Finishes, lacquers and ironmongery

Two things decide how fitted joinery looks in five years, and neither is visible when it is installed. What went on the surface, and what the doors and drawers move on.

Finishes, by what the job actually needs

Polyurethane varnish is the hardwearing default for floors, treads and anything taking abrasion. It builds a film on the surface, which is what makes it tough and also what makes it repair badly: a scratch cannot be blended, so a worn area means recoating the whole run.

Oil and hard-wax finishes sit in the timber rather than on it. They look and feel more natural, and crucially they are repairable in patches, which on a large floor is a real advantage. They need attention more often.

Lacquer sprays to a very fine, even film and is the usual factory finish on cabinet fronts. It is the right answer where a flat, consistent surface matters and the piece will not be abraded.

Paint on MDF is the best-looking option for fronts and panelling, because MDF has no grain to raise through the coating. Every cut edge needs sealing first or it absorbs unevenly and shows as a fuzzy line.

Stain is the decision to think hardest about, because it is the one that cannot be undone without going back to bare timber. Mahogany blotches without a conditioner first. And a stain always looks different on the actual timber, in the actual room, in the actual light, so we put a test patch down and let you see it before committing.

Sequencing, which costs more mistakes than product choice

A few orderings that matter, all learned the expensive way:

• Paint the backing board before the battens go on a slatted panel wall. Afterwards it is nearly impossible.
• Decorate before the final coats on a floor. A drip on fresh varnish means sanding that area again.
• Template worktops after the units are set and levelled, never from a drawing.
• Seal cut ends as they are cut, not at the end of the job, because the exposed end absorbs moisture from the moment it is made.

Ironmongery is where joinery actually fails

Hinges and drawer runners are rated in cycles. A kitchen door opened three times a day is roughly a thousand cycles a year, and a cheap hinge starts to sag well inside its notional life. Once a door sags it binds at a corner, and once it binds people force it.

A heavy hardwood door on two light hinges will drop. Three hinges on anything solid, sized to the leaf weight rather than to whatever came in the box.

On drawers, the runner carries the load and takes the abuse. Soft-close is worth it on drawers specifically, because the mechanism stops the box being slammed against its stops, which is what eventually destroys a drawer.

What to ask on a quotation

Name the finish and name the hardware brand. Both are routinely left off, both are invisible when the job is handed over, and both are the reason two apparently identical kitchens look different after three years.

If a quotation says “quality fittings” it is telling you nothing at all.