# Opinions on Alder vs. other woods for cabinets?



## Dad2FourWI (Sep 25, 2012)

Hi all,

Wife of Dad2FourWI here (so I guess that makes me Mom2FourWI).

We are working with a gentleman who is willing to make some of our cabinets for us and he wants to use Alder.

Does anyone have any opinions on using Alder vs. other wood (probably Oak) for cabinets? Our plan, as it stands currently, is to have the Alder scraped to simulate the look of being rough hewn for a more rustic look. I have been told that this is not available in Oak due to how hard the wood is... There is no plywood in these cabinets, they are all solid wood.

We heat with wood so things get pretty dry during the winter and we do not have any air-conditioning so things get warm and humid during the summer.

I would welcome any and all comments as this is the very last kitchen I will ever have and this needs to stand the test of time.

Thank you for your input!!
-Mom2FourWI


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## Cody Colston (Sep 25, 2012)

I have personally never worked with Alder but I do know that it has become very popular as a cabinet and furniture wood. I have a friend that is a professional furniture maker and he uses Alder for almost everything. He recently built an entertainment center that he distressed (evidently that is a very popular look now, too) and it turned out beautiful.

I also know that when he was apprenticing, he helped build French Provential style furniture from Alder that was sold to customers in California...very high-end stuff, too.

If the finisher knows his stuff, Alder can be made to look like just about any other wood. The big attraction is that it is available for around $1.00 per board foot.


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## qbilder (Sep 26, 2012)

My son's dresser is built from alder. We picked it up at an unfinished furniture store. It's harder than pine, not nearly as hard as oak. We live in the high desert and even though we have central air, the relative humidity is often in single digits. That is very hard on wood if it has any moisture in it. So far the alder has been incredibly stable. I relate it to poplar. I don't know why but it really reminds me of poplar. Could be because it's smooth grain but not too heavy. Finishes incredibly easy, too. I used an amber shellac/alcohol mix to give it a yellow tint, and used polyurethane to finish coat it. That's been six years ago with a very active (and imaginative) boy & the dresser looks new. I can see why alder is popular.


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## BlueRider (Sep 26, 2012)

I grew up in a house full of Monterey Mission furniture which is made from alder and was made by Mason MFG from the early 30's through the late 40's. It is very heavy and finished with a distressed very dark finish and made to look like the spanish colonial furniture that was used in California's missions 200 years ago. All the furniture is used daily and is in great condition. And because it was made to look like it was 200 years old wehen brannd new it looks better the more it is used.

Kudos to you for have your cabinets built by a craftsman rather than one of the factories using plastic coated particle board.


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## Dad2FourWI (Sep 28, 2012)

Hi There - 

Mom2FourWI here.

Thank you all for the responses to my question! I truly appreciate them and am relieved that they were positive since I fell in love with the distressed Alder cabinets from the get-go!

We will post pictures once the cabinets are installed. 

Working on installing the wood-burning stove currently (never a dull moment!).

With Warm Regards,
-Mom2FourWI


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## qbilder (Sep 28, 2012)

Are you building a cabin?


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## Dad2FourWI (Sep 28, 2012)

> Are you building a cabin?



Indeed we are. It has been an adventure to say the least! 

When the economy went to heck (2007/2008) and a client of ours went belly-up and set us back A LOT of $, we decided to do-it-ourselves!

We built our barn first as we knew that we needed a place to store our materials and work out of the elements.

With my husband, myself and our four kids, we now have a great cabin shell to go along with our barn! Today the roof is finished and the wood-burning stove installed and almost ready to fire-up (we still have the external chimney and supports to finish). It is so close and the weather is going to hold to allow us to wait for the flashing that is going to (hopefully) be the best solution . We were advised to avoid the rubber boot flashings as they may not hold up to the snowfalls that we might encounter so we are going with a very flexible aluminum flashing that will accommodate our standing seam metal roof. It has been an education as to all the various options out there to stop water leaking in  and long term stability.

We will post pictures as we can - this may not be for everyone, but we have truly enjoyed ourselves and strengthened our faith in our own abilities, family (we homeschool), friends (so much support!!), total strangers, and God.

Life is short, enjoy the journey!!
-Mom2FourWI and family


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## qbilder (Sep 29, 2012)

Awesome!!! Good for you & yours  I helped my father build a cabin a few years ago. It's about 1800sqft. with a nice half loft that we walled up & made two very large bedrooms from. Overall it's three bedrooms with an open floor. The stairs are centerpiece of the cabin, in the very center of the house. I'd have done things a little bit different according to my own personal tastes & desires, but for mom & dad, it was exactly what they have always dreamed of and I had a lot of fun helping them. My dad & I argued & griped at one another the entire time :msp_angry::msp_biggrin: 

I learned a lot from the experience and plan to build my own sometime in the next few years. My parents have 'maybe' $25,000 in the entire project, nothing borrowed, and everything they(mom) wanted. The barn is next, then the pond. I never understood really how incredibly solid & sound a cabin could be until we built that one. It is so quiet & peaceful inside. The strong winds that often rip through the valley are virtually unknown inside, no noise, no creaks or cracks or pops. I thought with logs & all the wood, it would be constantly shifting & settling(like the old farm house I grew up in), but that wasn't the case at all. My old man now teases me about building him a coffin. He says we need to mill up a big sassafras tree for the lumber so that it'll hide the stink :msp_scared: That's just an old man way of being funny, I guess. The time we spent together building it is irreplaceable, and it opened the door for me to get to know a difficult man that I never really could understand before. Every time we're together now there seems to be some project that requires the both of us. It's nice.


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