The Hawaiian Home
Kitchen's/ Choosing Your Cabinets?


Cabinetry falls into three classifications:

Production Cabinets: This cabinetry build by major manufactures is what’s available in most large discount stores. They offer an affordable price within a set size and style range. Because of the nature of mass production variation of the preset size of shape is generally not available or very limited.

Custom Production Cabinetry: These represent many regional and large square footage cabinet shops. They offer a preset size and style of doors and cabinets but are small enough to be able to custom build cabinet variations. There price is generally a percentage higher than the production cabinet manufacturer but often offer a superior long term value.

Custom Cabinet Shops: Your local cabinet builder who are able to produce the most custom look in cabinetry. Often in tune with local market style they offer exotic woods and style variation which can produce striking results. They are often twice the cost of production cabinets but a well run shop with skilled craftsmen can bring a jewel box quality to a project.


Cabinet Construction:

This is where I prefer the last two of the above mentioned cabinetry. The cabinet box built by custom or custom production shop is most likely ¾” hardwood plywood or melamine/ plastic laminate over preferable AB* or better plywood. Production cabinet tends to use melamine over ½’ plywood or particle board. You can tell which by looking inside the cabinet if it looks artificial it’s a paper thin heat adhered melamine style product. It tends not hold up well through the years and will bubble up if subject to moisture for even a short period of time.

Cabinets do not do well with any access moisture for any period of time. Hardwood plywood cabinets need to have a clear sealer coat applied inside and outside preferable.
Keep an eye on the sink areas because leaks can occur at anytime and will ruin an otherwise functional cabinet

Doors:

When it comes to cabinet doors its basically hardwood or foil wrapped over medium density fiberboard or MDF. There are painted cabinet doors available which I consider a specialty designer choice being they require more careful long term handling.

First hardwood (sometimes softwood such as vertical grain Douglas Fir). Doors are either in slab form or some variation of the raised panel. A slab doors is precut pieces of hardwood laid out with the grain in reverse direction to counteract warping. The wood is glued and often doweled or splined together under pressure and then cut and worked when ready. I consider these 100+ year doors being they have pretty substantial heft to them and don’t have a lot of ways they could fall apart.

Raise panel doors consist of rail which is the top bottom and center piece if any and stiles which are the side pieces. In the center is a panel laid up in the style of a slab door and then routed into shape. The panel “float” within a groove cut in the rail and stile with foam or rubber “bumpers” holding it tight in the groove but allowing the panel to flex within the rail and stile.

The rail and stile are jointed glued together with the panel all at the same time. The door is finished sanded and stained and coated as needed. The trick with the raised panel door is how sound and tight the connection is between the rail and stile and the center panel having sufficient room to expand and contract with seasonal moisture changes.
If you see display cabinets with the joint between the rail and stile starting to chip at the stain of even gaps created by a center panel swelling it is not a well built product.

Foil wrapped doors start with a piece of pre-routed MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard) often in the shape of a raised panel. Because it is all one piece and MDF is highly stable there is none of the joint concern as with a true raised panel door. Foil which is available in various colors and artificial wood grains is heat wrapped around the MDF core producing the finished door. This produces a solid door at an affordable price. It does not have the decades of longevity an all wood product may have but is the best way to a solid color kitchen. It is the only way to go when a high gloss look is desired.

* Plywood designation A,B,C, etc, designate the quality of the finish veneer. "A" or best quality on one side and "B" second best quality on the other, hence AB plywood.

Paul Mossman
http://pfcremodelinc.com/