| When shopping for kitchen cabinets, most | | | | of that interweaving to help strengthen the board. |
| homeowners focus on the look of the cabinets and | | | | Because of this, the material will tend to chip or |
| the design of the doors, but they don't ask about | | | | break easier, and will not be able to support as much |
| the most important feature of the cabinets- the | | | | weight. Quite often, you will have to use supports to |
| material used to make the cabinet box. While the | | | | strengthen the cabinets if you are installing a heavier |
| face frame and doors are important for the overall | | | | countertop. |
| look, the structure of the cabinet itself is what will | | | | Plywood is the most universally used material for |
| determine the lifespan of your kitchen. | | | | kitchen cabinets. More expensive cabinets will use 3 |
| While the majority of kitchen cabinet manufacturers | | | | 4" plywood with a wood veneer for the sides and |
| will use solid wood for the face frame and doors, | | | | sometimes for the back (most will not use solid |
| there are several different materials that are used | | | | plywood for the back either, but they will include |
| for the cabinet construction. Due to the limited | | | | mounting strips across the back). Most cabinets that |
| amount of aged timber that is available, it has | | | | you will find on the market will feature 1/2" plywood, |
| become too expensive for even custom cabinet | | | | which is more than substantial enough to support any |
| manufacturers to use real wood for the sides and | | | | countertop material. |
| back. Some higher end cabinet manfacturers build | | | | Another regularly used material is fiberboard. |
| beautiful solid wood cabinets, but for the majority of | | | | Fiberboard is basically a thick, dense cardboard. While |
| homeowners, these are simply not economically | | | | it isn't as fragile as particleboard, it doesn't offer the |
| feasible. | | | | rigidity of plywood or real wood. The other problems |
| Particleboard is acommon material that some lower | | | | results from the fasteners. Without the grain of |
| end cabinets will feature (and which you may | | | | wood, fasteners will tend to lose their grip over time. |
| recognize if you have ever shopped at Ikea). | | | | So when starting the shopping process for new |
| Particleboard, also called pressboard, is really just small | | | | cabinets, it is important to consider the pros and cons |
| chips of wood compressed together and held | | | | all the features of the cabinets. Just because a |
| together with glue. Unlike plywood which consists of | | | | cabinet looks good, doesn't mean that it will be able |
| multiple layers of wood with the grain running in | | | | to hold up to the wear and tear that you are going |
| alternating patterns, particleboard doesn't have any | | | | to cause. |