Depends on where it's imported from, the specifications of the sheet, and will the distributor stand behind it?

Just like wines - there are very good imports and awful ones that you would not even drink.

The only prefinished birch plywood I could find was imported. It was a great product. No warping, even in thickness, no imperfections. Most likely made in china of north american birch.

The global supply chain is too complex to track these days.

I would have used a domestic prefinished product but my supplier does not stock it.

I'll ask more questions. This cabinet maker is one of the few preferred ones of a big time Atlanta architect (not the one we used) and we heard about him through a friend who is using that architect. He just happened to be down the road from us in the next county, rather than in Atlanta. He makes great quality stuff and passes the muster of the big guns but I am sure their budgets might not require imported plywood :). I still do have some confidence though that he wouldn't suggest it as an option if he thought it made an inferior cabinet. He did point out that it warps easily if you don't put it together quickly but other than that he has had no problems with it. He does use a particular supplier who supplies formaldehyde free stuff, but that is all I knew to ask.

Any other questions I should ask? As you can see, I would really rather stay with this guy as his quality and finish is outstanding particularly if our lower budget folks use imported plywood anyway . . .

I wouldn't be too concerned about the plywood, personally. He's going to use it for the cabinet boxes, I'm assuming? Once assembled and installed warping won't be an issue.

The plywood really shouldn't warp anyway if it's stored properly (flat, possibly stickered if he's a nitpicker for details), although maybe he's thinking it may have problems going from the warehouse to his workshop environment.

But if he guarantees a quality end product - everything square, straight, and true, then possibly warp-prone plywood is really his problem and not yours.

does warp if not put together right away. You can't cut out a whole kitchen and then put it together because it will warp. That is the only downside he said.

so that means HIS work becomes more complicated but since he won't charge you for that difference i don't see why you are hesitant

in every "field" there is a body of knowledge.

when you approach a field that is not yours, you must adopt an approach that "sometimes more knowledge is not a better thing." As you learn things, you think you've learned "something" but it is not yet helpful, or it causes fear and doubt instead of security, or it makes you draw the opposite conclusion from the conclusion that others would choose, and that you will later see as the right one.

Charm school and sales training both consciously explicitize different aspects of "impact" on others. As people age they pick this up naturally anyway, unconsciously. In sales training they teach you how to educate the buyer so that you the seller control the buyers' emotions, and this includes creating fears as one aspect of the equation.

Both of the two plywoods he mentioned will be dimensionally unstable, but he figures in his judgement to call it "warp" in the case of the one he calls warping. Then the whole concept takes on a life of its own. He's told you something and it sounds like real information, but it isn't. This has already been pointed out by muspic.

Now that I've written out that the Other Plywood also warps, or morphs, or changes shape, you know more, but the more you know the less it helps. I believe he really should not have brought this "warp" information into the equation. Only he knows for sure what really is the case, for each of his two suppliers' woods, not you.

In fact, it may be that he doesn't know a great deal about what he's talking about in this little concept of dimensional stability, and that he has merely soaked up some information from his suppliers' representatives. I'm sure he also knows that a cabinetmaker is the skilled person who cuts and joins wood so that the normal inevitable movement of wood gets compensated for and not allowed to "show" through. For example, the big reason why cupboard panels and drawer fronts are made with a frame and a thin flat panel inside is to allow the large surface area of wood to expand and contract without showing, while the relatively skinny frame remains dimensionally stable.

So, to add to what muspic wrote, I'll add that I don't trust someone who raises a red herring in an early conversation. It was a useless diversion. Either he is unaware ("ignorant" in the neutral sense of the word) of the technical aspects of both woods being future shape-change-ey, or he is overtly playing with his skill in manipulating the client. Both are bad signs.

Thank you Master for today's lesson.....

Since China has no established enforcible standards for certifying the formaldehide content of it's wood products, and doesn't worry about the other chemical content of their exports until it becomes an issue in the media, I don't see how any cabinet maker can certify that the imported Chinese products that he is using are formaldehide free. Or free of any other harmful chemicals. Anyone remember the toxic drywall? The lead painted toys? He;s already indicated that the imported plywood has issues with warping. The most common reason for a layedered wood product to warp is that it was made with improperly dried wood. Good quality plywood will be made from layers of properly kiln dried woods, and while it can move a bit with the changing seasons moisture, it won't move enough to call it "warping".

If domestic produced formaldehide free plywood is available and only 15% additional cost, I would consider that a low cost insurance policy for your home. And for furniture quality cabinetry from a craftsman, I would search for other areas to cut the budget in order to afford the cabinets that will still be high quality vintage cabinets in 100 years.

