frameless vs face frame cabinets
frameless cabinet
face frame cabinet
construction
a face frame cabinet consists of stiles and rails which make up the front portion of the cabinet to which the door is attached. the side panels on a face frame cabinet are inset and attached to the stile and rail.
the stile is the vertical member of the face frame and the rail is the horizontal portion of the face frame.
frameless cabinets only consist of the side panels of the cabinet. the door actually attaches and hinges directly to the side panel of the cabinet.
design
The frameless cabinet is more of a European style cabinet design whereas the face frame cabinet is more of a traditional design.
strength
the face frame actually adds more strength to the cabinet due to the extra members that help support the overall cabinet.
installation
a face frame cabinet is going to be a little easier to install, since you screw one cabinet’s face frame to the other cabinet's face frame directly. with a frameless fabinet you actually just screw the two side panels together, so you don't have as much material to screw into.
door overlays also make frameless cabinets a bit trickier to install. when you are putting cabinets up against the walls, you need to make sure you have enough allowable space for the doors to open.
door overlays
with a face frame cabinet, you can have a standard overlay or a full overlay door. in a standard overlay, you will see a lot of the face frame when the kitchen's installed. the full overlay design usually leaves about a quarter inch from the outside of the door to the outside of the face frame.
on a frameless cabinet, the spacing is very tight since the door hinges directly to the side panel. each cabinet line varies, but you may only have a sixteenth of an inch from the outside of the door to the outside of the side panel.
standard overlay cabinets
full overlay cabinets
frameless cabinets