Are Custom Kitchen Cabinets Worth the Price Difference?

Saving Money on the Purchase Side of the Equation May Cost You Later

1. Plywood Versus Particle Board
   
   Custom cabinets are made from three-quarter-inch-thick real wood plywood. Production cabinets may be made from three-quarter-inch material, but it is most often particleboard, a mixture of glue and sawdust. You can’t always tell by looking; mass-produced cabinets have a thin veneer
    of real wood or other laminate applied to the exposed edges.
   
   The quality difference becomes apparent when a door is flexed a little too hard. Door hinges attached to solid plywood will stay in place. Those in particleboard will tear out, usually making an indentation that cannot be repaired.
   
   Particleboard expands and warps when wet—a bad feature around kitchens and bathrooms.  Shelves made from particleboard will also sag in a few years from the weight of items stored on them. Plywood shelves with a good edge “nosing” can withstand the structural pressure without sagging indefinitely. 
   
   
   


2. Fasteners
   
   Most production cabinets use plastic fasteners in the corners, with screws that have little capacity to stay put under stress. A good custom cabinetmaker not only uses better fasteners such as 1-1/4” staples, but also glues every joint. He can also take the time to use screws to attach the back, or stiffen partitions, etc. where needed.  Production cabinets are engineered to minimal strength standards. 
   
   
   


3. The Finish
   
   Here the word “finish” refers to the material coating the wood surface, whether clear or an opaque color. When cabinets are finished in a mass production setting, the actual amount of material on the surface is usually only two to four mils (a mil is one ten-thousandth of an inch), no matter how many coats may have been applied. By comparison, custom cabinets, when done properly, have a total finish thickness of eight to ten mils.