You Get What You Pay For Purchasing Fine Cabinetry in Austin, Texas
To the untrained eye a cabinet is just a box within a given space that fulfills a storage need. But have you ever taken the time to look closer at the cabinet's makeup beyond the cost? Before investing your hard earned money into cabinetry for a fine bathroom or kitchen upgrade take some time to get acquainted with the cabinet's parts and pieces.
Cabinets are like anything else in our lives and sometimes we can be deceived by the bells and whistles the cabinet manufacturers want us all to see. They create a sense of false quality for the consumer by blinding them with noticebly reasonable finishes masking the innermost important aspect of the cabinets general makeup. In the North American face frame cabinet type the use of hardwood stiles and rails covered by hardwood cabinet doors fills the bill. The most important weight bearing carcass sides, the top, and bottom or floor in a base cabinet are buried by the maskings outer window dressing. The makeup of these aspects is not aesthetic but structural. These are the parts that sit perpendicular to the floor holding up the cabinet top and whatever is upon it. They may cut this expense by using 1/2" or 5/8" thick matrix materials like MDF or particle board and covering these with a vinyl similar to shelf paper that creates "picture wood"of any wood species. The European frameless cabinet types are generally covered entirely in a thin plastic exterior as in the case of melamine which covers up the particle board insides. Check out the picture below representing how a simple plumbing leak creating melamine failure has lead to an entire cabinet replacement. This customer had no choice!
Their next trick is to associate quality cabinet type buzzwords like dovetail jointed drawers, European concealed cup hinges or other specialty hardware, special finishes or paints, and hardwood trim with faces as mentioned above.
Fine cabinetry consists of an entire 3/4" plywood carcass with a 1/4" plywood back. The plywood gives you some moisture protection against a leaking sink drain trap or faulty supply line or stop valve. European frameless cabinets can be painted on the interior using oil base enamels then covering all the visible exterior surfaces plus the doors and drawer fronts along with their edges with any choice of high pressure plastic laminate. North American face frame cabinets can either be painted or stained and finished with polyurethane. The finish on the plywood makes even more less vulnerable to moisture problems.
Don't get sucked into thinking that quality is behind the brightest glowing box on the sales floor and never forget that you get what you pay for in this life especially where cabinetry is concerned. Do your homework!
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