It is an enviromentally friendly wood. Rubberwood is the tree latex comes from. When the useful life of the tree (about 25 - 30 years) is over the tree is felled and a new tree planted. It is similar to maple or birch, machines well and you can brag how your helping the planet :) Go for it !

Rubberwood (Hevea sp.) is very common today in many wood products due to its relatively low lumber cost, and more importantly, its manufacture into finished products by people making low wages in SE Asia.

For many uses like edge-glued cabinet faces, toys, etc., it is a suitable wood. The negatives associated with the wood are in strength related uses (fast-grown/brittle) and also that clear cuttings tend to be small because the tree is generally small and branchy in the rubber plantations. The typical bole size at harvest is only about 11 inches in diameter and 8-10 feet tall.

The quality of a cabinet has more to do with the skill of the cabinetmaker than the face wood. Look for properly dried lumber, hardwood plywood or edge-glued solid wood for the drawer sides and backs (instead of particle board/plastic), tight edge-glued panels for the faces, strong joints, good hardware, quality finishes, etc.

The marketing hype of rubberwood being environmentally friendly is just that. Consider that rubberwood plantations in Malaysia were once native tropical forests that were cleared in the 70's. How about the large amount of fossil fuels needed to ship rubberwood across the Pacific Ocean using relatively dirty diesel ship engines. And if the cabinet parts are made in China, add to this measurable air pollution on the west coast caused by lax pollution laws in China.

A more environmentally friendly choice would be hardwood or softwood lumber sourced locally and cabinets made as close as practical to the buliding site.

Our trees and forests (in the USA and Canada) are renewable and vigorous. There are many beautiful native wood species with various cuts (flat sawn, quarter sawn) and finishes available for cabinets. There are also many skilled cabinet makers and cabinet companies out there.

So please don't limit yourself to bulider's grade products.

I don't know how your cabinets would be made, but I ordered a buffet from the big O that is solid rubberwood. I needed it a darker finish so I sanded it and started staining it. It doesn't take stain as well as pine--it stayed much lighter than a pine piece I was staining at the same time. Also, some of the pieces of wood on it are very short--maybe 3 or 4 inches long. This resulted in many joints throughout the piece--it kinda looked like bamboo in a way. It's ok for what I want to use it for but if your cabinets are made the same way, it could end up looking very busy with all the joints.

They may make the cabinets differently. Can they show you samples beforehand so you can make a better decision? I can try to take pics of my buffet if you want to see what it looks like close up.

De

We have the cabinets and like them. The reason I picked them is that the whole cabinet door is solid wood. The fronts are routed to create a raised panel effect instead of a piece of wood with a mitred frame around it.

I think the reason De's piece didn't stain like pine is because pine is a soft wood and this is hard. Plus the cabinets are made without all the joints. Cordovan sounds like a dark stain. No idea about that. Surely the builder can tell you where to see the actual cabinets before you give the OK. No?