Buying Cabinet Tips - What To Look For
A Little Information About Cabinet Construction
In this vast marketplace of cabinets consumers are often unaware of what they are buying and may make poor choices. In this article we will attempt to educate you as to what may happen if you purchase one of the many quickly produced cabinet brands on the market. We feel if you are educated you will make the right buying decisions and purchase cabinets that will last.
A new kitchen is a substantial purchase and most homeowners expect the cabinets to last a very long time. Well we are sorry to say that isn't always the case. With over 30+ years experience in the industry we have replaced thousands of kitchens in homes all across America. We have worked with a wide array of clients from all walks of life. Some designs were for the rich and famous but most were for average hard working people. No matter who we work with there are always a few common things that owners want. They want a great value for their investment. They want professional service and they want durable goods. Millions of homeowners are replacing cabinets that do not function well, have broken hardware, or just look worn out. Some are replacing cabinets that are just falling apart. If you are one of these homeowners, you are not alone. There are millions of kitchens that need major renovation. We are constantly annoyed by the amount of poor craftsmanship we find in the country. Homeowners do not want to promote a throw away society. Cabinets, when built properly, and cared for should be something that gets passed on to new owners when that time comes.
Cabinets We Replaced
Real photos of cabinet problems.The following are photos of some of the major issues we have encounter over and over again throughout the country.
The image above shows the edge of a particle board shelf. The shelf is coated with a very thin layer of laminate that looks like wood and sometimes the edge is covered with a wood grained laminate, also. When the edges are covered it is hard to see the particle board substrate. Many manufacturers use this kind of material to keep costs down. Furniture grade plywood is a much better product.
As you can see in this image, the laminate has peeled from the particle board shelf. Particle board does not hold the glued plastic in place and in time the plastic is torn from use. Many lower priced cabinet manufacturers offer particle board shelving with a wood grain vinyl or plastic coating that often does not hold up well.
This is another image of a cabinet that has a poor surface coating and raw particle board on the inside. The poor finish on the exterior was easily damaged by water. Water damage can affect any finish (even the best) so please be mindful to dry any wet wood surface. A high quality catalyzed furniture finish resists water damage, but even though this is a superior coating if the surface is left wet it can be damaged by standing water. Many cabinet shops cannot apply a catalyzed finish, but they are the best long lasting surfaces on the market. In some cases you can obtain a low sheen if you do not like a gloss.
Bad joints... Some cabinet manufacturers have a production line that limits the time the assembler has to piece together items. Cabinets should be constructed like furniture which means more attention to detail is critical in the shop. In the image above, the cabinet back does not sit tightly and the gap is filled with hot melt glue. That often means the cabinet assembly was rushed and the cabinet most likely is not square. It also means that the joint will not be very strong and may eventually become so weak that the cabinet will come apart. The plywood shown has middle layers that resemble a sponge (it is porous). This is usually a sign of imported low grade material that will not hold fasteners as well as quality furniture grade plywood.
Then there is RTA... Today many inexpensive cabinets are sold as RTA (Ready to Assemble). The cabinets ship in a flat box full of many parts. When they arrive, you are expected to put all the pieces together or you pay extra to have the plant assemble them for you before they ship. The problem with assembling in the field is the design of the box relies on fasteners that are easy for you to put together, but are not reliable over a long period of time. Even if the factory assembles them for you, they use these same unreliable fasteners or use make shift alterations to hold the box together. Using these types of joints greatly shorten the life of the cabinets as things will sag or lose integrity. Doors and cabinet boxes that sag are the first sign of a major problem.
The above image shows a glob of hot melt glue. Hot melt glue is not very strong and can fail in a fairly short period of time. Many cabinet manufacturers use hot melt glue exclusively to speed up assembly. Since this glue isn't very strong it should only be used in conjunction with a strong furniture grade wood glue. Hot melt glue can temporarily hold an item in place while the quality furniture glue sets, but should never be relied on for strength.
