cabinet construction - plywood box v. particle board
Samantha111
12 years ago
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powertoolpatriot
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agoDavid
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
Plywood or particle board cabinets?
Comments (3)There are some places where it may make sense to do plywood (e.g., cabinets where there is danger of contact with water---even high quality particle board won't do well with a leak). However, particle board and MDF are more dimensionally stable, and of course are cheaper. For what it's worth, my parents put in both high-end cabinets with plywood boxes and low-end particle board cabinets (custom in the kitchen, IKEA in the laundry room) when they did their remodel three years ago. While they are enjoying both, they were surprised to find that the plywood boxes had problems in summer humidity that caused some sticky doors and such, while the particle board didn't react. Not a huge issue, but just underscores that one isn't always better than the other....See Morecabinet construction - plywood box v. particle board
Comments (9)I see this thread goes back to 2009. Maybe things have changed a bit? The references to 'particle board' are interesting. The cabinet shop stated that MDF is not particle board. They are two different materials. That particle board is the cheap or poor product. She said it's high density fiberboard today and very strong. Not something to be concerned about in terms of durability. The off-gassing didn't come up but that's an important point. Certainly plywood also offgases but maybe not as much? I think the water damage issue is another important consideration. For painted cabinets, she says they do MDF so the finish holds up to humidity changes. I don't understand why she talks about it being high density but we were saying "MDF" not "HDF". I don't know if this painting method is used just for the doors or if getting painted means the whole cabinet basically must be fiberboard. (I believe the frame and some other parts are always solid wood). She did say plywood upgrades are available. On all wood, warpage is a serious consideration so I'm not sure why that's considered so much better....See MorePlywood v. MDF cabinet boxes
Comments (11)Yup, like p111og and jon1270 say, basically, poor MDF is worse than good plywood, likewise, poor plywood is worse than good MDF. Between good MDF and good plywood? well, not sure that there is a better or worse. The MDF/PB boards for cabinetry can be manufactured with very low-VOC glues - mandatory in many European countries while the US-EPA is slow (as usual) to wake up to this fact, and as usual is being slowly dragged to it after California takes leadership on this. But mostly as I understand it, there isn't much of a performance difference between PW and MDF/PB for cabinetry and you're paying the difference for your own preference/prejudice and that cabinet makers have decided to capitalize on :-). GOOD cabinetry-grade PB/MDF is shrouded in melamine sheeting which is impermeable to water, easily cleaned etc, and bonded very well to the substrate. This stuff isn't going to decompose in a hurry and there have been plenty of folks here who've remarked that they're remodeling a kitchen with 20-30 year old (Woodmode?) PB/MDF cabinets that are in perfect shape but being removed for updating purposes. Oh, and some of the priciest, highest-end and most up-market brands are the German & Italian lines of Bulthaup, Siematic, Snaidero, Poggenpohl, and the like. They're all MDF; good luck finding plywood in those lines....See MoreAll-plywood Kraftmaid vs Cabico with particle board boxes
Comments (1)I don't know anything about those specific cabinets, but we installed IKEA particle board box cabinets in a home at the Jersey shore and had no problems. This was 9 years ago. We were one block from the ocean and three blocks from the bay, so it was a pretty damp environment. We sold that house a year ago and are in the process of installing another IKEA kitchen in our new shore house. Of course with IKEA we are spending far, far less than you will be, so take it for what it's worth....See Morecaryscott
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