Recently, we made our own bathroom vanity as part of the bathroom remodel in our house. It was a very custom space, and we knew that we were not going to be able to find a vanity to fit it. Plus all of the vanities that I did find were so expensive for particleboard materials that I just couldn’t fathom paying the prices that I found.
So, instead we built a vanity and made it custom for the space using plywood and a little hard work. Part of the vanity build was using plywood for the doors as well when using plywood for doors, you can definitely see the glued layers on the edge.
One way to make those plywood doors look more expensive is to use edge banding I will go over step-by-step how I did this process.
Materials
- 3/4 in plywood
- Edge banding
- Clothes Iron
- Razor blade or edge band cutter
- Light grit sand paper
Step 1: Making the doors
We decided to use plywood to make cabinet doors for our bathroom vanity. We used 3/4 in plywood in a A / C grade finish. We knew we would be putting extra stuff onto the doors as a finish so we put the C grade plywood facing outside, and the A grade on the inside of the door where it would be left exposed and raw.
We cut the doors to the size on our table saw that we needed for the cabinets. We decided to do an overlay door type, which is a door that sits over the opening of a hole instead of sitting inside of it. Once all of the doors were cut, we gave them a light sanding and prepped them for the edge banding
Step 2: Choosing your edge banding and sizing
There’s several different kinds of edge, banding available. The two most popular are white birch and melamine. I chose the white birch finish so that I could stain or paint. It’s usually the one I choose for most of my projects because it is the most versatile in my opinion.
It’s also sand-able, which gives it a nice clean finish. The melamine is a plastic base and doesn’t sand quite as smooth as the pine material does. I bought mine at Home Depot.
They do not have a huge selection when it comes to width and material but I have found that the white birch version works just fine for my needs. You can get other widths and materials online if you desire different sizing. The kind that I buy is pre-glued and all you have to do is heat to put it on. This is important because there are other kinds out there that require adhesives.
Once you have chosen the edge banding that you were going to use unroll it, and lay it out along one of the sides of your doors. This is how I measure for my length, and then crease the edge banding over the corner of the door to mark where I need to cut it.
You can also try folding it over the edge, making it one continuous trip all the way around the door. I’ve had some success with this, and it just depends on how sharp corners are, and how flexible the banding is play around with it and see if you’re able to do this as that is the most flawless way to get clean edges.
Step 3: Ironing on the banding
The next step is to use a household iron to apply heat to the banding. While holding it in place, apply the iron on the wood or outside side of the banding, and press down firmly. Hold it for a couple seconds before moving onto another spot.
At first it will feel a little bit mobile still but as the glue gets cooler, it starts to set up. While the glue is warmer, it will stay a little bit more mobile, so don’t let this worry you.
Do this all the way around all four edges with the pieces you have previously cut. Most likely the edge banding will hang over the edges of your plywood as it is a little bit bigger than a three-quarter inch piece of plywood. Try to line up one of the edges along the edge of the plywood while doing it and let it only hang over one edge. This minimizes the amount of cleanup you will have to do later.
Step 4: Cleaning the edges
After the glue has cooled down and adhered to the edge, you will have a piece of edge banding glued onto the edge of your plywood with one edge overhanging. It’s time to cut the excess.
For a lot of years, I just used a razor blade or a box cutter knife to remove the excess banding. This works fine, but I also wanted to try a tool specifically made for it. I had searched and searched for this tool for quite a while, and was finally able to find it at my local Home Depot. They didn’t used to carry it, so I was excited when I saw it in stock.
It worked quite well. You place it along the edge and it has a little shelf that you set onto the plywood while you slide it. A razor blade placed inside of the tool cuts off any excess material and leaves the edge nice. I did this for all four sides, for all of the doors that I had done.
It doesn’t leave the edge, completely smooth and free of any kind of splinters or roughness, but it will remove excess material.
The next step is to take some thing a little bit harder, I chose a screwdriver. I used the edge of the screwdriver to press the edges together where they met. Pushing the edge of the plywood and the edge banding together to form a less pointy corner, and kind of curve them together.
I did this all the way around being careful not to press too hard and crack the edge banding.
After that was done, I took a light grit sandpaper and gently sanded any spots that felt sharp or over hung too far. You can repeat the cutting step, and smoothing steps as much as needed if you accidentally left a little bit too much in any area.
I also repeat this process on the other side of the edge banding where I tried to line it up with the plywood originally and didn’t need to cut off any access. Smoothing those joints together, will ensure the most seamless look.
After you have applied the edge banding, you can stain or paint it to match the door. I made slats on mine, glued them on and painted.
Thats it! Super easy, and affordable to get the look of a solid slab door for less.
Thanks for being here-
Amanda