First you may be surprised to learn there is no such thing as a solid wood cabinet
as the ads say. The only solid wood used is to make face frames, drawer faces
and….sometimes doors. An all wood cabinet in advertising means the box carcass
is a 5 or 7 ply plywood. Plywood is made by layering thin layers of wood each new
layer is laid with the grain going in the opposite direction then the one next to
it. They are glued together and pressed. The very outer layer will have a layer of
paper thin veneer of the wood species, (maple, cherry, oak, maple etc.), chosen
for the cabinet. The wood plys by themselves are ugly unusable wood. These
plys will remain stable forever in small sized parts such as in the construction of a
cabinet box.

Using the term “all wood” to include plywood is the worst kind of uneducated
snobbery designed to force consumers into upgrading unnecessarily. Particle
board isn’t any less “all wood” than plywood is! It’s just smaller particles, (thus
the origination of the name), VS very thin sheets of veneers. In a flood situation,
plywood is NOT any more resistant to moisture damage than particle board is.
Some grades of plywood delaminate quite easily too. It’s all about the grade of
each product and the glues that hold it together.

Today’s furniture grade board particle board isn’t the 16 PSI that those junky
Walmart decorator tables are made of. That type of particle board DOES fall
apart almost instantly when exposed to water. Furniture board/industrial grade
particle board is made from much superior glues and resins and uses much higher
pressures to set it. It’s so much more “all wood” than plywood is

The most common things I hear is “Ewwww particle board, what if my cabinets
get wet?” My answer is always “what do you drag the garden hose into the
kitchen and hose it down?” How can they get wet? I never heard anyone telling
the carpet salesperson, sofa salesperson, TV salesperson, flooring salesperson,
etc “what if it gets wet?” The best answer is always why put all your hard earned
money into a box carcass that is hidden behind faceframes and under the counter

top that no one can see.

Upgrading to plywood is money pulled out of your pocket and put into the pocket
of the manufacturer and showroom. I NEVER suggest plywood to any of my
customers. I always suggest putting that savings into organizational conveniences
such as pull out shelves that will make a difference how you live! That IS money
worth spending!

Particle board sides are more stable then plywood. Particle board box
construction will save you about 20% off the cost of a plywood kitchen. Particle
board typically contains wood chips, other wood by-products, and synthetic
additives to make them especially strong and warp resistant. Medium-density
fiberboard, (MDF), has gained a following for its ability to be formed into door
and drawer heads and other decorative features. One big negative is MDF is quite
heavy.

To save money and still get the wood look I recommend buying particle board
construction boxes and skinning only the exposed ends with plywood skin. All
cabinet manufacturers make a wood skin already pre-cut to size for uppers and
lowers. A quality box will have the face frame extend past the sides a quarter
inch. We call this the ear. You glue and staple the 3/16″ thick wood skin to the
side and behind this ear. Now you can tell everyone you have an all wood kitchen
and no one can tell. Take the money saved and buy some nice options like crown
or under cabinet moldings. Finally a good solid box will have all the parts held
together with hot melt glue and staples.

MOST IMPORTANT BEFORE YOU BUY !

Look inside the cabinet doors. Make sure you see a green sticker with the
letters KCMA. If you do not see that sticker then do not buy that cabinet. The
Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association (KCMA) sponsors a national testing
program for cabinets to ensure they meet standards set by the American National
Standards Institute. Cabinets that pass the tests designed to simulate years of
typical household use have seals reading ANSI/KCMA A161.1. The certification
program is voluntary.

NEXT MAJOR IMPORTANT ITEM TO LOOK FOR !

Chinese made cabinets

The cabinet industry has seen a flood of made in China cabinets lately. Chinese
cabinet brands are laden with formaldehyde, sulfur and other glue resins which
are illegal for American manufacturers to use because they are banned by the
EPA and violates the CARE initiative. Chinese have no environmental restrictions
or health organizations like we have here. Yet we allow those products to
be imported here without question. These very inferior cabinets will likely
delaminate in less then 3 years. Children exposed to fomaldehyde are at great risk
of cancer at worse and asthma at best.

Other glues and resins used in the manufacturer of Chinese brand cabinets are
banned in the USA but permitted to be imported. This includes other products
like Chinese made sheetrock/drywall which also have thousands of documented
cases of families getting sick and even several deaths.

When you see an ad advertising an all solid cherry wood kitchen for $895.00
you can bet the product comes from China. Because China steals the trees due
to a bureaucratic disaster created in a treaty from back in the 1940s, they can
afford to sell their product so cheap. China owns a large forest inside of Russia
called Suifenhe which they owned since the 1940s. All the outgoing trains leave
Suifenhe with just one valuable commodity…. wood, and lots of it. No machinery
is used. 6 Chinese men each carry a log to the train to ship to a China mill. In the
factories they have huge CNC machines that cut out all the components that
make up the various sized cabinet boxes. When one buys a cabinet they come in
a box of pieces that the consumer has to assemble at home. This is not a strong
box. Cam locks hold the box together. This and the labor paid to Chinese peasants
who make these parts is laughable and allows China to sell cabinets so cheap.

Here is why Chinese cabinets are very bad:

1. The 5 ply panel stock is weak and delaminates in under 3 years. Formaldehyde
weakens any glue and they use plenty of this dangerous toxin when

manufacturing their plywood.

2.The finish almost looks like the cabinets were used. The finish appears dull and
thin.

3. They do not use hardening agents in their clear coat. Hardening agents also
allow the finish to dry instantly preventing dust to settle on the finish. You could
scratch their doors with your finger nail.

4. The drawer guides are stamped a light gauge white metal, not steel and are
of such low quality that it is common to see the drawer collapse under just 15
pounds. Any American cabinet company uses Blum or Grass guides and their
drawers are rated at 75 to 125 pounds.

5. You will never ever see a warranty on a Chinese cabinet. Little known to the
consumer, say you scratch a door 3 months after your new kitchen is installed,
with most domestic manufactures you can call up your cabinet supplier and order
just the replacement door you need. With Chinese suppliers you have to reorder
THE ENTIRE CABINET!! Make sure you ask your supplier about this and if they say
you can actually get the part you need without ordering THE ENTIRE CABINET be
sure to get that fact in writing!

6. China made cabinets only have limited sizes and styles and special cabinet
boxes are not available.

Another warranty item to consider is that with all the regulatory issues and other
nonsense going on with Chinese wood, many of the manufactures are looking
to move their operations to other countries, this presents two big warranty
problems, #1 there is a high probability that the manufacturer will not be around
in a year or two when you need the replacement part, and #2 changing wood and
manufacturing plants will cause consistency issues with the finish and color, so
your Mocha Java Glaze might look more like a Mocha Frappucino Java Glaze when
the replacement part comes in!