Marvel-Works

Custom cabinets, built to a measurable standard.

Soft-close on every door and drawer. Plywood boxes, never particleboard. Inset gaps held to 1/8" — and we mean it.

Get a free in-home estimate

There’s a reason custom cabinets cost more than a stock-cabinet kitchen from a big-box store: they’re built differently, hung differently, and finished differently. The cheap cabinets warp. The doors fall out of alignment a year in. The drawer slides start to bind.

Our cabinets don’t, because every step in the process is held to a written standard.

Our base build spec

Every custom cabinet job from Marvel-Works starts here — these specs are how we build, every time. Upgrades from the next section are quoted as separate line items.

Boxes
3/4″ birch plywood (not particleboard, not MDF)
Face frames
Solid poplar (paint-grade), with hardwood available on stain-grade
Drawer boxes
UV-coated plywood, soft-close undermount slides standard
Doors & drawer fronts
Built to your specified style
Hinges
1/2″ overlay, soft-close, concealed — on every door
Shelves
Adjustable, 3/4″ plywood with solid wood front edge
Crown molding
Profile per project, tight at all joints, returns finished cleanly
Installation
Laser-leveled, screwed to studs, scribe moldings or fillers at wall junctions

Upgrade options

Stain-Grade Cabinets

For when you want the wood grain visible. We offer white oak, maple, hickory, red oak, and beech. Faces are sanded to 220-grit, no defects allowed on visible surfaces, grain direction matched across doors on the same run.

Inset Cabinets

The premium upgrade — doors and drawer fronts sit flush within the face frame opening rather than overlapping. We hold a 1/8″ uniform gap on all four sides, no tapering, no variation. Inset is unforgiving; we only do it because we have the precision to do it right.

Dovetail Joinery

Drawer box construction upgraded to dovetail joints — the strongest, most traditional drawer build. Visible quality, lifetime durability.

Specialty Accessories

Pull-out trays, soft-close pull-out trash, lazy Susan corner units, knife blocks, spice racks, drawer dividers — all installed to manufacturer spec and tested before sign-off.

For the technical homeowner

Cabinet construction & installation standards.

Cabinet construction & installation standards

Box construction

  • 3/4″ birch plywood, 1/4″ plywood backs
  • Wood-glued and 18-gauge nailed assembly
  • Face frames built from solid poplar (paint-grade) or species-matched hardwood (stain-grade)

Drawer boxes

  • UV plywood standard
  • Dovetail joinery available as upgrade
  • Undermount soft-close slides on every drawer
  • Box must be square — diagonal measurements verified

Hinges & hardware

  • 1/2″ overlay soft-close concealed hinges (base spec on all doors)
  • Three-way adjustable after installation (up/down, left/right, in/out)
  • Inset upgrade uses concealed cup hinges rated for inset tolerance

Installation

  • Laser level required on every job — non-negotiable
  • Wall cabinets screwed to studs through hanging rail
  • Adjacent cabinets screwed together through face frames for continuous alignment
  • Base cabinets shimmed level on uneven floors; all shims trimmed flush after install
  • Cabinet tops verified level before countertop templating

Inset tolerance

  • 1/8″ uniform gap on all four sides
  • No tapering, no variation top-to-bottom or side-to-side
  • Inconsistency is the most-noticed quality issue on inset work, so we built our process specifically to eliminate it

Scribe & filler standards

  • Scribe moldings tight to wall surface, no visible gaps behind
  • Filler pieces consistent in width
  • All filler pieces flush with adjacent face frames — no steps, no offsets

Crown molding

  • Tight at all joints, no visible gaps at miters
  • Returns at exposed ends finished cleanly
  • Profile specified per project

Completion video on every job

  • Wide shot of finished installation
  • Open-cabinet shot of interior
  • Close-up of face frame joints, crown joints, scribe junctions
  • Verbal narration confirming material, hinge type, slide type, upgrades installed, and any site-specific deviations approved by the PM

Frequently asked questions

Are your cabinet boxes plywood or particleboard?
3/4 inch birch plywood, always. Plywood backs at 1/4 inch. We don't build cabinet boxes from particleboard or MDF — they swell from a small leak, hold paint poorly, and don't survive 10 years of daily use.
Do soft-close hinges and drawer slides come standard?
Yes. 1/2 inch overlay soft-close concealed hinges on every door. Soft-close undermount slides on every drawer. Three-way adjustable hinges so they stay aligned years later.
What does inset mean and is it worth the upgrade?
Inset means the doors and drawer fronts sit flush within the face frame opening rather than overlapping. We hold a 1/8 inch uniform gap on all four sides — no tapering, no variation. It's a premium look and the most-noticed quality difference on a custom kitchen, but it's unforgiving to build. We only do it because we have the precision to do it right.
What hardwoods do you offer for stain-grade cabinets?
White oak, maple, hickory, red oak, and beech. Faces are sanded to 220-grit minimum, with no defects on visible surfaces and grain direction matched across doors on the same run.
How long is the lead time for custom cabinets?
Custom cabinets are built into the project timeline rather than ordered separately. For a typical full kitchen remodel, cabinet construction runs in parallel with demo and rough-in trades — they're ready to install at the right point in the schedule. Expect 4 to 6 weeks from final spec sign-off to install.
Can you build cabinets to fit awkward spaces?
Yes — that's the whole point of custom. Out-of-square walls, sloped ceilings, beam pockets, around plumbing penetrations, in old houses where nothing is plumb. We measure, build to actual dimensions, and use scribe moldings to fit tight to wall surfaces with no visible gaps.

Schedule an on-site visit.

Bring your Pinterest board, the dimensions of the room, and any cabinet dislikes from your current kitchen — we'll go from there.

Get a free estimateCall 832-390-8685

Free in-home estimates in The Woodlands area. For projects outside that area, a travel fee applies.