Expert: Jamie Yocono - 6/28/2008

Question
Jamie,
I asked a question yesterday.  I am not sure if your answer was that it was outside of your area of expertise so I am reasking my questions.  It seems you had a very similar question yesterday and answered poplar.  I have since read that poplar can warp more than maple.  I plan to do inset cabinets.
I am trying to redo my kitchen. I would like to have white shaker style cabinets. I finally have a layout that I love and but now am having trouble deciding between the local custom shop and ordering from a manufacturer. The local shop will use MDF boxes with poplar face frame for the cabinets and poplar edge with MDF panel for the doors. The interior of the MDF boxes is melamine They do a Precatalyzed Lacquer finish. The manufactured doors use plywood boxes with a birch veneer with clear coat interior and maple for the edge and maple with a MDF panel for the doors. The finish is baked on.   Will a precatalyzed lacquer finish last like a baked on one? Is using maple better than poplar? I have read on this site where you said not to spend the money on maple to paint it but why do the cabinet manufacturers do that then? I have priced out Bridgewood, Bentwood, Crystal, Custom Cupboards and Columbia. They all use Maple. The reason I am asking is the Custom shop has a significantly better price but I do not want "cheap" cabinets. Thank you for any help you can offer. But this is outside of my expertise. Expert: Jamie Yocono

Answer
Hi Cindy,

The reason that I gave the response "this is outside of my area" for your question yesterday and because I know absolutely nothing about precatalyzed lacquer finishes.

So I felt like THAT was the emphasis for your question - will the finishes work with the cabinet materials.

But - I'm also sensing that you're asking about materials, as well. So I'll try to address some of your concerns, but I'm not sure my answers will be exactly what you're looking for.

Just off the top of my head, I feel like plywood boxes are stronger than MDF boxes. But, on the other hand, MDF takes paint better. So it's a toss-up which I would recommend. I don't necessarily agree with with the comment that poplar will warp more than maple. It simply has more to do with the moisture content of the wood and the cut of the wood, rather than the wood itself. Poplar will, however, be "softer" than maple, so if it's being used for faces or edges, it is more fragile.

That said, after reading your question a couple of times to get a better understanding of what they're offering, I feel like the maple cabinets are a better value. Melamine is nice for the interiors, but so is a clear coat interior. I think it depends on the "look" you want, as well as how hard your family will be on the cabinets.

For example I used to use cabinet grade plywood for the bottoms of drawers in kitchen and bath cabinets. But over time, I started using while melamine, BC it's so easy to clean, and it looks good. Once, a can of cat food exploded in a customer's pet food drawer, and I saw how badly the plywood had stained. That wouldn't have happened in a melamine bottomed drawer. So I like melamine for interiors; it's just better. But some wood purists would think it's sort of cheesy.

Finally, it always boils down to price vs. quality, in my opinion. So you said the custom shop offers a good savings over the manufactured cabinets, but you don't want a "cheap" cabinet. I don't blame you. I think a lot of my customers feel the same way. So I think you need to see examples of both cabinets up close, to evaluate things like hardware (you want euro-hardware, not regular (non adjustable) hinges), handles and pulls, details like - do they feel smooth? Are the sanded well? Are there lots of nails holes? How beefy is the nailing rail in the back side? Do they reflect a decent attention to detail, like - is their joinery well cut? Do the doors and drawers hang straight?

There's nothing wrong with giving the job to a custom shop, after all, that's what I do, and I know I give people a better job for the money. But I've also seen some woodworkers out there building cabinets that have no business being in business. So you NEED to see examples of this person's work before you plunk down your money.

Also - who is going to install the cabinets? You might ask them what they think between the two choices.

Here's a suggestion - does the custom shop have a website? Does the manufacturer? Send both of the web addresses to me and I'll take a look. Maybe I can get a little better understanding of their work, and hopefully help you a little more. I gave you a lot of questions to ask in this response, but I'm not sure I helped that much!

Send those website addresses to my personal account and I'll take a look at them. You can reach me at:  jamie@wooditis.com. It might also be helpful to give me an idea of where you're located - east coast? West? South? And try to give me an idea of how much the price difference is between the two companies. More info is better that less.

Sorry this is so chatty! I just had 3 cups of coffee to start my weekend!

Jamie Yocono
Wood It Is! Custom Cabinetry
Las Vegas, NV
www.wooditis.com