Vent: People using soft maple for face frames like it's the same as hard maple

I keep seeing guys at supply houses grabbing soft maple for cabinet doors and face frames, then wondering why their joints shift after a season in a heated house. Just last week a buddy in Nashville showed me a kitchen where every miter had opened up by nearly 1/16th because the wood moved differently than he expected. Am I wrong for insisting on hard maple for anything structural, or is soft maple fine if you account for the movement?

2 comments

2 Comments

mila_jones399d ago

Soft maple just moves way too much" nails it, hard maple or don't bother.

troy_butler79d ago

Heard that story about Nashville with the miters opening up and my jaw actually dropped. A 16th gap on every joint is a straight up disaster that screams the wood wasn't right for the job. Soft maple just moves way too much for face frames in a conditioned house, doesn't it?