A new dealer recently asked me if we could offer the pictured glass door for a client. They said the door style was critical for them to get this sizable project. Their actual words were this is the “Deal Breaker”. I contacted the factory on the dealers’ behalf and was told the door is available but would not be covered by warranty. I told the designer this and was asked why.

Well, because we know this will probably fail.

We are building something out of wood that is constantly affected by environmental conditions outside of our control. In this case offering an inset door cabinet with finial hinges with a curved wood mullion. First of Inset door styles are very temperamental is regards to humidity. The tight tolerances dealers and clients demand are impossible to maintain during normal humidity fluctuations found in most homes, especially in the kitchen. Wood is never stable and will shrink and swell as conditions change.

Often times we can adjust the doors to maintain margins if we use concealed (European) hinges. In the case above the client is insisting on using finial hinges. These hinges, while classic in looks have almost no adjustment. Yet again the customer insists…

Finally, the curved mullions are only 1/4” thick X 1” wide and like all wood will flex with environmental changes. Sometimes these will crack.

Many times we are asked to produce something questionable and we must push he envelope. We are not saying not to ask but when given advice from those with experience we have the responsibility to tell our clients that what they want may be a bad idea. If a manufacturer won’t warranty an item they most likely have a good reason.

Oh, and BTW, I cannot get the doors on the cabinet shown aligned and the mullion has a pretty good crack in it.