"Ted Campanelli" > wrote in message
news
> Ted shuffled out of his cave and grunted these great (and sometimes not so
> great) words of knowledge:
>> We have done rough in and ready to select a kitchen. This is all new
>> constuction. I have looked at KraftMaid at 10,000., Kemper at 10,000.
>> and
>> Aristocraft at 5,000. We are trying to look at apples for apples,
>> i.e. identical cabinet configuration. What do you believe would make a
>> good cabinet installation?
>
> Stay away from particle board and composition board. They are going to
> warp, sag and/or delaminate in a couple of years.
>
> You want a solid wood cabinet. I mean everything - sides, top, doors,
> shelves, etc. A very good, less pricey alternative is 5 ply (or more
> plys ) plywood with a 1/16" (or more ) solid wood veneer on all the
> surfaces including the edges. Stay away from the paper/plastic veneer no
> matter what they tell you.
>
> The solid wood (or solid wood veneer ) will allow you to use conventional
> cleaning products and, if you ever decide to change the appearance of the
> cabinets, wood is relatively easy to strip and refinish.

I really think this is bad advice. Composites are not bad in and of
themselves - yes some cheap cabinets use cheap composites and you are likely
to have problems. High quality composites however are excellent. They are
warp free, very strong, completely waterproof, and better than real wood in
some applications where physical strength and stability are more important
than appearance. Once covered with wood veneer you can have an excellent
cabinet that will last for decades. Cabinets made of all real wood can be
fine too - my point is not to reject cabinets just because they use
composites.


--
Peter Aitken