Cabinet quality something worth considering

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/05/2015 (3812 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The saying “a five dollar horse with a fifty dollar saddle” relates to our current practice of purchasing mass-produced kitchen cabinets and mounting more expensive granite counters on top of them.

Most of the cabinets produced today look good on the outside. However, if discerning buyers check the materials used to build the doors, drawers and carcasses, they may be shocked by what they find. In most cases, it will be “glits,” an industry term meaning “glue and shit,” referring mainly to particle board composed of wood chips, sawmill shavings and sawdust held together by a synthetic resin and formed into sheets by high pressure and heat. A small step up from particle board is medium density fibreboard (MDF), but its overall properties are very similar.

The next time you are in a big-box store, take a close look at the interior of kitchen cabinets that are not hidden by a countertop. In every instance, you will find the carcasses are constructed of particle board covered on the outside by paint or a thin veneer of melamine, wood or other laminate.

The doors are sometimes made of thermo-foil, a plastic material that is heat-formed over MDF to produce a high-sheen finish that is susceptible to deterioration by heat and moisture.

The only real wood inside inexpensive cabinets is cheap softwood battens used to stiffen carcasses and to strengthen joins by increasing the gluing area and allowing pneumatic staples to be driven into the particle board.

Screws are rarely used because the board, unlike plywood or solid wood, will not hold a thread. Special screws are available for particle board, but they are pricey and generally shunned by mass manufacturers because they add to the cost of the finished product. In general, drawer boxes are built entirely of particle board that is stapled together at the corners. The finished drawer-front is glued and stapled to the front of the box; joinery, such as dovetails, finger joints or rabbets, is not used as it is too expensive.

Another thing to examine on inexpensive cabinets is the quality of the hardware. The soft-close hinges and drawer slides will be of the lowest quality Asian manufacturers can stamp out. As a result, the hinges will not open or close smoothly and mounted doors may be skewed because of sloppy machining of the hinges. Further, the drawer slides will not glide like a quality pair; in fact, I have seen drawers that have become jammed because of wobble caused by inferior tolerances between rollers and metal guides.

If this information does not raise your suspicion when considering the type of cabinets you want to have in your renovated kitchen, consider the properties of particle board. The pros are the material is light and can be made to look like an expensive, solid-wood product when the outside is veneered. The cons are that contact with moisture or water will cause the board to expand and, in a worst-case scenario such as a flood, break down into its constituent components.

Expanded particle board cannot be pressed back into its original thickness and severely water-damaged board must be replaced.

Laminated board must be sealed on the edges with a similar laminate or with solid wood strips or other water-resistant material. Moreover, because wood veneers are micro-thin, it is very difficult to remove a stain or other defect with sandpaper because of the risk of cutting through to the substrate. For the same reason, refinishing an entire set of cheap, veneered cabinets is an expensive and risky undertaking. Finally, some studies suggest off-gassing of formaldehyde from particle board takes longer than from plywood, as more VOC containing resin is used to produce the former.

So what sort of cabinets should you consider for your renovated kitchen?

Ready-to-assemble (RTA) cabinets are a much better investment and can be price-competitive with pressed-board products, especially if you have some DIYer experience.

Larry Daniuk of The Timeless John in St. Andrews retails RTA cabinets from a large showroom where he displays several styles of kitchen and bath cabinetry, as well as top-of-the-line door and drawer pulls and other accessories.

His cabinets are constructed of 1/2-inch plywood that is strong, water and moisture resistant and stable due to its multi-layer, cross-veneer composition. The solid wood drawer boxes include dovetail joinery, hardwood faces (no veneer) and plywood bottoms that float in rabbet joints. The cabinet doors feature hardwood face frames with inset flat or raised panels or Shaker-style flat panels without frames.

“Young people are attracted to the Shaker-style doors with a white or chocolate finish because they have a very modern look,” said Daniuk.

Finishes vary from basic stain and lacquer to stain and glaze to detailing and paint with glaze.

High-quality hardware includes under-mounted, full-extension soft-close drawer slides and Euro-style, adjustable, concealed cup hinges with a soft-close feature for cupboard doors.

Upper cabinetry is available in 30, 36 and 42-inch heights; modular box widths begin at nine inches wide and increase by three-inch increments to a maximum of 36 inches.

Daniuk’s cabinets are also designed to accommodate handicapped people by including lower sinks with sufficient room to allow a wheelchair to fit underneath them.

Gayl and Lanny Hopmeister of Lockport bought a set of cabinets from Daniuk that were manufactured by the U.S. Cabinet Depot in Atlanta, Ga.

Before the kitchen cabinets were ordered, Daniuk sat down with the couple and discussed the best layout of their dream kitchen to optimize the work space (their main goal) and to fit the cabinets into the available space without gaps between them.

When the floor design was agreed upon, Daniuk ordered a set of upper and lower cabinets finished in York antique white with gold-painted detailing.

“It took less than two weeks for them to arrive once Larry (Daniuk) placed the order. We decided to have him assemble and install them. It took him less than a week to do the job. It would have taken us several months,” said Lanny.

“I’m thrilled with the look, arrangement and quality of the RTA cabinets,” said Gayl, adding they were cost-competitive with particle board or MDF products.

Custom built solid-wood cabinets are an alternative for people willing to pay a little extra for the enduring quality and beauty of hardwood.

Richard and Judie Chomiak, who live in Westwood, invested in a set of chocolate-stained solid walnut kitchen cabinets that are spectacular to behold.

Built by Bayer Interior Woods of Minnesota, the deluxe cabinets are available in 11 commonly known woods as well as many exotics.

“Every inch of these cabinets is customized to meet the exact requirements of customers, including widths, heights, mouldings and special details,” said Daniuk.

“They were shipped pre-assembled to my house and Larry (Daniuk) and a helper unloaded them at no extra cost,” said Richard, an experienced DIYer who installed the cabinets and crown mouldings himself.

Judie, who is an antique collector, said the walnut complements the carved, dark-stained furniture in the adjoining living room.

Best of all, the lovely granite slabs both couples chose as countertops look as if they belong on the classy cabinets on which they are mounted.

 

davidsquare81@yahoo.com