There are many aspects of quality to consider when buying cabinets – box construction, face frame materials, drawer construction, finish quality, RTA vs assembled, American made vs imported, stock vs custom vs semi-custom, warranties, and the list can go on and on. So, let’s talk about a few of these topics. These are the most important things you want to check out when you’re considering purchasing cabinets.

BOX CONSTRUCTION

Box construction refers to the sides, back, top and bottom of the cabinets – what they’re made of and how they are attached to each other. It’s pretty important for the long term durability of your cabinets.

The three materials commonly used in this area are plywood, MDF (medium density fiberboard), and particle board. Of these three, particle board is the cheapest, and the lowest quality. Particle board is basically just wood chips and sawdust compressed together with a little glue to hold it together. You’ll find particle board construction on the cheapest off-the-shelf cabinets stocked at many big boxes and supply stores. Don’t buy cabinets made with particle board!

Many people think that MDF and particle board are the same thing, but they’re not. MDF is made with much finer, more uniform, wood fibers. It is then reconstituted with a glue and pressure to form the sheets used in construction. Manufacturers will then typically apply a real wood veneer on top of the MDF so that it looks and feels just like regular wood products. When used in non-structural areas, MDF can be a very good material for many types of home furnishings, like the big flat parts of dining room tables, headboards, dressers, etc. The reason for this is because MDF does not expand and contract with temperature and humidity changes like solid wood can. This expansion and contraction can lead to cracking, warping, split seams, peeling veneers, etc. So, MDF is okay when used in some places, but it’s not so good for legs, joints, places under stress or where screws, bolts, or other fasteners go into the product. For these reasons, you don’t really want to buy cabinets that use MDF in the sides, backs, tops, bottoms, or for the shelves. It just doesn’t hold up very well over the long term.

Plywood construction is what you want to see in your cabinets! Consumer Reports recommends plywood as the premium quality option for cabinets. Plywood holds screws and other fasteners more securely, which is very important when hanging wall cabinets. Plywood is also much more resistant to water than MDF and particle board are. Have you ever seen a piece of MDF when it gets wet? It soaks the water up like a sponge and starts to turn to mush! Pretty much in every way that matters to cabinet construction, plywood is just the better, stronger material to use. On the downside, plywood is more expensive. Keep in mind when you consider expense you also have to consider long term durability – plywood might be 10% to 20% more expensive, but if I buy cheap cabinets and then have to totally replace them in 5 years, did I really save money?

If you really want to see the difference between these three products, go to one of the big box lumber yards and take a look. Particle board you can almost flake apart with your bare hands. MDF looks like really dense cardboard. And the plywood just looks and feels stronger! (Make sure you’re looking at a hard wood plywood, which is what the cabinet companies use, not a soft pine plywood, which has other uses.)

Another important feature of box construction is the brackets, braces, and beams that help hold the sides and back to each other and to the face frame. These add stability and strength to the cabinet box.  When looking at brackets you want to see wood, not plastic, and they should be screwed and glued into a groove if possible. The best manufacturers will use wood beams going from front to back in addition to corner brackets.

DRAWER CONSTRUCTION

The part of the cabinet that gets the most use is the drawers, so they better be made well! You want to see solid wood drawer sides at least ½ inch thick with dovetailed joints front and back. You also want to see a real wood drawer bottom, not cardboard or MDF. The drawer bottom should rest inside a groove all the way around the drawer box (this is referred to as a “captured” drawer bottom).

The drawer boxes should be resting on soft close, full extension, undermount drawer glides. The soft close feature really reduces the stress on the drawer fronts – no more slamming drawers! Full extension means the entire drawer box is easily accessible – no more struggle trying to grab something out of the back of the junk drawer! And undermount glides are simply a stronger more reliable drawer glide system – those cheap side roller glide systems are a real pain if you ever have to take a drawer out and put it back in!

The good news about drawer boxes is that pretty much everyone is using these construction techniques today. It’s hard to find a cabinet so cheap that they don’t do these things. But if you do find one that cheap - don’t buy it, you’ll be sorry!