Unfortunately, most people don't budget enough for cabinetry, and since installing cabinetry doesn't come until close to the end, the budget for it often gets cut even further rather than increased to the level that would ensure a quality product commensurate with the finish level of the rest of the house. It's like buying the latest couture suit, choosing exactly the right gold jewelry for the outfit, choosing the right handbag, and then putting on the pair of vinyl pumps that you bought at K-Mart to go with that outfit. It creates a dissonance in the entire presentation. You may not notice it right away if the pumps are a classic style in a classic color, but all of your girlfriends will know the difference. And you certainly know the difference!

when someone says imported plywood for cabinets, it makes me think of Swedish "baltic plywood". It's from the opposite side of the world from China.

At times I've been told that I haven't read things carefully. Am I the one who missed seeing that one word? Athensmomof3, did you write that it was Chinese?

Our cabinetmaker told about cabinets he made for another client that had to be redone because the birch veneer plywood from China delaminated. We spent a bit extra and got birch veneer made in the USA.

The vast majority of plywood is made by Columbia Forests and is a product of Canada, not the USA.

My advice is stay away from imported plywood and get american made. Our cabinetmaker talked us into using the PureBond stuff from Columbia Forest Products and we couldn't be happier. the end result was beautiful, we only paid a little bit more and there's no worries about chemical smells in the glue. Plus, according to their site most of their product is made in the USA.

My in-laws just found a cabinetmaker in their area through the company's website. They have a directory of "green" cabinetmakers you can use. Plus you'll be supporting American businesses.

The cost of a cabinet job is mostly labor. I'd think that switching to the cheapest possible ply would save 10% or less on the job. That ain't worth it. Not even close. How much in savings is this guy offering with cheaper ply?

BTW some of the best ply, IMHO, is imported baltic birch. Dead flat. No voids or inclusions. Good stuff.

BTW Davidro1 is spot on with how sharp salespeople manipulate customers. Hopefully David will use his powers for good vs. using them for evil! ;)

I am always concerned about product from China. With the lead paint on children's toys, melamine in baby formula. They say there's no formaldehyde in the cabinets, but since there's no oversight, they can say whatever they want.

I know almost everything is made in China these days. There just needs to be a middle man testing and verifying that the products are safe.

It was stated above that most plywood is from Canada.

Please let's stay on topic!

I was about to pull the trigger on some 6 square cabinets online, but after reading this post, I think I will stay away from chinese plywood. Does conestoga use USA plywood?

Sorry!

I am going to insist that my cabinets are made with American birch plywood. I do not want any building materials made in China in my home and so far so good. We have obtainied all the structural wood from a local saw mill, from local wood. Our metal roof was made by a local business. Our floors will be local heart pine, and our interior walls and ceilings are local cypress.

American plywood is more money than the Chinese plywood. American plywood is 50 some dollars a sheet as compared to about 25 dollars a sheet for Chinese. American plywood will be stamped and certified.

Cabinets are one of the most expensive investments for your home. At least they should be. For me, I would rather have cabinetry that would last a life time, and have minimal toxicity, and have to save for a finished basement. But that is me. Your wants and needs may be different than mine. In the whole scheme of things paying extra now won't seem so much later on, particularly if you remain problem free.

Who is your cabinet maker? I still have a couple of people to talk to yet and look at their work, but so far I haven't found quite the level of workmanship I want.

Sandy

I hate China too. It's a big bad system like what we saw in some European countries in the 1930's, but worse: it's a whole continent and they make 99% of their people work like slaves so the state can get all the profit and buy up the whole planet.

Has anyone ever seen plywood that is Chinese?

Please look into the North American-made Columbia "Purebond"... Lowes (or is it Home Depot???) stocks it here in Maine. It is 3/4" birch ply, lovely stuff, certified formaldehyde-free and both better quality and cheaper than the "regular" 3/4" birch we've purchased from local lumber suppliers. Clean air is really important to me, good-to-work-with wood is important to my husband, and low cost is important to both of us. We were THRILLED when we discovered this stuff. At our HD/Lowes, they don't even advertise that it's formaldehyde-free on the label, it's simply the one 3/4" birch they stock. But the wood is marked and definitely Purebond.

Here is a link that might be useful: Purebond plywood

It's at Home Depot, sorry about that. See link...

Here is a link that might be useful: Domestic formaldehyde-free plywood at Home Depot

I just had a China-produced kichen installed and the cabinet maker was raving about it. He said that they make plywood the old fashioned way, and it's better than the way it is manufactured here. He expects there will be less warping, something about using natural glue. He also said that a lot of Chinese companies have cheap hardware, but the particular supplier I had provided high quality hardware.

Don't ask me questions... I'm just repeating what he said.

It could be true, it could be untrue. I wouldn't know the difference! I know diddly-squat about plywood.