Cabinet Construction

All cabinets boxes are made with either plywood and/or particleboard. Both plywood and particleboard are types of engineered wood, and there are different levels of quality for each. Plywood is not necessarily superior to particleboard. In many cases, a high quality particleboard will be more stable and than plywood. Medium density fiberboard (MDF) is another engineered wood that is used for door construction when it is covered with laminate, melamine or thermofoil. Stock, semi-custom, and custom cabinetry all use differing qualities of plywood and/or particleboard for their cabinet boxes. Cabinets can have melamine, wood veneer, laminate, or painted interiors. When visiting cabinetry showrooms, your design professional will point out the cabinet construction. Also, pay special attention to the moving mechanisms of the cabinet, such as hinges and slides.

SLIDES There are 5 choices of drawer slides available: Full extension side mounted, ¾ extension side mounted, undermount (recessed into the drawer bottom), full extension undermount, and Eurostyle metal drawer system (the drawer sides are aluminum or epoxy-coated steel and have part of the slide integrated into them). Full extension slides provide the greatest accessibility to the contents of the drawer.

HINGES Hinges play an important role in cabinet construction because they impact how well the door opens and closes, as well as how the cabinet looks. Pay attention to how wide the door opens; most hinges will allow the door to open between 90 and 180 degrees depending on the type. Some of the types of hinges available include: flush mount hinge, concealed, inset, overlay, wrap around and decorative hinges. Your kitchen professional will show you the hinge selection available from the cabinet manufacturer. Visit our pages regarding Cabinet Drawers and Cabinet Doors in this section for more information and links to sources.