Understanding Manufactured Cabinet Construction
High quality, manufactured cabinets consist of a cabinet box, drawer system, doors and a finish. The best cabinets are also accompanied by a warranty. Below we’ve described each construction element of high quality, manufactured cabinetry.
Cabinet Box Construction
Cabinet Drawer Construction
Cabinet Doors and Finishes
Cabinet Warranties
Cabinet Box Construction
The term cabinet “box” refers to all the elements which make up a single, complete cabinet.What does the cabinet interior look like?
• Cabinetry usually consists of lighter colored interiors because they reflect the most light, making it’s easier to view your stored items. This is most often accomplished by applying a light-colored melamine applied over plywood as it is easy to clean.
• If your kitchen cabinet or bathroom cabinet design calls for open or glass-door cabinets, it is best to choose a line that offers a stained wood veneer interior finish to match the outer finish.
How are cabinet shelves made?
• Higher quality cabinetry offers adjustable shelving as a standard feature. Be sure to ask about this as some lines only offer fixed shelves. Adjustable shelving gives allows for more flexible storage options, particularly where shelves and roll-out trays are utilized.
Is the cabinet complete?
• Some cabinet boxes are constructed without a back, enclosed bottom or even a melamine interior. Be sure to ask your cabinet design specialist about options for this.
• Extra features can be added, such as a toe-tick which fully encloses the space under the bottom drawer in base cabinets, to protect cabinet interiors and their contents from bugs, rodents and dust.
Cabinet Drawer Construction
Aside from the drawer box, a cabinet drawer system consists of joints, which hold the drawer together, and glides, which control the opening and closing of the drawer.
What determines a good quality cabinet drawer box?• High quality cabinet drawers are made of real wood for the best appearance when opened.
• The best cabinet drawers have dovetail joints on all four corners of the box. This is because:
– Dovetail joints are aesthetically appealing.
– Dovetail joints are interlocked, making them stronger than pinned or doweled joints.
• Some items, such as silverware, can be heavy. Drawers which hold heavy loads, should have a captive plywood bottom.
• Cabinet drawers surfaced with melamine are easier to clean.
• The cabinet drawer box should have four sides. Low quality cabinetry is built with a three sided drawer, using the drawer header as the fourth side. This compromises the strength of the drawer box.
What to look for in cabinet drawer glides• Cabinet drawers should roll easily on the glides and stop automatically, preventing them from falling out.
• Full-extension drawer glides roll out completely enabling you to get at all the stuff at the back of the drawer.
• High quality drawer glides come with a self-closing feature. When the drawer is nudged it quietly closes itself.
• Undermount glides
– Drawer glides mounted underneath allow for a wider drawer box.
– Undermount glides won’t collect dust and dirt as side mount glides do.
Cabinet Doors and Finishes
A wide variety of door styles, colors and wood types from which to choose is great. However, the quality of these elements is important to ensure your investment is long-lasting.
What materials are the cabinet doors made of?
• The materials used to makes cabinet doors vary depending on the style and use. Common cabinet materials include alder, cherry, hickory, oak and maple wood species, medium density fiberboard (MDF), wood veneer, thermofoil, melamine laminate and vinyl laminate.
How are cabinet doors finished?
• The sheen and feel of a finish is not an accurate guide to its durability.
• Instead, ask about the finishing process.
– The best finishing process carefully prepares high-grade wood through hand sanding and staining.
– The best finishing process includes sealing with an oven-cured, catalyzed conversion varnish. The resulting finish is impervious to liquids and stains from everyday use, along with being easy to clean.
Cabinet Warranties
Is there a warranty?
• The manufacturer should stand behind its products with a warranty.
• Another reliable mark of quality is KCMA certification. This means cabinets meet minimum standards for quality set by the Kitchen Cabinetry Manufacturers Association.