FINISH QUALITY

The first thing you want to look for in your cabinet finish is the KCMA certification. The Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association tests finishes for durability, stain resistance, and resistance to standard household cleaners and chemicals. The best finishes use an oven cured catalyzed conversion varnish topcoat. This provides a clear, non-yellowing, chemically resistant, chip resistant, hard top layer to the finish. This is what you usually get from most manufacturers. However, most small craftsmen and independent shops simply cannot afford the equipment necessary to produce this kind of finish.

Another thing to consider doesn’t really have to do with the finish itself, but rather how well the finish can hide the dings, dents, scratches, and the everyday wear and tear that will eventually take their toll on your cabinets. The issue here is paints vs stains. Painted finishes are very popular right now, and they look great! But when you have a plain painted finish in a lighter color, you will see all the dirt, dings, dents, and other damage that might happen to your cabinets. But a stain can hide a lot of that minor damage because it will blend in with the grain of the wood – it will still be there, but you just won’t notice it. This is a minor issue, but if you’re picky about these kind of things (and lots of us are) then it’s something to think about.

RTA vs. ASSEMBLED

RTA stands for Ready To Assemble. They are imported cabinets that you buy flat in a box and then have to put them together yourself (or your contractor does it). They are less expensive than assembled cabinets, but if you have to pay a contractor to put them together you might end up spending more! They usually use cam-locks in the assembly process. Have you ever put together a cheap bookshelf? Were the joints tightly locked in place? Did it hold up well? If you want your cabinets to last a long time, you don’t want anything with cam-locks! RTA cabinets usually use cheap plastic corner brackets and nothing is screwed or glued unless you take the extra time and effort to build it that way. And good luck putting your drawers together!

Assembled cabinets are already put together when delivered. They can be imported or American made, but the imported versions are always shipped flat and then assembled here in the US. Fully assembled cabinets will always be more strongly put together than RTA cabinets. You simply can’t clamp things together with Elmer’s glue in your garage as well as a modern factory with state of the art materials and proper clamping presses, assembly jigs, and other equipment.

STOCK vs. SEMI-CUSTOM vs. FULL CUSTOM

Stock cabinets are what you find on the shelves of the big box retailers. If you want cheap prices and crappy quality then this is the stuff for you! Stock cabinets are mass produced in a limited number of door styles with one or maybe two color options. And if the sizes don’t work for you, you’re out of luck.

Semi-custom cabinets are built to order, which usually takes 4-6 weeks, but you have lots of door styles and colors to choose from. They are generally much better build quality than the stock cabinets. Also, there are many size options from which to choose, and most semi-custom manufacturers will modify sizes if you need something a little different. They are more expensive than the stock cabinets, but it’s well worth the investment to get the quality and options that you want.

Full custom cabinets are generally smaller shops that will build anything you can think of - door styles, finishes, materials, whatever you want they can do, but the price is high! If you’re looking for an exotic wood or a truly unique door style you can find it here, but most people can save some money and find want they want from one of the semi-custom manufacturers.

AMERICAN vs. IMPORTED

Nobody likes to buy imported products, but sometimes the budget doesn’t give you any choice. And if you think about it there’s almost nothing that isn’t imported these days. But imported cabinets are different from imported cars or sneakers. Honda is a Japanese company with its own name on the cars it sells here in the US. Honda is the manufacturer and the import company. But cabinet importers do not own the factories where their products are made. They have no real control over the quality that goes into the construction or finishes of the products they sell. There are some good imported cabinet companies out there, but in general the quality of imported cabinets is not as good as American manufacturers.

WARRANTIES

All good American-made cabinet companies will offer a lifetime warranty against manufacturing defects. If they’re only offering a 5 year warranty do you really think they’ll last 20 years? Import companies generally offer a 1 to 5 year warranty because they don’t have any control over the actual production process.

Higher quality cabinets will always be more expensive up front, but when you consider that you will probably never have to replace them, they are cheaper in the long run. Of course, one thing to consider when balancing the quality versus price equation is how long do you expect to be in the home? If you are going to sell in a year or two, then maybe paying a lower price now is more important than buying cabinets that will last 20+ years.