Another item that manufacturers use to speed up production is the plastic self-aligning drawer slide mount. The one shown in the image above is an older version. The newer versions that are used today can look a little different. The most important detail is that the object that holds the drawer slide in place is plastic. Since it self aligns the drawer slide, it allows rapid drawer installation, the plastic usually breaks in a short period of time. In a quality cabinet the drawer slides should be a high grade steel and mounted with steel brackets. In order to examine the drawer slides you have to remove the drawer and look at how it is mounted. This is an important detail to examine.
Believe it or not the above photo is a huge cabinet brand sold all across America. The shop did not sharpen or replace their saw blades and just tore through the material. They used hot melt glue to hold the cabinet together. The vinyl coated plywood interior is already tattered at the edges. The plywood has very low grade layers. This cabinet is often sold as a plywood upgrade and millions of them are sold. They often get a good review when first installed. Almost all cabinets look good on the surface right after installation but as they get used, they degrade over time. We will continue replacing these as they do not withstand the test of time.
A lot of homeowners never look at the shelf clips when buying cabinets. Plastic clips do not last. When shopping for cabinets always examine how the shelves are mounted. Are the shelves adjustable? In most cases they should be. The shelves should be on metal adjustable pins.
Then there is the drawer box and how that is made. The drawer should have old fashioned dovetailed joints with at least 1/2 inch solid hardwood sides. As an extra measure of safety, the dovetails should be pinned and glued. The bottom of the drawer should be at least 1/4" thick plywood and set into a groove being held captive by the drawer sides. A quality steel under-mount drawer slide also helps reinforce the capacity of the drawer.
These are some of the important parts to pay attention to when shopping for cabinets. You will also want an experienced designer, installer, and a long cabinet warranty.
Framed Cabinets vs Frameless Cabinets
Since the beginning of wooden furniture almost all, what we now call cabinets, were built with a face frame on the front of the cabinet box. Throughout history there have been limited discoveries of cabinets that were built without a frame on the box and most of these items were often small containers. The frame adds a tremendous amount of strength to a cabinet which is important to longevity. Maybe there were more frameless cabinets built, but they may not have withstood the test of time.
Top view of framed cabinet.
What is the purpose of a cabinet face frame? The frame of a cabinet when properly attached to the sides, tops, and bottoms help keep the box square and stable. When the doors and drawers are opened and closed the face frame keeps the box rigid and permanently square.
Frameless Cabinets Explained
Frameless Cabinet Drawing.
Frameless AKA Full Access or Eurostyle cabinets started to become popular in the U.S. during the 1980's when European cabinet companies started marketing them in the states. Today, the lower priced ones are often sold as ready to assemble (RTA) cabinets. The sales pitch of this design is that without the frame there is more room for storage. Which is true, but the amount of room gained is minimal. The marketers now call these cabinets "full access" instead of using the original name "frameless" because Americans were use to a frame and offering no frame became a negative selling point.
Cabinets that have no frame are similar to a shoe box. The shape of the box can be altered by applying force to the end panels. This can be observed if you swing a cabinet door on the end of a cabinet run and watch the cabinet end flex. Over years of use, this will open joints and contribute to construction instability. The lower priced frameless cabinets often use poor construction methods and weak substrates like particle board panels that can lose the fight against daily use.
Frameless cabinets have doors and drawers that almost touch each other. That is called full overlay. If you like the modern look of full overlay doors and drawers but want a more stable cabinet, framed cabinets can be built with full overlay doors and drawer heads. When designing a kitchen, please tell your designer that you want framed cabinets with tight spaces between doors and drawers.
RTA Cabinets
In a class of it's own are the RTA (Ready to Assemble) cabinets. They are frameless cabinets shipped to you in a flat box. Many are imported. You assemble them or pay to have them assembled for you. We recommend that you watch the assembly instruction videos that these companies offer and think about the quick assembly fasteners... Yes they are somewhat user friendly, but that doesn't mean they are a long term solution. There are many issues with these methods of assembly that will contribute to someone wanting to replace the cabinets in a short period of time. For instance, one company has a few threaded posts that you screw into the particle board ends and a cam is fit into the panel it connects to. If you screw the post in at an angle or over tighten, the fastener loses all strength and the particle board hole will be ruined and will not hold a fastener. Some RTA cabinets assemble with plastic brackets which are even weaker than the post and cam concept.