is better to be safe and choose select grade cabinet doors.
As well, you would do well to choose select grade cabinet doors for any orders with a light stain, clear lacquer, or whitewash finish. These finishes don’t hide color or grain variation and can make some natural wood characteristics stand out.
Select Grade Cabinet Doors: High Quality, High Price
Ordering select grade cabinet doors offers unmatched quality, but it also comes with a higher price tag. Understanding when and why to choose this grade is essential for delivering customer satisfaction while protecting your profit margins.
In the past, you may have faced challenges with dissatisfied clients or unprofitable orders due to choosing the wrong material grade. Now, you have the clarity you need to make informed decisions about when select grade cabinet doors are worth the investment and how much more you can expect to pay for this premium option.
Your next step? Discover why select grade cabinet doors are more expensive and how the quality justifies the cost.
