Choosing The Right Kitchen Cabinet Material

A kitchen cabinet is usually built using a combination of various materials. It is important for you to know which material you would actually prefer to be used in your kitchen cabinet when you are about to buy one.

So, what are your best options when it comes to the type of material for your cabinets? Now, how will you determine which type of material is most appropriate for your kitchen? Your final choice will take into account the design requirements as well as your budget. If you consider basic facts about the various materials commonly used in kitchen cabinets, you can make a more informed decision.

Modern Kitchen Cabinet Materials
It is always essential to make the right choice of cabinet material that is within budget and design concepts. Here are some of materials used in making kitchen cabinets and built-in cupboards.

Particle board
The most common material used in any cabinet is the particle board. As the name indicates, this is mainly made of chips of wood or wood shavings. The wood chips or wood shavings are usually compressed together into very thin, but rigid sheets and are held together with the help of resin. Particle board is mainly used to make the boxes or shelves in a cabinet. These boards are extensively used in all types of cabinets because of the high durability and the thinness of the sheets.

The most important advantage of this board is that it is very cheap, making it the best alternative for wood in stock or semi-stock cabinets. Unlike wood, these boards do not swell or shrink due to changes in the humidity.

Fiberboard
The other materials used in cabinets are the MDF or medium density fiberboard. This is a manufactured product usually made from the fine wood particles. All the particles are held together with glue and are formed into thin sheets. Multiple sheets are then put together to get a fiberboard. These boards are stiff and strong. They are mainly used as the backing material for lamination.

These boards can also be painted and are very suitable for veneers and can also be used as laminates. Since it is an engineered product, the cost of this product is a bit higher than the particle board yet still cheaper than high-quality wood. Due to its high tensile strength and density, it is commonly used in semi-stock and custom-made cabinets.


Plywood
The next item used as an alternate for wood is the plywood. Many would have heard about it, but not many know what it is. The plywood is truly an excellent engineered product which is mainly made up of layers of wood veneers. These wood veneers are then aligned in such a way that they are at right angles or perpendicular to one another. This procedure is mainly used to gain tensile strength for the plywood. The wood veneers are held together by industrial glue.

Melamine Boards
Melamine is a compressed chip-wood board with a thin PVC protective coating and is edged with varying thicknesses of PVC edging to match the board color. Melamine comes in an array of stylish colors and many impressive wood imitations.

Using melamine boards to build cupboards is a cost-effective solution and will provide you with a nice and neat modern looking finish. Due to these two important factors, melamines popularity has grown immensely over the years.

These boards are cut down to size with table saws from a prepared cutting list, making them relatively quick and easy to assemble.

However, melamine boards are subject to potential swelling with prolonged exposure to water. This happens only if the water finds its way between the joints of the protective PVC coating if this happens then the chipboard underneath can become bloated.

Duco Sprayed Supawood Doors and Panels
Duco Supawood doors are made by first treating flat or molded supawood panels. After that, they are put through a spray painting process using enamel paint. At the end of the process, you are left with a high quality matte, mid-sheen or high gloss finish.

These boards are available in almost any color imaginable making them very popular for use in the creation of kitchens and all other BIC’s. A duco sprayed finish would most aptly be described as being both lustrous and elegant.

Veneered Boards
Wood veneer is a thin layer of wood glued onto particle board to create a realistic impression of solid wood.

Veneers are available in wide range of hardwoods. These veneers can be stained, varnished or polished. Veneer wood is not normally duco sprayed or painted as this would detract from the veneers natural beauty.


Solid Pine
Solid pine is one of the few solid kinds of wood that are used in the manufacture of kitchen cupboards. The reason being is that it is reasonably priced compared to solid hard woods.

Pine is longer lasting than particle boards and can handle moist conditions more so than particle boards and can be duco sprayed, varnished or stained.

Bamboo
Bamboo has recently become popular in the manufacture of kitchens due it being a low carbon footprint material.

Bamboo is very durable and is considered a hardwood when laminated. It can be duco sprayed, varnished or stained for a wide range of finishes and different colors.

Glass
The glass is most commonly used as panels indoors for show cabinets.

Although clear and sandblasted glass is most commonly used when it comes to kitchen panels, there is a wide range of both colors and textures available which could be used in creating a very attractive feature point.

Below are some considerations when deciding kitchen cabinet materials

路 Durability
路 Finishing or staining requirements
路 Cost considerations

Cost and durability are some factors that influence most homeowners decision when choosing cabinet material. However, it is important for you to remember that durability should be the primary consideration. This is what you have to keep in mind when choosing the type of wood material for your kitchen cabinets. Not all wood types would do well and can hold up in your kitchen.