A centre panel that stands proud of the frame, with shaped profiles sloping back to the edges. It is the traditional profile, the most expensive of the three to make, and the one that asks the most of you afterwards.
A slab is one flat face. A shaker adds a frame around a flat panel. A raised panel adds a shaped edge profile on the frame and a domed, tapered centre that has to be machined from thicker stock and then sanded through those curves by hand. Each of those steps is time, and time is the price.
Across a kitchen it adds up to a real number. The gap between a slab door and a raised panel on the same run of cabinets is commonly $1,500 to $4,000. Example range, not a quote. That is the single largest lever most people have on a door order.
What you buy is a profile with genuine period language in it. Under a moulded cornice or beside panelled walls it belongs in a way a flat door does not. If the room is contemporary, that same language works against you and a shaker or slab door is the better fit. The doors hub sets all three side by side.
Recent work
How it works
How a Raised Panel Is Specified
Pick the edge profile
The moulding on the inside of the frame sets the period. A simple ogee reads restrained, a heavier bead reads ornate. Seen on a sample, not a drawing, because scale is misleading on paper.
Panel depth and dome
How far the centre stands proud and how sharply it tapers changes the shadow the door throws. Two doors with the same outline can look quite different because of it.
Wood, and which species
Raised panels are normally solid wood, so species matters. Oak takes stain strongly through open grain, maple can blotch without a conditioner, cherry keeps darkening for years.
Build and fit
Three to five weeks to make, then hung on concealed hinges and aligned. Solid panels move a little with the seasons, which is normal and why the panel floats in the frame.
Living with it
The Profile Collects Grease and Dust
Every contour that makes a raised panel look good is also somewhere for something to settle. The sloped shoulders around the centre panel and the moulded inside edge of the frame both hold dust, and within reach of a range they hold airborne cooking grease as well. Of the three styles this is the one that asks the most attention.
It is manageable and it is predictable. A soft brush and a degreaser through the profiles a couple of times a year keeps it right, and most people who choose the style think that is a fair trade for the look. What is not fair is finding out afterwards.
If the upkeep decides you against it, a slab door has nowhere for anything to collect and costs less, while shaker sits between the two. Where existing raised panel doors are sound and only tired, refinishing is cheaper than replacing them.
Honest upkeep
Other door styles
The Other Door Profiles
Raised panel is the traditional end. These run from it to the plainest option.
Cost, upkeep, species and whether it suits your house.
Machining. A shaped edge profile and a domed, tapered centre panel both take time on the machine and then hand sanding through the curves. That labour is the difference, not the material.
Across a whole kitchen, commonly $1,500 to $4,000 more. Example range, not a quote. It is usually the largest single saving available on a door order if the budget is tight.
Yes, of the three. The sloped shoulders and the moulded frame edge both collect dust, and cooking grease within reach of a range. A soft brush and degreaser a couple of times a year handles it.
Rarely, and we will say so. The profile carries period language that argues with contemporary rooms. In a new build or an extension, shaker or slab almost always sits better.
Because it is solid wood and floats in the frame rather than being glued in. Seasonal movement is expected and designed for. A panel glued tight is the one that cracks.
Yes, though the profiles need care so the film does not build up in the corners. Sprayed rather than brushed matters more here than on a flat door, since a brush leaves marks in the mouldings.
If the frames are sound and only the finish is tired, refinishing or painting them is far cheaper than replacing. We check the joints and the panel first and tell you which side of that line they are on.
Mouldings read completely differently at full size against your own walls. We bring the profiles you are considering and leave them with you before anything is ordered.
