Drawer bottoms: 1/4 ply nailed into a groove vs stapled to the face, I switched last month and now I can't decide
For years I ran a 1/4 inch groove in the drawer sides and slid a plywood bottom in, glued and nailed the box square, done. Two weeks ago a guy I sub for on weekends showed me his way: build the box first, then staple the bottom right to the underside of the rails and front, no groove at all. Reason he does it is speed, he bangs out 14 drawers in a morning that way, and honestly my first batch his way took me about 40 minutes less with zero racking. Problem is it doesn't look as clean from underneath, you can see the staple line if you flip the drawer, and a customer in a wet kitchen is gonna have a different story down the road. My gut still says the groove holds up better over 10 years, but I can't argue with the clock since I'm paid by the job, not the hour. So which side are you on, groove and nail or staple it flat, and has anyone here had one of those stapled bottoms come apart on a job?
I ran stapled bottoms on a rental flip two years back and one popped loose on a heavy pantry drawer within 6 months, so now I only staple for shop cabinets and buyers who never see the underside. Groove and nail costs me maybe 10 extra minutes a box but I sleep better on anything that sees water.