# Trim material



## mg1497 (Aug 7, 2010)

I am in the process of building my own house as the GC. I have a question about the finish woodwork. We are doing the kitchen cabinets is Knotty Adler and would like to do all the doors and woodwork in the same materials. Is there a down side to using alder for base and casing? Since I just found found this web site and have a million questions, I will be on alot. Any feed back?


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## jlord (Feb 1, 2010)

Is the trim paint or stain grade? If stain then your alder will work. If paint grade you could use popular if you want a wood product. To save a little more you could use mdf. After it's painted you can't tell what kind of material you used. They look the same.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

Other than you having a knot where you may not want one, there should be no problem.


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## jack warner (Oct 15, 2010)

only think i see is if your gonna put an ogie or other shaping you might bust a knot, but that can be filled. 
i would go with the knots and keep uniformity. knoty alder can look real nice with a natural finish
mdf......yuck. nasty to cut (dusty), dont like it for base or casing dents real easy. mdf also tends to show your nails.


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## Keith Mathewson (Sep 23, 2010)

Alder is a fast growing, relatively soft wood which is not very dimensionally stable. A step up from MDF, but if you have to have your material custom run I would be inclined to choose something else. In addition alder is hard to find in longer lengths so you will have a lot of joints in your base.


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## jack warner (Oct 15, 2010)

knotty alder doors and jams are carried buy almost every door company, there are a little expensive but look great.
1x4 or 6 is available in 8' lengths. now finding case work with a profile might be a little harder to find, if you have a router table you can make your own profile

and its many steps above mdf, i personaly dont use mdf for anything


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